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The Fitzgerald thing implies the
being read part. The idea is that if you write something that absolutely must be said, people will want to read it. That's why I don't consider other writers competition in the real sense. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, so the odds of us having the same angles and way of approaching things is very different.
I was looking into an article on some LA jail gangs, btw. In particular the work of the Mexican Mafia versus gang members who have to be kept in solitary for their own good. (Montevilla???)
posted by
terpgirl30
on August 29, 2005 at 9:50 PM
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We all need our sets to play upon...it's all a stage, you know!
Sell 'em an introductory Blogit membership!!!!!!!!!
"Writing" is not the same as "being read". What percentage of authors' books are remaindered each year?
Remember Steven King's early quote about writing for yourself...something about literary Onanism? (Only less delicately put).
posted by
majroj
on August 29, 2005 at 6:59 PM
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Maj
It's the same thing. It just means that your work actually means something as opposed to pretty words in your head that just have to come out. In the online writing group, I'm at the point of slapping the next person who says (and they do) "I just have to get my words out to the world. I can't keep them inside anymore." I'm sure you've heard some version of that. These are always the very people who should break all the pencils in their homes and rip up every piece of paper and cocktail napkin just to avoid the temptation of foisting insanity on the rest of us.
I didn't have the elbow patches---or the beard---but I loved the one office that I build when I was doing the newspapers at home. I had built in bookcases on 3 sides, and an 8-foot window facing the countryside. The set up was perfect for work.
I have a basement office now, and I never use it. The laptop is much more convenient, but you can't scoot your chair over for files, etc. Sort of ruins it all.
posted by
terpgirl30
on August 29, 2005 at 4:06 AM
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Most don't write because they have something to say
but because they have something to be read.
Or, like me, you want to have a study, a corduroy jacket with elbow patches, and a well-manicured gray beard.
posted by
majroj
on August 28, 2005 at 11:22 PM
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I took Japanese for over a year.
Pretty well useless. The dialect was forty years out of date, etc etc (three alphabets!).
However, it taught me there is another way of thinking (not just another way of looking at things within the same way of thinking), and the mental exercise was unique.
posted by
majroj
on August 26, 2005 at 4:55 PM
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Quirky
We had to get fluency and earn enough credits to get another degree---but you didn't actually get the degree. I could have taken the CPA exam at the end of it all. I didn't keep the language much, but that business degree has always helped out either with running my own business, or just in deciding what I want to write about. It sounds convoluted to many people, but I think it's a good idea. The theory is you don't learn to write. You can refine, but they're not going to teach you to write. You are going to learn about something enough so that you'll have something to say.
One of my favorite F. Scott Fitzgerald sayings is something like, "You don't write because you want to write. You write because you have something to say." That's not an exact quote, but close enough.
posted by
terpgirl30
on August 25, 2005 at 5:32 PM
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terpgirl--
that's very funny!! On another note, I was not required to learn a second language to get my journalism degree--would have been a nice incentive for me to learn one, though.
posted by
Julia.
on August 25, 2005 at 9:23 AM
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Usual...I love a good smartass myself. I wonder what the kids is up to these days.
Maj. The first thing they taught us was the essential, "Donde esta su bano?" It was just in case we got stranded and had needs My son is fluent in German (teaching this year at age 16), and my daughter in French. I remember the bathroom phrase because my daughter went to France with her grandmother as a graduation present. The first thing she had to do there was try to locate her grandmother's cane when she left it in a store. They don't teach you those sorts of phrases. I always think the Spanish they taught us was fairly worthless given the dailect in Spain versus Mexico, etc. is so different.
posted by
terpgirl30
on August 25, 2005 at 9:11 AM
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HaHa.
posted by
Azur
on August 24, 2005 at 11:09 PM
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I do love some good smartassery....
and that my friend, is smartassery at its finest...lol.
posted by
UsualSuspect
on August 24, 2005 at 10:59 PM
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You mean:
"los turistas estúpidos
me dan su dinero"?
(Care of Babelfish).
But, hey, what are we touristing for save to support the local economy?
You ought to hear me start fracturing Spanish when I interview a client. Then I give up and go to ATT interpreter service.
posted by
majroj
on August 24, 2005 at 8:50 PM
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lols:)
That boy really was something, wasnt he?This story can be sent to the reader's digest.....welcome back, terpgirl!
posted by
Meringue
on August 24, 2005 at 6:21 PM
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