WRITER'S CONUNDRUM: GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT FRANKENSTEIN

Art versus the science of writing

I don't attend writing workshops. I don't want a book on "Writing for Dummies."

I do read author blogs and I do educate myself on writing great dialogues and the like - but not TOO much.

The reason? I have this awkward fear it will ruin my writing. Sure, learning more about plots and denouement and killer endings would improve my writing. I know this. But wouldn't it take the fun out of writing if I tried too hard? Moreover - and here is the crux of the matter - would it change my writing? Would my writing become less like one of my own flesh-and-blood children and more like a grammatically correct Frankenstein?

If I know too much about themes, antagonists, and symbolism, will the fun be sucked out of stories like the vampires that my English teachers proved to be? To put it in Hollywood terms: if I know how the special effects crew created a compelling scene, the magic of the movie is lost forever.

What do you think? I'd love to hear from you, even if you are an English teacher, as long as you promise to refrain from biting my jugular.

Keep writing & keep sharing! - Cronin Detzz

POEM: ANGRY JACKET

ANGRY JACKET

photo by Cronin Detzz

wearing your jacket of anger
deploying your umbrella of denial
carrying a briefcase of shame
trudging to work with a stiffened smile

You smother your feelings
with your thermos of hatred
drinking it lustily as it burns your tongue

wondering when, exactly, life slipped sideways
This wasn't how it was supposed to be

Slip on your leaden shoes
and drag your heartache around
scream inside your head
until you are deafened to love's sound
Or
Draw the bows from your quiver
aim at your traumatic past
and finally kill your demons

Burn your angry jacket
in the bonfire of vanities

Wear rose colored glasses
and peer into tomorrow
see it embroidered with possibilities

Until at last
through heart-felt gratitude
you can freely run naked
in the satiny, silky present

-poem by Cronin Detzz, 2013

POEM: BLACK VELVET WITH DIAMONDS

BLACK VELVET WITH DIAMONDS
The rained pummeled His roof
for days and days
When the leaden clouds parted
He was lifted from His haze

So He built an impossibly long table
Draped it with black velvet
And littered it with diamonds

The newborn twinkling stars
Surely never shown so bright
The nascent moon
Surely never looked so kind
As they did on that first cloudless night

God reclined on his couch, satisfied
Took a nap
And dreamed up man
To be a willing audience,
To appreciate His nocturnal nativity
-poem by Cronin Detzz

Keep writing & keep sharing!

WHICH 3 BOOKS CHANGED YOUR LIFE? HOW DID THEY FIND YOU?

What are 3 books that changed your life? Why? How did these books "find" you?

Some books are highly entertaining and memorable. This question, however, asks you to dig deeper into the epiphanies and revelations of particular stories that have inspired you.

My three books are:
1. "Mans Search for Meaning" by Dr. Victor Frankl
2. "Wizard of Oz" by Frank L. Baum
3. "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

"Mans Search for Meaning" was given to me by my boss at a time when I was extremely disheartened and ill. Dr. Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, explores which mental fortitudes enabled prisoners to survive. This book reminds me of my favorite quote, which is taped to my fridge. "In the absence of certainty, there is always hope."

"Wizard of Oz" is my favorite fairy tale because it reminds us that there's no place like home, that we already possess all the gifts we need to craft an amazing life, and that women will do anything for ruby slippers!

"Flowers for Algernon" was required reading in 7th grade. The writer uses a masterful style of compiling a diary that shows the progression of a scientific experiment conducted on a man of very limited intellectual capacity. The experiment is a success, raising his I.Q. from drastic lows to astronomical heights. The subject grows his mind all the way to a state of nirvana. This book gives me hope that God reaches from His omnipotent realm down to our low state of being. The story begs us to question how much knowledge is truly necessary in order to reach Him.

There are many other books that have inspired our writing style, entertained us, and helped inspire us to remove our writer's blocks. On your list of top three books, do you notice that not only have they influenced the direction of your core values, they have also given you direction in your writing style?

As writers, we must remember to treasure those unique tomes that moved our spirits. If you need motivation to get past a writer's block, re-read your top three books.

Keep writing and keep sharing! - Cronin Detzz

SECRETS MAKE YOU SICK

Want to know a secret?  Secrets can make you sick, and you can use your writing skills for better health.

It’s no secret that the body and mind are knotted together in a symbiotic dance.  For instance, if you have a headache, chances are you’ll not be  in a good mood.  Conversely, feeling drained or stressed can give you a headache.  Our moods influence our eating choices, disrupt our sleep, raise our blood pressure, and create digestive problems.  When a deep secret haunts your life, your moods and health will both be affected.  Therapists often uncover secrets because they easily see the signs, such as  anorexia, drug addictions, or anxiety.

Most people have some secrets that are kept tucked away.  Some secrets are generally benign, such as:  “I tell my friends I’m happy being single, but I secretly wish I were married.”  Some secrets are dark and deep and emotionally draining.  Your secrets have helped shape who you have become.

Writing is a cathartic outlet.  Writers often put a piece of themselves into their characters, and in the process, evolve through self-exploration.  As you craft your stories, remember that it can be very helpful to drag those secrets out of the closet and write about the experience.  To help remove your writer’s block, ask yourself the following questions:

·        If the secret is a result of a traumatic event, how did you feel at the time? 

·        What beliefs have encouraged you to keep the secret? 

·        Do you feel judged?   If so, by whom?

·        What is it like to carry around a suitcase full of shame? 

·        Are you trying to numb your mind by forgetting about the secret, or by alcohol or drugs?

·        If you have revealed your secret to a loved one, how did it feel?  What did your loved one say to you?

Recently, I was driving in a run-down part of Chicago with Sandy, an old pal.  As she and as I passed by an alley, a deep-seated memory flashed before my eyes.  I had been raped in that alley when I was a teenager, and I had completely forgotten about the incident.  I had a boyfriend at that time, and because the boyfriend beat the rapist to a bloody pulp, I felt vindicated.  I told Sandy about this, and she was shocked.  She encouraged me to write about the experience in my next book.  I told her that I never thought about the incident, stating that it doesn’t bother me.  She objected, telling me that this is a significant, life-altering event that deserves my attention.  Having her support was a huge relief.  I will be adding the incident to my next book.

I wish sound health to you all, and hope that you find strength and peace through writing.

Keep writing and keep sharing! – Cronin Detzz

FIBONACCI POETRY

FIBONACCI – not your father’s haiku

General Motors tried to inspire a younger demographic with the catchy tagline of “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  I’d like to think that a Fibonacci poem is not your father’s haiku!  A Haiku has a mathematically metered number of syllables in three lines, using a count of 5, 7, 5.  Similarly, a Tanka uses the measure of 5-7-5-7-7.  Below is an example, written when I was about sixteen years old:

LONELY TANKA

the wound is so Deep

it will scar your Memory

alone and Empty.

even after she leaves You

her unwanted stench Lingers

The Fibonacci sequence adds each subsequent number as the sum of the previous two numbers: 0 + 1 =1, 1 + 1=2, 1 + 2 = 3, 2 + 3 = 5, and so on.  This mathematical sequence occurs in nature, music, science, geometry, and art, and has also been applied to poetry.  The Fibonacci poem uses the following number of syllables per line:  1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.

Below is a great example, used with permission by poet Narendra Rai:

Morn

As

It’s born

Brings with

Itself your aroma

That gives me hope

To hold you in my arms one day

Another mathematical approach to poetry can be found in an etheree, which contains lines of syllables in numerical sequence from 1 to 10.  I tried my hand at a reverse etheree:

BLACK DREAMS

1  In

2  my dream,

3  I reach out

4  Wailing, weeping,

5  the darkness creeping

6  heart beating and bleeding

7  growing numb as senses pale

8  Blackened by burning betrayal,

9  You enjoy my screaming as I drown

10 You even help the demons hold me down

9   But wait, here is the craziest twist

8   you let me live to make it last

7   pulling me into your past

6   you laugh as my blood drips

5   licking fingertips

4   luminous scream

3  ruinous,

2  haunting

1  dream

Writing in this style is more difficult than it looks!  Many poems typically have four to eight syllables per line, and in poetry, each line stands alone to allow the reader to pause.  Challenge yourself and try this art form.  You can share your poetry on this blog or you can share on my Facebook wall, just search “Cronin Detzz.”

Keep writing and keep sharing!  - Cronin Detzz

WRITER'S BLOCK: FRIENDS, ROMANS, BOOKWORMS

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ear…”   Those few, simple words written by William Shakespeare are well-known to casual readers and bookworms alike.  Similarly, “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” has been drilled into our heads by our beloved English teachers.  (By the way: wherefore doesn’t mean “where,” it means “why”.) 

Banal quotes and trite cliches make us wonder why certain phrases are so easily recognized.  Why do some lines have sticking power in our brains?  We are bombarded with clever turns of scripts every day, from Facebook posts to television shows to radio ads; yet, certain quotes are indelible.

Certainly, some famous quotes stick in our gray matter due to pure rote memory.  I had a Latin teacher, Mr. Paris, who began each class by making say aloud the opening line to Caesar’s Gallic wars:  “Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.”  Mr. Paris added a few more words each day, and promised us that we would probably remember this for the rest of our lives.  After the Christmas break, a 30-year-old student popped in just to say hello to Mr. Paris.  That adult could recite the entire first paragraph, and we were amazed.

Besides rote memory, there are other tricks that our brain uses to remember these kinds of phrases.  If we see a parody on television that makes us laugh, our brains will ease and we will absorb what we are hearing.  If we are very sad or angry, we might identify with a particular phrase or song lyric and subconsciously think about it.  If we are celebrating a holiday, our hearts can quickly recall moving sayings like Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech, or Tiny Tim’s gleeful, “God bless us, every one!”

In your writing, remember that a heartfelt phrase can have real staying power.  We don’t always know which phrases will resonate with a fellow bookworm, but chances are that if you are sincerely writing from your heart, readers will take notice.  It takes some confidence and a willingness to be vulnerable enough to share your innermost thoughts, but isn’t this what writing is all about in the first place?

Keep writing and keep sharing!  - Cronin Detzz