The irony of it all

This is the first time in days that I have had the time to post anything. It is ironic because when I came to the blog there was a comment from someone commending me on my persistence in, to use her terms "bang the keys". There are times when the way my Lord works things out that just made me laugh. He has such a sense of humor. It also points up the fact that today's technology also connect like minded individuals in ways that we don't even intend or imagine.
So now down to business. Catching up on my comments on the readings since my last post.
Dec. 16: The Art of Concision, or Less is More
In this reading, as can be guessed from the title, is about keeping our writing concise unless there is a very definite reason to not be brief. Mr. White states that most novice writers have a tendency to "overwrite". He then gives three reasons for this: "diction- and syntax-level wordiness, faulty sentence construction, and excessive description, explanation, or narration". He then gives two examples; one of when a short one word sentence would have served a better purpos and one in which the author deliberately uses "stream-of-consciousness language". In "FOR FURTHER REFLECTION": He goes on to say that "writing concisely. . . takes practice". He then suggests a good way to learn to be concise, which is to study the principle in a grammar handbook.
The "TRY THIS" assignment is to practice condensing paragraphs in drafts of essays and stories; both yours and other peoples.
Dec. 17: Inner Listening:
In this day's reading Fred White talks about using listening as a learning experience and to listen with your whole being "holistically", and also to use it as an opportunity for personal growth. The then goes on to talk about The Tao of Peace by Diane Dreher in which she "addresses the need to resolve conflicts" which separates us from the things that are truly important in life. In quoting her he stated that first we need to admit when we are ignorant of certain matters. White further states that as we learn from others, others also learn from us and this learning is greatly "enabled through inner listening". In "FOR FURTHER REFLECTION": White tells us that in order for us to become successful writers we need to "open ourselves to the ideas and experiences of others." We need to listen to them with our whole being, even if we disagree with them. The "TRY THIS" assignment is a suggestion for an experiment in inner listening. Basically he tells us to engage in a discussion with a friend about a particular controversial topic and then after listening carefully to write down what we consider our friend's assumptions about the issue and ask your friend to do the same thing. Then compare notes.
Dec. 18: Visions of Sugarplums
In today's reading the author tells us that holidays (all holidays) "are ideal times for letting your imaginatio roam free". He goes on to state that he means to "explore in a manner unfettered by rules and regulations. He states that for the writer "our sugarplums will take the form of bold new story ideas, whimsical characters, and whimsical situations in which to embroil your whimsical characters." "FOR FURTHER REFLECTION": He suggests that we use every holiday as a potential sugarplum. He suggests that this is particularly beneficial for those who write for younger audiences. The "TRY THIS" assignments are to (1) take several sheets of notebook paper (pages in a composition book) and at the top of each page write a holiday and then over the next few days use these pages to develop lists of topics you can write for each holiday for either children or adults. (2) Then take one of the topics and compose a rough draft in one or two settings. Set this aside for a few days and then revise it.
Dec. 19: Collective Experiences
In today's reading the author addresses the topic of collective experiences. In particular the uses a section of Margaret Mead's study of adolescent behavior among the natives of Samoa, where she lived for several years. Fred White states "by comparing parent-child interaction in two different cultures, Mead enables us to better understand human relationships." In "FOR FURTHER REFLECTION": White states that writers are like anthropologists who help us understand different cultures and customs which in turn "can foster peace and good will". In learning about other cultures we are better able to live in harmony with them. The "TRY THIS" assignment for today is: Learn all you can about a little known society. He suggests those "in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, the Alaskan and Canadian arctic, or Sub-Saharan Africa. Then assimilate ethnographic studies of their social, religious, and articistic customs. Use this information to write an essay about the society, target for young adults.
As you might have gathered all of these assignments are going to have to be consigned to my composition book for future consideration. There are already enough assignments in that book to keep me busy for a long time. Maybe there will come a time (such as when I retire) that I will have far more time to really work on these assignments. Unless of course I can fit it into something that I need to write - say for a client to get paid for.