I'm always delighted by the authors you pick for these reflections. I remember catching half of 'The Martian Chronicles' (a film version) on television back in the 80s. It was a strange and stunning adaptation that didn't come close to doing justice to the original book. I used to read 'A Sound of Thunder' to my students in Peru. Bradbury is underrated.
He is underrated, for sure. I'm researching a piece about three writers who predicted the future astoundingly accurately in their novels. He is one of them. First sentence made me laugh. Does that mean eclectic or eccentric? lol
I read Bradbury at least once a year. I realized after reading this post that I need to up my rereading, of him, as I'm doing more writing myself and realizing how much better my writing has gotten. Bradbury sings, King clobbers.
I love your last sentence, Linda. Have you read Zinsser's book, On Writing Well? A lot of people read it and say it made them hate everything they wrote up to that point. It's another I should write about here.
That's interesting about Bradbury. Do you think he really felt that way, or wanted to shock people into getting their focused attention? Obviously a deep thinker, so maybe he wanted people also to be deep thinkers about writing. I always like to imagine exactly what was on an author's mind through their writing. Sometimes authors like to hide their most private thoughts, or secrets of their craft. At least it seems like that to me. What do you think?
I think his lesson is that writing has nothing to do with thinking. We don’t read to watch a writer think, we read to hear a story. That’s the Zen part.
Martin answered really well. He wanted people to pay attention so they don't need to think. In the part about noticing (second quote in my piece) he has this lovely story about when he'd get his dad talking about when he ran away from home. And he said at first, he could see his dad thinking. But about 5, 6 minutes in, there was no thinking. Just the subconscious spilling what it saw. And he said that's where writers need to get to. Not thinking. Just spilling onto the page what's buried deep inside.
Happy to be a sublime fool! I think I need to reread Martian Chronicles, which is definitely not science fiction! It is a great example of leaving things out. He never goes into the details of getting to Mars, he just has the explorers show up. And you never think about it because that stuff wasn’t important. M
I would love to be a sublime fool. Not sure I'm there yet, except maybe the fool part. lol. Last sentence is dead on. You don't even think about it. All the important stuff is there. One day I'm going to write about Dandelion Wine. Maybe Something Wicked.
I read Zinsser a long time ago - I remember it not meaning a whole lot, so I sold it off. Now that I'm writing more and loving it, I think I will revisit it. But I always go to Bradbury when I'm feeling down about my writing.
I did the same, when I first ran across Zinsser I was doing commercial copywriting. Put it in a goodwill box. Then bought it again. But you're right, Bradbury is really uplifting. I really enjoy Stephen King's On Writing, too. Maybe it's the similar styles, writing advice woven into memoir
My husband and I had the great pleasure of meeting Ray Bradbury near the end of his life, when he made a personal appearance in our town on behalf of its public library. Not that being so will necessarily make anyone a great writer, but he was also a great literary citizen. And a lovely man!
I love hearing stuff like that Jan. We don't get many notable writers here in the middle of the Canadian breadbasket but when we do, I'll be in the line to meet and greet.
Excellent LC - as is often the case with your scribbles.
For readers unfamiliar with Bradbury's genius, recommended reading: 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The Martian Chronicles'. And his short story: 'A Sound Of Thunder'.
Glad you enjoy my scribbles. What a world where we can run down rabbit holes and have a whole bunch of people interested in the same thing. Have you read Dandelion Wine? That's on the list to write about sometime, too.
I recently started re-reading this awesome book. I haven’t highlighted anything myself, but I’ve dog-eared plenty of pages! I also like watching a speech he gave via YouTube. It’s called something like “An Evening with Ray Bradbury.” In it, as in “Zen…,” he talks a lot about writing short stories. I’ve found this advice invaluable in my own writing. I’ve also started applying it to other areas of creativity (shorter works, rather than longer ones).
Some beautiful prose in that one, too. It's on my list to write about. Not sure when, but on the list for sure.
That makes a whole lot of sense. Run down the rabbit hole far enough and the signs begin to look the same
I'm always delighted by the authors you pick for these reflections. I remember catching half of 'The Martian Chronicles' (a film version) on television back in the 80s. It was a strange and stunning adaptation that didn't come close to doing justice to the original book. I used to read 'A Sound of Thunder' to my students in Peru. Bradbury is underrated.
He is underrated, for sure. I'm researching a piece about three writers who predicted the future astoundingly accurately in their novels. He is one of them. First sentence made me laugh. Does that mean eclectic or eccentric? lol
I mean that you pick a lot of writers that I'm especially fond of :)
I knew that's what you mean. I was just funning you a little. But that said, I figure both of those terms fit. Me, anyway. lol
Yes, in the best possible way!
I read Bradbury at least once a year. I realized after reading this post that I need to up my rereading, of him, as I'm doing more writing myself and realizing how much better my writing has gotten. Bradbury sings, King clobbers.
I love your last sentence, Linda. Have you read Zinsser's book, On Writing Well? A lot of people read it and say it made them hate everything they wrote up to that point. It's another I should write about here.
Thank you. Beautiful words
That's interesting about Bradbury. Do you think he really felt that way, or wanted to shock people into getting their focused attention? Obviously a deep thinker, so maybe he wanted people also to be deep thinkers about writing. I always like to imagine exactly what was on an author's mind through their writing. Sometimes authors like to hide their most private thoughts, or secrets of their craft. At least it seems like that to me. What do you think?
I think his lesson is that writing has nothing to do with thinking. We don’t read to watch a writer think, we read to hear a story. That’s the Zen part.
Wow, makes sense. I guess I was too busy looking at the trees to see the forest. :-)
Martin answered really well. He wanted people to pay attention so they don't need to think. In the part about noticing (second quote in my piece) he has this lovely story about when he'd get his dad talking about when he ran away from home. And he said at first, he could see his dad thinking. But about 5, 6 minutes in, there was no thinking. Just the subconscious spilling what it saw. And he said that's where writers need to get to. Not thinking. Just spilling onto the page what's buried deep inside.
Yes, I agree. I shouldn't try and make it harder than it is.
Me too. I suspect it's a lifetime work in progress. Can't remember who it was said we're all trying to master a craft that has no masters.
Happy to be a sublime fool! I think I need to reread Martian Chronicles, which is definitely not science fiction! It is a great example of leaving things out. He never goes into the details of getting to Mars, he just has the explorers show up. And you never think about it because that stuff wasn’t important. M
I would love to be a sublime fool. Not sure I'm there yet, except maybe the fool part. lol. Last sentence is dead on. You don't even think about it. All the important stuff is there. One day I'm going to write about Dandelion Wine. Maybe Something Wicked.
I read Zinsser a long time ago - I remember it not meaning a whole lot, so I sold it off. Now that I'm writing more and loving it, I think I will revisit it. But I always go to Bradbury when I'm feeling down about my writing.
I did the same, when I first ran across Zinsser I was doing commercial copywriting. Put it in a goodwill box. Then bought it again. But you're right, Bradbury is really uplifting. I really enjoy Stephen King's On Writing, too. Maybe it's the similar styles, writing advice woven into memoir
My husband and I had the great pleasure of meeting Ray Bradbury near the end of his life, when he made a personal appearance in our town on behalf of its public library. Not that being so will necessarily make anyone a great writer, but he was also a great literary citizen. And a lovely man!
I love hearing stuff like that Jan. We don't get many notable writers here in the middle of the Canadian breadbasket but when we do, I'll be in the line to meet and greet.
I hear you. That was back in the day when we lived in the L.A. area.
Excellent LC - as is often the case with your scribbles.
For readers unfamiliar with Bradbury's genius, recommended reading: 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The Martian Chronicles'. And his short story: 'A Sound Of Thunder'.
Enjoy 😊
Glad you enjoy my scribbles. What a world where we can run down rabbit holes and have a whole bunch of people interested in the same thing. Have you read Dandelion Wine? That's on the list to write about sometime, too.
DW, yes. I've read most of his works. Discovered him at 11 years of age at my local library, thanks to, of course, a wonderful Librarian.
All of this was gold but the final line by Exupery. Incredible.
I love that one. When I used to do design, I had that quote in the header of my site. :)
I recently started re-reading this awesome book. I haven’t highlighted anything myself, but I’ve dog-eared plenty of pages! I also like watching a speech he gave via YouTube. It’s called something like “An Evening with Ray Bradbury.” In it, as in “Zen…,” he talks a lot about writing short stories. I’ve found this advice invaluable in my own writing. I’ve also started applying it to other areas of creativity (shorter works, rather than longer ones).