Book Covers

Art and literature has always had a very symbiotic relationship. Some feature art prominently, such as in comic books and graphic novels, and some rely on art so that reader can indeed judge a book by its cover. The Book Cover Archive is a Web site devoted to featuring great art work that authors have used to sell their books. So as you look through these entries, think how you would design your own book cover. How would you design it? What prominent object, person or detail would you want to take from your writing and transplant it to an artist’s rendering? It’s always nice to dream!

Discovering the Secret

As a writer writing about writing (writer…writing…no, that’s right), I am constantly looking to others for their helpful suggestions on how to improve my own work. No man is an island and no blogger is without his inspiration.

I recently came into possession of three books which gives different perspectives on how to write, what to write, when to write, etc. Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg, Bird By Bird: Some Instructions On Writing And Life, by Anne Lamott, and On Writing, by Stephen King. I chose these three because of each writer’s different background and each one’s differing philosophy on life. I wanted to see what was out there for writers and learn if there was any consensus of what ingredients can make a good writer. As I go through each book, I’ll try and discuss some of the different ideas each writer gives, what works and what doesn’t. First up, On Writing, which is a fascinating view of a writer who may be prolific, but is not necessarily considered literary.

Now, can a writer learn how to write simply from reading one or three books? Not exclusively, no, though I do think that a particular book can be helpful and inspirational (if I didn’t, having this Web site is a bit of a waste). Writers have an innate need to have an outlet for their voice. They skim their brains for ideas and throw them down to see what happens to come up. Many, including myself, began without focus, without knowing how to be disciplined, how to calm the thoughts long enough to put them down in some semblance of an enjoyable yarn.

I’m hoping each book will provide a few helpful hints on how to channel the power of the word. Each week I will try to provide you with one or two new points of view, perhaps even something you haven’t considered. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll discover The Secret to great writing.

You must not come lightly to the blank page.

-Stephen King, On Writing

The Sanctuary

I hate shopping. Yes, I can be a stereotypical guy. When my wife says that we need two silver vases of different sizes to put atop our dining room hutch, I just have to scratch my head and ask, why and how much? It doesn’t help that I am voted down by both my wife and my sister-in-law (who doesn’t live in our house, but somehow has a vote. Apparently, it’s a sister thing. Or maybe it’s a girl thing. I haven’t quite figured it out yet, but I digress…). And when faced with this obstacle, I did what any husband would do. Two silver vases sit in my dining room, along with a silver bowl that has nothing in it and is full of holes.

Now, as much as I hate shopping, there is one way to guarantee that I’ll behave and be more amiable towards a useless purchase. Just promise to take me to a book store. In addition to the stack of comic books purchased each month, I always make sure to have enough to put towards a book purchase or two. Or in my case, seven.

Today, I went to the mailbox to find my latest order from Chapters had arrived. In every purchase that I make, I try to be eclectic with my choices. Some stuff I have already read, some I have heard about here and there, and some I have been dying to read, but have never gotten around to it.

Now, a lot of you may ask, why not just go to the library? After all, it’s free and doesn’t take up permanent shelf space which is already at a premium in my house. All of you who ask this question are quite nosy, and should perhaps look into ways to improve that. However, since you have already pried into my business, I am not shy to tell you that there is a certain amount of satisfaction in owning a crisp, unopened book. The covers are clean and shiny and new. The spine is unbent. It still has that new book smell. Don't get me wrong, I love the library, but there is nothing like getting a new book to call your own.

Plus, when my wife and I one day get a bigger house, I have a dream that there will be a room with wall-to-wall bookshelves, a spot to place my comic books, a La-Z-Boy in the middle and a writing desk tucked away in a corner. The books I have collected will be placed perfectly on the shelf and my sanctuary will be born.

And so, I collect my books. I place them with care on my bookshelf, closet, wherever they will fit. And I read, and I write, and I dream.

Beyond the Graveyard

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, has been described by many, including the author himself, as an homage to The Jungle Book. I can’t make the comparison intelligently, having never read Rudyard Kipling’s work myself (I did see the Disney version, but for some reason I think that Mr. Kipling’s book didn’t have any snappy jazz numbers performed by monkeys). I can, however, state my unequivocal love of this book.

Bod is a baby when his family is killed by the man Jack. Baby Bod manages to wander into a nearby graveyard, where he is taken in and saved by the ghosts who inhabit the area, as well as by Silas, the loveable, cantankerous resident, and sometimes caretaker, of the graveyard.

After rescuing Bod and giving him the “Freedom of the Graveyard”, which includes being able to interact with its denizens and getting lessons in ghost-like behaviour from his adoptive ghost-parents, ghost-friends, ghost-teachers and one amusing, but tough, were-teacher with a penchant towards bad cooking.

The book follows young Bod through adolescence, his adventures in the graveyard and his inevitable fall into the regular world. The book is structured in eight chapters (and an interlude), each one reading like a short story about Bod’s world. When taken together, however, it is a fascinating tale of growing up and the magic that can be found in the simplest of places.

One chapter, entitled “Danse Macabre”, gives a stunning and imaginative description of what happens when the dead and the living get together for a night. Seeing those events through Bod’s eyes made me wish to once again see the world through a child’s eyes, with innocence and acceptance.

Bod realizes that sometimes you have to leave your comfortable place to see what might be over the next hill. This simple lesson is one I am still trying to learn, despite having left my comfort zone in Toronto some eight years ago.

Mention should also be made to the illustrations by long-time Gaiman collaborator, Dave McKean. The haunting drawings that accompany the prose enhance it without overwhelming it, creating the perfect atmosphere to experience the Graveyard.

Neil Gaiman has given the world some memorable stories filled with unforgettable characters, but his simple story of Bod is one I will come back to over and over again; anytime I need a reminder that life is worth living, even if it is with the dead.

“Do you know what you’re going to do now?” she said.

“See the world,” said Bod. “Get into trouble. Get out of trouble again. Visit jungles and volcanoes and deserts and islands. And people. I want to meet an awful lot of
people.”

-The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (2008)

God Bless America!

Tough times are ahead for the United States, Canada and, well, pretty much everywhere else.
That's why I was heartened to discover that the United States treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., had released the following, pleading for stricter practices:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/weekinreview/04gough.html?_r=2&ref=books

For the United States of America. For Canada. For the world. (Cue national anthems. All of them. At once. It's just faster that way...)

Fear of Writing

Many writers I have read about have always said they started writing at an early age; that they loved to create their own world and to share it with their friends of family.

My own story, however, went a little differently. The very first writing experience that I remember was not a pleasant one. I was perhaps in grade 3 or 4. The class was told to write a short story, on any subject, probably just to demonstrate that we had been listening in class to grammar points and spelling. I watched my classmates as they immediately put pencil to paper, writing furiously to meet the deadline. I watched them, but that's pretty much all I did.

I remember writing my name at the top of the page and then sitting there, staring at a blank piece of paper. Nothing came. I sat there for a full half hour, trying to convince myself to write even one word. In the end, the teacher came around to collect the sheets. I handed mine in completely blank, except for my name.

Later on that day the teacher took me aside and asked me why I hadn't completed the assignment. I couldn't come up with a good excuse. She gave me the option to do the assignment during recess. I can't recall what I said, but I was a stubborn child, so that's probably how I ended up at the counsellor’s office. After much finagling, he or she was able to convince me to write something down. I have no idea what I wrote, but I do recall hating every moment of it.

Obviously, I overcame my loathing of writing to actually become a writer myself, but as I think back, I can actually see why I stubbornly refused to write, how that continues to affect me today, and how it may help other aspiring writers who are having trouble getting past the blinking cursor on the screen.

There is a reason I didn't put pencil to paper that day in the classroom, which has nothing to do with having nothing to write about. Creative writing lays bare your soul. Your thoughts are put on the page for anyone to read. I was a very shy child and I was unnaturally uncomfortable in sharing my inner thoughts with anyone. Of course, not all writing can reveal your innermost thoughts. I could have written a description of a TV show or what I had for dinner, anything innocuous. But for me, sitting there with the pencil in my hand, I felt as if my teacher were asking me to strip my mind and lay it on the page. That was something I just couldn’t do.

As time passed, my shyness ebbed. I discovered that I quite enjoyed writing and that I wanted to transfer my hurricane of thoughts to a sheet of paper. Sometimes it was even cathartic. But, in the back of my head, there was, and still is, a voice that tells me that I should not, at any cost, reveal more of myself then I should.

Lately, my writing has been waning because every time I go to continue with my story, I am at a loss of what to say. I hem and haw and waste my time on the Internet until an hour has passed and nothing has been accomplished. I told myself it was writer’s block and that every writer gets it, but I think it is something else, something that many novice writers could associate with.

This is only my theory, and feel free to disagree with me, but I think that the when you have trouble writing, it isn’t necessarily writer’s block, it’s fear. Fear that when someone reads your work they won’t like it, fear that you have nothing relevant to say, fear that your skills aren’t up to par with your favourite author, fear of failure.

Of course, fear is only one aspect preventing a writer from doing what comes natural, but I think that for beginners especially, this can be problematic. How you deal with this is up to you, but I think it’s something worth thinking about. When it comes down to it, fear is something that prevents you from accomplishing your goals.

When you are sitting at your computer, struggling to come up with the next line, chapter, stanza, verse, etc, think about what is causing the delay. If you find, like in my case, that it was fear holding you back, fight back and write. Even if all you’ve written is garbage, at least you have taken the first step to overcoming fear.

The eight-year old in me is railing against baring my soul, but the writer in me knows that it is just what is called for to continue the adventures of the characters on my page.

The Language of the New Year

The English language is filled with wonderful (and often funny) words. As a writer, words fascinate me. In my writing, I always try to play around with words, to try to come up with different ways to say the same thing. It's a challenge that I enjoy. I also enjoy showing off my skills at language whenever I get the chance (although, despite what my wife might say, I don't know all the words).

For New Year's, my wife and I attended a laid-back party, which consisted of many fine tasting deserts, a Barbie movie (courtesy of the four-year old guest. Not that I watched it or now know some of the songs...ahem) and a spirited game of Cranium.

The teams were split between the girls and the guys and one question had the boys’ team stumped. One of our team members had to describe a word to us using only play dough. This was made doubly tough when he admitted to not quite knowing what the word meant. In a desperate attempt to get through to his thick-headed teammates (some of whom just couldn't tear their eyes away from the Barbie movie), he constructed an 'M', which looked curiously like McDonald's golden arches. At the last minute, I blurted out in frustration, "Mukluk!" The girls stared at me in amazement, for that, my friends, was the correct response.

There is a lesson to be learned here: learn every word you can, because you never know when a hastily blurted out, funny sounding word will win you the point.

(How did the boys’ team do, you ask? Well, I hardly think that's relevant to the story. Hey, look over there!)

The Sum of All Parts

In fantasy novels, there is a tendency to sprinkle characters like I pour sugar: all over the place. There is usually a main character or three, as well as a multitude of supporting characters most of whom will no doubt drift in and out of our hero’s (or heroine’s) life.

Recently, I finished reading the second novel in Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series. In the second book, the hero (Richard) and heroine (Kahlan), as well as the kindly Wizard (who is also a mainstay of fantasy novels), are separated, each one going on their own separate adventure, populated by its own unique cast of characters. It never occurred to me how often writers of fantasy novels separate their characters. It’s been done in Lord of the Rings, it’s been done in the Wheel of Time books, by Robert Jordan, and it’s been done in this series. In fact, a little case of separation anxiety serves a few purposes for the reader.

First, the writer realizes that, while we might enjoy the interactions of the main characters when they are together, the separation allows them to grow and to shine in their own way. The heroine cannot lead an army to victory when the hero would be the one she deferred to if he was there. Likewise, the hero could not grow into the character he needs to be to defeat the Big Bad if he is allowed to rely on the heroine to lead him through a strange land.

Second, the reader, who may identify with one character or the other, might enjoy a respite from a perceived annoyance when they are together. This especially works well when the hero and heroine are in love. No together time means that we can avoid too much mushy stuff and get right down to the sword-swinging and magic-wielding.

Of course, there are always drawbacks to having them separate. At first, I was actually annoyed that the writer did this. Not because I disliked any particular character, but because I was so invested in Richard’s story, that any divergence into Kahlan’s story was met with rolled eyes and a wish to get through her story quickly so that I could get back to Richard’s journey through magic and prophecy.

It was only after I thought on how often writers use this tool that I was mollified. In fact, I have used the same tactic in my writing, separating my characters for the sake of the story.

Characters often do things that the reader does not like. They can be whiny, heart-broken, dim-witted or just oblivious. Every reader will have a story thread that they like above the others, and will often skip passages to get there faster (I was guilty of that when I was younger). My advice is to take it slow. Savour each thread and character as they come along, because often the author knows exactly what he or she is doing. You may not like it, but when the author brings together the converging storylines, when the characters are reunited, you will have realized just how much you might have actually enjoyed each and every thread. And when you cannot wait to see what happens in the next book of the series, you have just had a wonderful reading experience

Remember, the sum is greater then its parts. Even if some parts involves mushy stuff instead of swords.

This is Your Conductor Speaking

When first I had the idea to start this blog, I agonized over the name. I knew I wanted it to be a haven for writers, but I also knew that I wanted to be able to write about my own thoughts and to hone my own skills as a writer.

For inspiration, I perused my bookshelf, which right now occupies two high bookcases, one smaller bookcase and the shelf in my closet (not to mention my nightstand). I happened to glance over at Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton, which got me thinking on the author, who recently passed away, and all the enjoyable hours that I have spent with his material. One of the first books of his that I enjoyed was The Great Train Robbery (now stay with me, I am going someplace with this).

Thinking of trains got me reminiscing about all those old westerns, especially all those that have a chase scene through the train, out the back and onto the roofs of the cars (for the near perfect version of a future train robbery, go watch Firefly. It’s worth it, trust me). It was then that I remembered the caboose (told you I was going somewhere). The caboose, in addition to being a funny word in and of itself, is the part of the train which I was most fascinated with. Something about standing on the platform, watching the scenery flash by you in the opposite direction tickled me. When I happened to look up the word on Wikipedia, here is what it had to say:

The caboose provided the train crew with a shelter at the rear of the train. They
could exit the train for switching or to protect the rear of the train
when stopped...The conductor kept records and handled business from a table or desk in the caboose. For longer trips the caboose provided minimal living quarters, and was frequently personalized and decorated with pictures and posters.

And so, we come to the reason of my selection. The caboose was a place of business, but was also used as a living quarters, which was personalized by each of its occupants. I want this blog to be my own recording place, somewhere I can take care of business when I see fit, but also be my own corner where I can personalize and decorate with my unique brand of quirkiness.

And so was born...The Writer's Caboose! And now you know…the rest of the story.

The Writer's Caboose

Welcome one and all to the Writer's Caboose, a blog which I hope will provide answers to questions that you may have, give you questions to ponder that you may not have thought about, and generally serve as an outlet for my writer's block and occasional insanity.

I am also hoping that this will serve as a writer's sanctuary—where authors and book lovers will discover how to stave off writer’s block; find my thoughts on books new and old; unearth answers to that nagging grammar question; and hopefully are inspired by quotes that I will occasionally provide. If you accidentally find yourself coming by my little corner of the Internet, then I bid you welcome and hope that you will come back for what will surely be an evolving and interesting journey.