As I stood in line at the pack-n-ship place in town, an elderly farmer came in. An instant character, raw-boned, scarecrow-thin, with a driftwood face and a jujube-size cyst on the edge of his left eyelid. Baggy, sun-faded denims with permanent dirt stains on the seat and a washed-out, long-sleeved gray shirt sagged on his clothesline frame. The wind had combed his pure white hair for him, and on his shoulder hung a homemade canvas fruit picking bag, as if he'd wandered in directly from a grove.
He seemed a bit antsy, and I had fifty pounds of books to ship, so I let him go ahead of me in line. He smelled of dirt and weedkiller, sunshine and old-guy sweat. He told the clerk he wanted to ship the grapefruit in his bag, which the clerk immediately informed him that he couldn't do. Florida currently prohibits private shipping fruit out of state to prevent the spread of citrus canker.
"It's goin'-a Washington D.C.," the farmer told the clerk. "They doan have no groves so they doan care 'bout the canker."
The clerk turned him down a second time and went to answer the phone. The farmer turned to me and asked if the post office would ship his fruit. I told him that, as far as I knew, no one would. While we were waiting for the clerk, the farmer took a grapefruit from his bag and held it out for me to admire.
I eyed what looked like a pale yellow cantelope, with faint rain-mold streaks on the rind (this is a sign of authentic homegrown; the streaks are always washed off commercially-sold fruit, which is sometimes also dyed and waxed.) I'm not exaggerating on the size, either -- it had to be the largest grapefruit I've ever seen. The farmer told me his trees often produced eight pounders. I imagined he spent a lot of time shoring up his trees with cotton ties and two by twos to keep the weight of the fruit from snapping the branches.
I love grapefruit, and miss it terribly (I haven't been able to eat it for six months because it reacts with my medications) but that farmer's goliath specimen made me uneasy. He mentioned his graefruit were very juicy and full of seeds, but what else was in them? What was he using as fertilizer? Had he planted his trees over some septic tanks? Why bring a bag of just-picked grapefruit directly from the grove to a shipper? Anyone even remotely involved with citrus knows the state law; I know it. And why so adamant to send it to Washington D.C.?
I never thought something as ordinary as a grapefruit could give me the creeps, but that one did.
The clerk finally got off the phone, and for the third time refused to ship the grapefruit for the farmer. The farmer asked if he brought in a box to the post office and didn't say there was grapefuit in it, would they ship it? I shrugged. The clerk said it was between him and his conscience. The farmer bought a big box from the clerk, paid for it in quarters and ambled out.
I may have acted non-committal, but I doubted the farmer would get his fruit past the folks at the post office. Grapefruit has a distinctive smell, very sharp-bitter, that is especially intense if the rind is bruised or scored. Unless he seals the shipment in plastic, the odor will give it away.
The encounter got to me, though. By the time I shipped my boxes and returned to my car, I had worked out in my head five different ways to explain the farmer and his strange fruit:
1. A love gift to the farmer's old flame, who is dying of cancer in some hospital in Washington. A nurse will open the box for her and try to whisk it away, her rich husband will veto that, peel one and listen to her talk about the farmer as he feeds her the sections one by one.
2. Shrapnel bombs disguised as grapefruit, being sent to a certain Congressional Committee that has pissed off that farmer for the last time.
3. The final volley in a life-long feud between two brothers: one who got rich selling out the citrus industry as a lobbyist while his brother stayed home to farm the family groves (lobbyist brother has just been convicted in the Abramoff scandal, has lost everything, and is going to jail.)
4. Alien pods carrying something much worse than canker to Washington.
5. Grandpa's annual late-January, post-harvest box, sent as a gift to his son, daughter-in-law and grandkids, who will have to give half away to the neighbors, who will look at the size of them and wonder what the hell we have in the water here in Florida. One of the grandkids will dig out the designer tulip bulbs in her mother's windowbox and plant some of the seeds.
Or the whole thing could serve as the topic of a writer's weblog post on the method she uses to sketch out story ideas to get them out of her thoughts, onto paper and into a file so she can work on the WIP without mutant citrus dancing in her head.
How do you writers out there deal with your strange fruit?
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query strange fruit. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query strange fruit. Sort by date Show all posts
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Strange Fruit II
A dear friend of ours sent over a great big lovely bag of star fruit and pomelos; he grows many exotic delights in his backyard and it's always a treat to see what he's produced this year. My daughter loves star fruit, and has already eaten about half of the first gift, so our friend sent over another bag for her. I promised to make a fresh starfruit tart for her, but I'm wondering if there will be any left by the time I do my baking for the week.
A pomelo is usually called the grandfather of the grapefruit, and is so much tastier than its hybrid offspring that I feel sorry for people who settle for the acid/bitter stuff they sell in the supermarkets. It's not very pretty, though; it looks like a mutant lime (pomelos can grow to be the size of basketballs) and has a very thick rind. If you don't first remove the membranes around the fruit, you'll get a whole mouthful of bitterness.
As we snack on the homegrown goodies, I keep looking at the bowl of beautiful, perfect red delicious apples I have on the kitchen table. They're a gorgeous ruby red, polished to a glow, and now no one wants them (I bought them before our friend sent over his goodies.) They don't make very good baking apples, but I can probably use them for applesauce, dry them into chips, or something along those lines.
Juggling all this fruit made me think about writing, of course -- everything is about writing. Stories are the fruit of our labors, and naturally we want to set out a great big bowl of what we plant and grow and nurture and harvest, and watched it get gobbled up. But what sort of fruit do we put in the bowl, and who's going to want it?
Certainly some of the most popular books I've read out there are just as pretty and polished and perfect as the daintiest of red delicious apples. Not very original or surprising, but definitely dependable and decorative. Then there are those other stories, the ones that seem on the outside to be as humble and homely as a pomelo. On the surface, they can't hold a candle to those apples.
If offered a choice, most people would dump the pomelo in the trash without even trying it, and stick with the lovely, uniform apple, which will taste as they expect: inoffensively sweet, bland, and exactly like the last apple they bought at the store. That, I'm afraid, is human nature.
Not everyone is a same-old same-old apple-lover, thank heavens, or some of us would definitely be out of work. Fortunately for us there are people who want something that surprises them, something they can't always find at every market. They may not know what to call it, or even what they're hoping to taste, but they're not afraid to experiment and try new things. As they do, they develop an appreciation for the unexpected, and while they can always pick up one of those perfect apples, in time I believe they find it doesn't satisfy them anymore.
As writers, we're expected to try to cultivate perfect story apples to be mass marketed in every store around the country, when what we really want to do is grow pomelos in the backyard and give them as gifts to friends.
As storytellers and professionals, should the fruit of our labors fill the bowl, or the bag? Are we only capable of producing one or the other? Or can we grow both? What do you guys think?
A pomelo is usually called the grandfather of the grapefruit, and is so much tastier than its hybrid offspring that I feel sorry for people who settle for the acid/bitter stuff they sell in the supermarkets. It's not very pretty, though; it looks like a mutant lime (pomelos can grow to be the size of basketballs) and has a very thick rind. If you don't first remove the membranes around the fruit, you'll get a whole mouthful of bitterness.
As we snack on the homegrown goodies, I keep looking at the bowl of beautiful, perfect red delicious apples I have on the kitchen table. They're a gorgeous ruby red, polished to a glow, and now no one wants them (I bought them before our friend sent over his goodies.) They don't make very good baking apples, but I can probably use them for applesauce, dry them into chips, or something along those lines.
Juggling all this fruit made me think about writing, of course -- everything is about writing. Stories are the fruit of our labors, and naturally we want to set out a great big bowl of what we plant and grow and nurture and harvest, and watched it get gobbled up. But what sort of fruit do we put in the bowl, and who's going to want it?
Certainly some of the most popular books I've read out there are just as pretty and polished and perfect as the daintiest of red delicious apples. Not very original or surprising, but definitely dependable and decorative. Then there are those other stories, the ones that seem on the outside to be as humble and homely as a pomelo. On the surface, they can't hold a candle to those apples.
If offered a choice, most people would dump the pomelo in the trash without even trying it, and stick with the lovely, uniform apple, which will taste as they expect: inoffensively sweet, bland, and exactly like the last apple they bought at the store. That, I'm afraid, is human nature.
Not everyone is a same-old same-old apple-lover, thank heavens, or some of us would definitely be out of work. Fortunately for us there are people who want something that surprises them, something they can't always find at every market. They may not know what to call it, or even what they're hoping to taste, but they're not afraid to experiment and try new things. As they do, they develop an appreciation for the unexpected, and while they can always pick up one of those perfect apples, in time I believe they find it doesn't satisfy them anymore.
As writers, we're expected to try to cultivate perfect story apples to be mass marketed in every store around the country, when what we really want to do is grow pomelos in the backyard and give them as gifts to friends.
As storytellers and professionals, should the fruit of our labors fill the bowl, or the bag? Are we only capable of producing one or the other? Or can we grow both? What do you guys think?
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Strange Houses
My guy and I love to drive around different towns and look at houses. I'm always checking out the architecture, while he evaluates the property and the landscaping. Since both of us have worked in the past as house painters (there, another bit of professional trivia you didn't know about me) we always talk about the color choices and condition of the exterior paint. This is yet another way in which we're totally boring, but it's one of the few hobbies we share and we think it's fun, which is all that matters.
Since getting more into photography, I've been taking the camera along with me on these drives to snap shots of unusual houses. I especially like small houses versus the big ostentacious McMansions; people who live in little places tend to be less uptight and more creative in their choices. For example, I was fascinated by the long, narrow windows and green roof tiles on this little house (click on any image to see a larger version):
I have to do a little research and find out why those windows are so narrow (probably antiques, and had something to do with weather conditions and/or cost.) I liked seeing the two chairs set out by the flowering shrub, too -- they're facing west, so I'll guess whoever lives in this small charmer likes to come out and watch the sunset.
Here's another home in the same neighborhood:
I can't say the pea-green exterior color, blue roof tiles and the red brick chimney do anything for me, but there was a definitely a castle-type feel to this one. Very stately for a single-family home. I wonder if the owner feels a bit like the ruler of a small kingdom.
Occasionally we'll spot odd things people have on their doors, in their yards or do to things around their home that I also photograph. One of the weirdest I've seen was the very strange fruit of this front-yard tree:
I know in Alsace the makers of brandy put empty bottles on the buds of pear trees so the fruit grows into the bottle (then they pick the bottle and fill it with brandy, and the effect of seeing a whole pear in the bottle is pretty neat) but I'm mystified as to why you would stick wine bottles into the trunk of tree.
When you're creating living spaces for your characters, you're generally concerned about the interior, where most of the action probably happens. But don't forget about the outside of the home -- if someone were to drive by your protagonist's house, what would they see? Adding some personal details and quirks like color choices, architectural features and even something as strange as wine bottles stuck in a tree can give the reader another glimpse into the personality of your character.
Small details can be just as fun to play with as the larger features, too. I thought one of the creepier house shots I took for the photoblog last year had excellent story potential. While standing outside a tea room to read the posted menu, I noticed a trio of suspicious-looking characters hanging out in the corner of one front window:
These cheesy vandals have since relocated from the tea room into one of my novels, because the moment I saw them I knew they were something that my protagonist would paint on one of her window frames. I just didn't know until I saw the real thing.
Since getting more into photography, I've been taking the camera along with me on these drives to snap shots of unusual houses. I especially like small houses versus the big ostentacious McMansions; people who live in little places tend to be less uptight and more creative in their choices. For example, I was fascinated by the long, narrow windows and green roof tiles on this little house (click on any image to see a larger version):
I have to do a little research and find out why those windows are so narrow (probably antiques, and had something to do with weather conditions and/or cost.) I liked seeing the two chairs set out by the flowering shrub, too -- they're facing west, so I'll guess whoever lives in this small charmer likes to come out and watch the sunset.
Here's another home in the same neighborhood:
I can't say the pea-green exterior color, blue roof tiles and the red brick chimney do anything for me, but there was a definitely a castle-type feel to this one. Very stately for a single-family home. I wonder if the owner feels a bit like the ruler of a small kingdom.
Occasionally we'll spot odd things people have on their doors, in their yards or do to things around their home that I also photograph. One of the weirdest I've seen was the very strange fruit of this front-yard tree:
I know in Alsace the makers of brandy put empty bottles on the buds of pear trees so the fruit grows into the bottle (then they pick the bottle and fill it with brandy, and the effect of seeing a whole pear in the bottle is pretty neat) but I'm mystified as to why you would stick wine bottles into the trunk of tree.
When you're creating living spaces for your characters, you're generally concerned about the interior, where most of the action probably happens. But don't forget about the outside of the home -- if someone were to drive by your protagonist's house, what would they see? Adding some personal details and quirks like color choices, architectural features and even something as strange as wine bottles stuck in a tree can give the reader another glimpse into the personality of your character.
Small details can be just as fun to play with as the larger features, too. I thought one of the creepier house shots I took for the photoblog last year had excellent story potential. While standing outside a tea room to read the posted menu, I noticed a trio of suspicious-looking characters hanging out in the corner of one front window:
These cheesy vandals have since relocated from the tea room into one of my novels, because the moment I saw them I knew they were something that my protagonist would paint on one of her window frames. I just didn't know until I saw the real thing.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Off to Do Lots of Stuff
I'm going to give myself the day off to regroup, write, and catch up on things. So that your stop here was not entirely wasted, I thought you might like to check out something strange and beautiful that I discovered this week:
This is a photo of a Jabuticaba tree, a native of South America, which bears fruit on its trunk. I'd never seen or even heard of this tree before I started poking around Kuriositas.com for some info on a chapel made from a lightning-struck tree (that's another story) and found this post about it.
I know, it doesn't have anything to do with writing. Or maybe it does. Either way, I love strange fruit.
Image credit: ign11
This is a photo of a Jabuticaba tree, a native of South America, which bears fruit on its trunk. I'd never seen or even heard of this tree before I started poking around Kuriositas.com for some info on a chapel made from a lightning-struck tree (that's another story) and found this post about it.
I know, it doesn't have anything to do with writing. Or maybe it does. Either way, I love strange fruit.
Image credit: ign11
Sunday, July 06, 2014
Prompt by Pic
One of my favorite ways of finding story inspiration is to go with my camera to an interesting place and snap shots of whatever grabs my attention. Once I'm back home I go through the pics and choose a couple as source prompts for characters, scenes, etc. Here's a slideshow of my most recent visit to a popular flea market:
If you want to try this, once you've taken the pics scroll through them and make some notes on whatever they bring to mind. Here's some of what I thought while look through my shots:
Parrots: I've read plenty of stories with a single parrot in them, but never a pair -- and if they were talking parrots, they could hold their own conversation, or repeat one they've heard.
Red Tin & Ladles: Other than a chef or a pathologist, who would need so many ladles? Since the word ladle comes from an Old English word that means to draw out, could be a fun form of reverse magic wand.
White and Purple Flowers: Pretty, although the shape reminds me of a scorpion preparing to sting someone. What if someone deliberately bioengineered deadly insects to look exactly like beautiful flowers? And then sends you a bouquet of them?
Black Sweater & Brooches: This one is for Dustin: How does a knight wearing only a sweater tunic make himself some armor when he becomes trapped in the dragon's hidden lair of treasure? If you find a lot more brooches, this could be the answer.
Basket of Old Golf Balls, Billiard Ball: Evidence that a golf course also serves as a pool table (of the gods?)
Baby Chicks: A shaman goes to make breakfast, opens a carton of eggs he gathered up in the mountains and discover they've all hatched into newborn (crows, snakes, Yeti . . . )
Golden Apple: Definitely strange to see an apple tree in my neck of the woods. What if it was an orange tree yesterday? What if all the orange trees suddenly began producing a single, perfect golden apple? And what happens when you bite into this strange fruit?
If you want to try this, once you've taken the pics scroll through them and make some notes on whatever they bring to mind. Here's some of what I thought while look through my shots:
Parrots: I've read plenty of stories with a single parrot in them, but never a pair -- and if they were talking parrots, they could hold their own conversation, or repeat one they've heard.
Red Tin & Ladles: Other than a chef or a pathologist, who would need so many ladles? Since the word ladle comes from an Old English word that means to draw out, could be a fun form of reverse magic wand.
White and Purple Flowers: Pretty, although the shape reminds me of a scorpion preparing to sting someone. What if someone deliberately bioengineered deadly insects to look exactly like beautiful flowers? And then sends you a bouquet of them?
Black Sweater & Brooches: This one is for Dustin: How does a knight wearing only a sweater tunic make himself some armor when he becomes trapped in the dragon's hidden lair of treasure? If you find a lot more brooches, this could be the answer.
Basket of Old Golf Balls, Billiard Ball: Evidence that a golf course also serves as a pool table (of the gods?)
Baby Chicks: A shaman goes to make breakfast, opens a carton of eggs he gathered up in the mountains and discover they've all hatched into newborn (crows, snakes, Yeti . . . )
Golden Apple: Definitely strange to see an apple tree in my neck of the woods. What if it was an orange tree yesterday? What if all the orange trees suddenly began producing a single, perfect golden apple? And what happens when you bite into this strange fruit?
Friday, July 20, 2007
Antho'd
I'm going to bail on you guys today to catch up on mom and writer stuff, so no Friday 20 this week.
I mentioned a while back that I accepted an offer to reprint my Strange Fruit post in a how-to writing anthology. The editor promised me a copy of the final edition along with my check, but to be honest, I pretty much forgot about it. I'm not a snob or anything, but it's a small press, and they asked me to be a contributor. Not like they were going to have National Book Award winners in it.
Well, the anthology arrived in the mail today, and I opened the package and took out this nice-looking trade paperback. The rather lengthy title is The New Writer's Handbook 2007: A Practical Anthology of Best Advice for Your Craft and Career, edited by Philip Martin, published by Scarletta Press. Preface by Erica Jong.
I had to read that part three times. Erica Jong? The Erica Jong? What the hell?
I opened the book and checked out the table of contents to see just who contributed to this antho. I'm the fourth writer listed (under Creativity, Motivation and Discipline, page 14.) Right next to writers like Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, Rosina Lippi and Richard Powers.
Yes, that would be Richard the winner of the 2006 National Book Award Powers.
As soon as my chest pains subsided, I checked out the rest of the contributors and spotted a few more familiar names -- Jenna Glatzer, Steve Weber and Bookseller Chick -- and felt a little better. I might be the only vampire fiction writer in the bunch, but at least there were some other bloggers and onliners. So it's cool, and now I think I'll go hide under the bed for a couple of years.
And all this came from that one chance meeting with an old man and his mutant citrus at the pack-n-ship in town. If this isn't the strangest fruit of all, I don't know what is.
I mentioned a while back that I accepted an offer to reprint my Strange Fruit post in a how-to writing anthology. The editor promised me a copy of the final edition along with my check, but to be honest, I pretty much forgot about it. I'm not a snob or anything, but it's a small press, and they asked me to be a contributor. Not like they were going to have National Book Award winners in it.
Well, the anthology arrived in the mail today, and I opened the package and took out this nice-looking trade paperback. The rather lengthy title is The New Writer's Handbook 2007: A Practical Anthology of Best Advice for Your Craft and Career, edited by Philip Martin, published by Scarletta Press. Preface by Erica Jong.
I had to read that part three times. Erica Jong? The Erica Jong? What the hell?
I opened the book and checked out the table of contents to see just who contributed to this antho. I'm the fourth writer listed (under Creativity, Motivation and Discipline, page 14.) Right next to writers like Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, Rosina Lippi and Richard Powers.
Yes, that would be Richard the winner of the 2006 National Book Award Powers.
As soon as my chest pains subsided, I checked out the rest of the contributors and spotted a few more familiar names -- Jenna Glatzer, Steve Weber and Bookseller Chick -- and felt a little better. I might be the only vampire fiction writer in the bunch, but at least there were some other bloggers and onliners. So it's cool, and now I think I'll go hide under the bed for a couple of years.
And all this came from that one chance meeting with an old man and his mutant citrus at the pack-n-ship in town. If this isn't the strangest fruit of all, I don't know what is.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
News
The latest news from Lynn: Her dad Tony is getting better, but his next surgery won't be until some time in March. She'll be back online soon.
Lynn's agent sold two new Darkyn novels to N.A.L., which is going to make my wife very happy. Lynn, if you want to make me happy, sell some more Stardoc books. An editor has made an offer to reprint the post Strange Fruit for a writing book. Lynn said she knew those mutant citrus would somehow make it into print.
- Tom
Lynn's agent sold two new Darkyn novels to N.A.L., which is going to make my wife very happy. Lynn, if you want to make me happy, sell some more Stardoc books. An editor has made an offer to reprint the post Strange Fruit for a writing book. Lynn said she knew those mutant citrus would somehow make it into print.
- Tom
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
RW: Fruit, Strange & Otherwise
My editor sent me this promo info on my latest publication:
"The New Writer’s Handbook 2007 is the inaugural edition of a new annual collection of articles to refresh and upgrade any writer's skills, with advice on craft and career development. It offers an eclectic mix of expert how-tos, short pieces on creativity, marketing, and professional issues, and other insights on being a successful writer today."
[Note: You see how he doesn't specifically mention my topic. Understandable. When you're marketing a new how-to writing book, the last thing you say is "Oh, and there's this thing about mutant grapefruit by that multi-genre chick with 486 pseudonyms."]
He continues:
"The 63 selected articles mostly are drawn from pieces published in 2006–early 2007. Contributors include winners of the National Book Award, Newbery Medal, and other honors, along with working journalists, writing instructors, authors with books on bestseller lists, editors, literary bloggers, and more."
[I believe I would be in the "and more" category here.]
Sections include:
• Creativity, Motivation & Discipline
• The Craft of Writing
• Pitching & Proposals
• Marketing Your Work
• Internet Skills
• Literary Insights & Last Words
Seriously now, it's really a lovely book, and in addition to my adventures at the pack-n-ship in town contains a lot of interesting advice from some very experienced, successful writers. But as always, you don't have to take my word for it.
In comments to this post, tell us about something strange or odd that inspired you in some way (or if you are feeling uninspired of late, just throw your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Friday, July 27, 2007. I'll draw three names at random from everyone who participates, and send the winners a signed-by-me copy of The New Writer's Handbook 2007. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
"The New Writer’s Handbook 2007 is the inaugural edition of a new annual collection of articles to refresh and upgrade any writer's skills, with advice on craft and career development. It offers an eclectic mix of expert how-tos, short pieces on creativity, marketing, and professional issues, and other insights on being a successful writer today."[Note: You see how he doesn't specifically mention my topic. Understandable. When you're marketing a new how-to writing book, the last thing you say is "Oh, and there's this thing about mutant grapefruit by that multi-genre chick with 486 pseudonyms."]
He continues:
"The 63 selected articles mostly are drawn from pieces published in 2006–early 2007. Contributors include winners of the National Book Award, Newbery Medal, and other honors, along with working journalists, writing instructors, authors with books on bestseller lists, editors, literary bloggers, and more."
[I believe I would be in the "and more" category here.]
Sections include:
• Creativity, Motivation & Discipline
• The Craft of Writing
• Pitching & Proposals
• Marketing Your Work
• Internet Skills
• Literary Insights & Last Words
Seriously now, it's really a lovely book, and in addition to my adventures at the pack-n-ship in town contains a lot of interesting advice from some very experienced, successful writers. But as always, you don't have to take my word for it.
In comments to this post, tell us about something strange or odd that inspired you in some way (or if you are feeling uninspired of late, just throw your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Friday, July 27, 2007. I'll draw three names at random from everyone who participates, and send the winners a signed-by-me copy of The New Writer's Handbook 2007. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Helpful Hobbies
I had such a good time reading the entries for the Fruit, Strange & Otherwise giveaway. I'll never look at billboards, tabloid headlines or geese the same way again.
We put the magic hat to work, and the giveaway winners are:
Miri
Siobhan
Sherryl
Winners, please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com, and I'll get these books out to you. My thanks to everyone who joined in.
Writing is regarded by many outsiders as a hobby, not a career. This doesn't change when you turn pro. You can work twice as many hours as your spouse, and slog your way to the top of the industry, but not having an office, 9 to 5 hours or weekly paycheck somehow invalidates your labor as "a real job."
Some writers do view their work as a hobby, and there's nothing wrong with that. One of the great things about writing is that you can do it however and whenever you like.
As for me, people in my family stopped calling my work "Lynn's little hobby" when my books started showing up in airports and grocery stores. The only thing about my writing that ever genuinely impressed my teenager was finding Night Lost being sold at Wal-Mart. Evidently when you make it to Wal-Mart's shelves, you're the real deal.
Writers do a lot of things besides write, and we get as much pleasure out of our hobbies as anyone else. I've noticed two things about writer's real hobbies over the years: 1) there's almost always a creative aspect involved and 2) in some significant way they help with writing.
I think the most common hobby is some form of art. Whether a writer collects it or creates their own, art stimulates the imagination, provokes emotion and thoughts, and contributes to a creative environment, both inside and outside the writer's head. I'm very visual, and painting and sketching have helped me flesh out and nail down characters, settings and scenes. I put together sketches or digital art composites of character models to show my editors what I think a certain character looks like (very helpful during cover art conferences.)
Book binding is an interesting hobby as well as a labor of love, but it's also educational and an art form all on its own. I took one class in Japanese book binding and became so fascinated with the process that I've made most of my journals, private editions and gift books ever since. Being able to make my own books got me in touch with my work in a very different way, too. It's nice to be able to bypass the publishing process and do everything myself.
Many writers become serious book collectors. Collections range from rare editions to covers, authors or genres (I like to collect my favorite authors' complete works.) A few years ago I joined LibraryThing and began cataloguing my personal library online, and have since met some terrific collectors, swapped books with them and found some great new resources for rare editions. Being able to collect all the works by one author has given me a lot of insight into how writers change and grow over the course of a career.
There are probably as many types of crafts out there as there are writers. Whether you're a quilter, knitter, jewelry-maker or potter, your chosen craft allows you to express yourself in the same way a traditional artist does while still making something useful. Crafts are also an excellent way to work off writing- or life-related frustration. I often try crafts that I've chosen to be my characters' hobbies to get a more hands-on experience of what they do.
Do you guys have any hobbies that help you in some way with writing? Tell us about them in comments.
We put the magic hat to work, and the giveaway winners are:
Miri
Siobhan
Sherryl
Winners, please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com, and I'll get these books out to you. My thanks to everyone who joined in.
Writing is regarded by many outsiders as a hobby, not a career. This doesn't change when you turn pro. You can work twice as many hours as your spouse, and slog your way to the top of the industry, but not having an office, 9 to 5 hours or weekly paycheck somehow invalidates your labor as "a real job."
Some writers do view their work as a hobby, and there's nothing wrong with that. One of the great things about writing is that you can do it however and whenever you like.
As for me, people in my family stopped calling my work "Lynn's little hobby" when my books started showing up in airports and grocery stores. The only thing about my writing that ever genuinely impressed my teenager was finding Night Lost being sold at Wal-Mart. Evidently when you make it to Wal-Mart's shelves, you're the real deal.
Writers do a lot of things besides write, and we get as much pleasure out of our hobbies as anyone else. I've noticed two things about writer's real hobbies over the years: 1) there's almost always a creative aspect involved and 2) in some significant way they help with writing.
I think the most common hobby is some form of art. Whether a writer collects it or creates their own, art stimulates the imagination, provokes emotion and thoughts, and contributes to a creative environment, both inside and outside the writer's head. I'm very visual, and painting and sketching have helped me flesh out and nail down characters, settings and scenes. I put together sketches or digital art composites of character models to show my editors what I think a certain character looks like (very helpful during cover art conferences.)
Book binding is an interesting hobby as well as a labor of love, but it's also educational and an art form all on its own. I took one class in Japanese book binding and became so fascinated with the process that I've made most of my journals, private editions and gift books ever since. Being able to make my own books got me in touch with my work in a very different way, too. It's nice to be able to bypass the publishing process and do everything myself.
Many writers become serious book collectors. Collections range from rare editions to covers, authors or genres (I like to collect my favorite authors' complete works.) A few years ago I joined LibraryThing and began cataloguing my personal library online, and have since met some terrific collectors, swapped books with them and found some great new resources for rare editions. Being able to collect all the works by one author has given me a lot of insight into how writers change and grow over the course of a career.
There are probably as many types of crafts out there as there are writers. Whether you're a quilter, knitter, jewelry-maker or potter, your chosen craft allows you to express yourself in the same way a traditional artist does while still making something useful. Crafts are also an excellent way to work off writing- or life-related frustration. I often try crafts that I've chosen to be my characters' hobbies to get a more hands-on experience of what they do.
Do you guys have any hobbies that help you in some way with writing? Tell us about them in comments.
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