lizross's Xanga

Beyond Busy!!

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 05:55:03 GMT

Obviously, since I haven't posted here in months.

Been considering doing the "open house" style meetings with authors/artists in my home. Oddly enough, someone pointed out that constructive conversation about writing in general or about specific works is incompatible with social situations. Anyone out there agree with that "someone"?

Lie as an author....

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 17:43:54 GMT

...and lose your contract. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/02/23/books.frey.reut/index.html James Frey has officially lost his book deal from Penguin. It would be nice to just say "all's well that ends well" on this one, but there is no reason to expect that there will be sweeping changes in the book industry as a result of this.

Think before you click...

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:27:03 GMT

Big brother is at it again, but at least someone other than Google is questioning the Attorney General.

In spite of any complaints, I doubt Google will be able to keep the high ground on this. The public is still asleep.

Thanks...

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:00:20 GMT

I'm glad to see that there are some people reading this blog!

As for the "Fact or Fiction" debate, I posted more information about creative nonfiction here. (SteveJ, I'm not picking on you with that post on the other blog! Even the publishing industry can't manage to pick a definition for this genre and stick with it.) For the sake of my sanity, I'm going to keep longer posts about writing on that blog. Because I post regularly in three blogs now, I'm trying to categorize content in them.

Fact or Fiction?

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:31:37 GMT

Oprah's opened the can of worms again, with a new debate starting in the bookselling industry about where to categorize Night by Elie Weisel.

I would have agreed to remove it from the fiction list if the author hadn't admitted to fabricating some details. In spite of that issue, there is still room to engage in debate on a hypothetical level. Suppose there was no fictional information in this novel. The good question then isn't where the booksellers should place it, but why it would be categorized as nonfiction.

The statement was made that because of the "sophisticated narrative," the book was considered fiction. If it had been completely factual, why wouldn't the term "creative nonfiction" be used to classify it?

Could it be that the marketing managers in the bookselling industry still have not recognized a genre that has been alive and kicking in its current incarnation since the early 1970's?

Creative Nonfiction is nonfiction writing that employs the writing techniques previously limited to fiction and poetics. A factual sophisticated narrative is creative nonfiction - not a novel.

This concept is taught in many colleges and universities, and will hopefully begin trickling down to the public school systems. Regardless what is taught, the booksellers will still neglect to recognize the genre. Why?

The public doesn't ask for nonfiction books written using narrative or poetic styles with the term "creative nonfiction". Maybe the next time you go to a bookstore to purchase a memoir, or collection of true stories written like short fiction, you should ask the clerk where the creative nonfiction is shelved.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:16:17 GMT

Priorities.

That should be a watchword for the Bush administration, but things are rarely what they should be in the White House. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry at the headlines this morning, touting Laura Bush's commitment to education in Africa.

Falling back on the wisdom of my great-grandmother, political activist of the early 1900's, "charity begins at home". True, it is a shame that education is suffering in many countries overseas, but I sincerely question the $600 million being spent there. It's particularly disturbing when coupled with the news that the Fed is cutting the student loan program here for college students. I guess there's no coincidence in the timing on these two stories - the one about the loans floated by a couple weeks ago. Perhaps the administration is counting on the short attention span of the public.

Friday, December 02, 2005

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 15:35:18 GMT

Death of Ethics

Manipulating the Iraqi media was probably in the plans from the start. Now it is tempting to take some perverse pleasure from the situation, and pick up the phone to say something akin to "I told you so" to the Senators who are currently puffing chests in righteous indignation.

Of course there is the dose of Bush administration duplicity in this, as these findings come on the heels of Bush's strategy for victory in Iraq. (Didn't he already declare victory only a couple weeks after the initial invasion? Hmmmmmmm...) Bush stated in his strategy that freedom of the press was of importance in Iraq, so I'm assuming he really meant US military freedom to manipulate the press in Iraq was of importance.

As with anything else in the news today, what really troubles me is what wasn't said. References to a huge ($100 million over five years) contract between the Lincoln Group and Special Operations Command only state that the products from that contract aren't going to be used in Iraq. They graciously inform the public that the products include video, print and web-based contract at least.

It's an obvious question that any first-year journalism student would know to ask: Well, if the Lincoln Group multi-media materials for Special Operations Command are not being used in Iraq, where are they being used? I'll be fair, and state I don't teach journalism per se, but I do teach creative nonfiction. (I know at least one friend who would say the two are the same, but that is another debate.) Hypothetically, if a student of mine was foolish enough to write an article on this situation without asking the question stated above, I would reward that student with a lovely red "F".

True, the military probably would not answer the question, and hide behind National Security (because the contract is probably for a propaganda campaign stateside). In that case, a fair-to-middling journalist should state in the article that the question was asked, but that the military refused to comment. In the AP report today, that is not the case.

Incompetency in reporting aside, the final line of the report is most unsettling. "Everything we do is based on fact not based on fiction..." is a bone-chilling sentence. Television crime dramas in the US are based on fact, and often include script writers taking liberties with the truth for dramatic effect. What liberties are being taken with the truth in Iraq?

In the end, this situation will become barely a blip on the radar, along with the rest of the unethical and/or illegal behaviors of the Bush administration. Nixon just broke into a hotel. Clinton just got caught with his pants down in the oval office. Bush is manipulating media on a worldwide level, destroying portions of the US Intelligence gathering machine, and basing military actions on personal vendettas as opposed to actual threats to US security. That's just a misdemeanor, right?

-x- posted

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:06:10 GMT

Thought for the day:

A writer is an historian. Even fiction has its place in history, and will fill in the gaps of the puzzle of us in the future.

*Said today, in remembrance of those lost to us by AIDS, and in observance of World AIDS Day.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:40:56 GMT

Thought for the day:

Softness is a liability for a writer, unless it is softness of heart accompanied by a hard surface, and solid intellect. Every editor dreads dealing with writers who refuse to accept criticism - either through overly emotional reactions or irrational argumentation in defense of work. Writing is a learning process. Learning is achieved through deconstruction of work through criticism. Good writing is the final product of deconstruction and re-writes. Building a piece of writing is only half of the process, and if one does not have the disposition to allow others to tear down what is built to make it better, one should seriously consider writing only for personal pleasure.

*Note: Today's thought may seem to have been inspired by only one person, but it is definitely caused by many.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 16:49:08 GMT

Thought for the day:

Everything and everyone is potential material. Grasping that concept is the first part of becoming a writer. Managing to keep the potential storylines from interrupting your thoughts while you actually live your life is the second. If you accomplish the first, and fail at the second, you will learn instead to function while you hear voices in your head.