Writing

30/30 underway

October 3, 2018 By Aline Soules

We began writing poems Oct. 1 and will write one a day through Oct. 30. Our line-up is: Jen Stewart Fueston, Karen Greenbaum-Maya, Chad W. Lutz, Rebecca Macijeski, Shea Montgomery, Francesca Moroney, Ally Schwam, and Aline Soules. That’s 8 poems you can read every day at this link: https://www.tupelopress.org/the-3030-project/

So far, so good–for me, at least. I’m writing, although I forgot to send my poem yesterday, and will keep right on going. It’s writing practice with structure. And how much some of us (me?) need structure.

Our goal is to write, of course, but we also want to help Tupelo Press, which has been so good to us all. It’s founder, Jeffrey Levine, is tireless in his efforts to promote poetry. Actually, I expect he gets pretty tired some days because it’s a ton of work, but he never gives up and his press supports the work of women, minorities, and those whom society considers “other” in some way. He helps their voices to be heard. To support these writers and the press, please donate. Even $1 will help. Here’s the donation link to my fundraising page: https://tupelopress.networkforgood.com/projects/58290-aline-soules-s-fundraiser Thanks. Your reward? Click the 3030 project link above and enjoy our creations.

Santa Fe Writers Lab and 30/30

September 27, 2018 By Aline Soules

On Sunday, I travel to Santa Fe to take a five-day workshop with Natalie Goldberg at the Santa Fe Writers Lab. Most of us know her book, Writing Down the Bones, and have used it for inspiration and the creation of new work. When I got a brochure listing the workshops at the Lab (months ago), I phoned immediately. Her workshop was so popular, I was told that I was already applying for the very last slot in the workshop. Lucky me.

Since then, I’ve been reading recommended books to prepare for the amazing week I anticipate experiencing. We are preparing with readings, with some exercises from one of Goldberg’s books, and I already feel more energized about my writing than I have in some months.

Writing is such a strange pursuit, if you think about it. We engage with words, sometimes torturing ourselves over a single one. We dig deep into ourselves to try to write some form of what we think is “the truth,” but, in the end, it’s just one person’s opinion. What we really want is to write something that another person will pick up and say “I know exactly what s/he’s talking about? I feel that, too.”

At the same time, I’ve committed to something called 30/30, in which I last participated in August 2015. This is a fundraising effort sponsored by Tupelo Press. Each month, a small group of participants agree to write 30 poems in 30 days. These are mounted on one of the press’ web pages (https://www.tupelopress.org/the-3030-project/the-3030-project/ for the current month) and you can read a new batch of poems every day (we get Oct. 31 off). The combination of my time in Santa Fe and my commitment to 30/30 will make October a very special month. Interested in supporting my poetry effort and Tupelo Press? Here’s the link to my fundraising page: https://tupelopress.networkforgood.com/projects/58290-aline-soules-s-fundraiser

Image credit: ihmretreat.com

Writer Unboxed, Jane Friedman, and all things helpful

September 4, 2018 By Aline Soules

As a long time writer, I’ve noticed a big change over the years—more help. With the advent of the Internet and Web and the generosity of writers, I’ve been able to query help for my writing much more often in the last decade or so. Two of my favorites are Writer Unboxed (http://writerunboxed.com) and Jane Friedman (http://www.janefriedman.com and her blog, http://www.janefriedman.com/blog). In the latter case, you can also sign up for Jane’s “Electric Speed” and receive emails about her latest advice. Jane also runs a Facebook group called “The Business of Being a Writer.”

While WriterUnboxed is more unabashedly commercial (calling for donations and so on), both offer solid content and both are clearly in love with the writing and fiction and the business of writing, too. With so many of us now finding alternate publishing paths, their advice is particularly helpful.

Of course, there are many other sources for good advice as well, but, over the last year in particular, I’ve found myself turning to these two sources on a more regular basis than any other. I’m grateful for their generosity, their honesty about writing, and the advice they offer. If you’re a writer of fiction, they’re great sources to consult. Thanks to both.

English as an uncommon language, Part I

August 26, 2018 By Aline Soules

It has been said that the Americans and British are separated by a common language. One could argue that all English-speaking countries and peoples are separated by that not so common language. One area of differences centers around accent, dialect, and country idioms, and those differences are both large and small. (I’ll talk about other differences in my next post.)

I was born in Scotland and still have in my possession something called The New Testament in Scots. This book is written in a dialect called “braid” Scots or “broad” Scots. When I’ve had occasion to read to non-Scots a line or two in the accent of my youth, some assume it’s Gaelic; none understands it. To quote the line from the front cover:

“Gin I speak wi the tungs o men an angels, but hae nae luve i my hairt, I am no nane better nor dunnerin press or a rínging cymbal.” (Hint: I Corinthians, 13:1).

And that’s one of the more intelligible lines that I suspect you can figure out. Try this one:

“Efterhend I will gae back an bigg up again

the dwallin o Dauvit, at hes faan;

what is nou but a ruckle I will bigg up again

an raise up the haill aince mair…

That’s from The Book of Acks (Acts), 15:16. “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up…” (I used the King James version of this verse because that’s the origin of the broad Scots bible).

Clearly not clear. I spent time correcting autocorrect to make sure that I reproduced it correctly and it’s still autocorrecting even after I think it’s set, so forgive me if it’s not completely accurate. I can’t take my eyes off autocorrect for one second (pet peeve for another post down the line).

Dialect is one of many differences. You can look at Ebonics, for example, and experience the same thing. According to the dictionary, Ebonics is American black English regarded as a language in its own right rather than as a dialect of standard English. Fair enough. You could probably say the same thing about braid Scots. But we know that these languages have emerged from some form of English, even if they are combined with other elements and have evolved into their own unique entities.

These are more extreme variations, but if you listen to two people talking the same or similar English, those two people may not understand each other because of their different accents or because they “swallow the words,” meaning that people in some dialects speak quickly and don’t verbalize the ends of their words, as if they “swallow” those sounds.

A classic story from my own family was told to me by my father. My father wasn’t born in the UK, but in Poland. His mother was English; his father a mix of French, Austrian, and Polish. During WWII, he ended up in the UK, but had a Polish “flash” on the upper arm of his army jacket at that time. On one occasion, arriving at a train station in London, he overheard a man from Somerset asking a London bobby (policeman) for directions. Their accents were so different that the bobby couldn’t understand the Somersetian, and the Somersetian couldn’t understand the bobby. My father ended up translating between these two Englishmen.

While British accents have “regularized” to some degree since the advent of television, there are still marked differences and native Brits are well able to identify where a person comes from. The same is true to some extent in the US. You might not be able to pinpoint an accent as accurately as is the case in the UK, but you know a Southerner from a New Yorker from a Californian.

So much for a common language.

Image credit: https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-apples-oranges-image3867687

Pet Grammatical Peeves

March 17, 2018 By Aline Soules

We all have them—pet grammatical peeves. We see them or hear them and it’s exactly like fingernails on a blackboard, an itch you can’t scratch, being on the verge of a sneeze that won’t come but won’t go away.
Consider these:

“15 items or less” (although I should give my thanks to Trader Joe’s; their sign reads “15 items or fewer”)
“do you want to lay down?” (Lay down what? Why don’t people understand that the present tense of “lay” is a wholly different verb from the past tense of “lie”?)
“utilize” (what’s wrong with “use”? I refuse to sign any report or letter with “utilize” in it—the pretension is just about as annoying as the uselessness of “utilize”)
“between you and I” (between is a preposition and the pronouns after it should be in objective case, i.e., “between you and me”)
“myself” (nothing wrong with this word, except when people use it because they don’t know whether to use “I” or “me”—see above)

I could keep going, but you get the idea. I bet you have plenty of examples, too. I try to remind myself regularly that English is a living language and, therefore, subject to evolution, but somehow I can’t get past my pet grammatical peeves. While it might sound like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon, I try to respect our language and counteract these problems by doing my best to speak and write grammatically—even when I text. Join me—please.