cyberdad wrote:
John licked his lips....as the sweat dripped down in his receding hairline as he ventured closer and closer to his ultimate goal. He picked up the old fountain pen and dipped the nib in a pot of India ink and started writing on an old parchment.
And so began the greatest novel ever written.....(somebody finish the rest)
John learned his lesson the hard way. His mixture of indignation and grim determination turned out to be the most powerful of motivators. And he would conjure forth all the techniques passed onto him by his mentor - the late Dr. Mandeville - to produce a literary work comparable to even Joyce or Faulkner... or die trying.
Alas, Dr. Mandeville himself would never see the fruits of his diligent student's labor. He had to settle with the impromptu tomb beneath the floorboards of John's study, with the bane of his existence - a poker thrusted through his skull via the left eye socket - accompanying him on his premature voyage to the afterlife. Only too late - in his death throes, even - did the good doctor realize the folly of writing such a scathing review of John's first book.
Nor did Dr. Mandeville know that John's other mentor, his dark muse, took his payment in blood. Literally. And with a price tag worthy of Savile Row, to boot. How kind of the good doctor to help John pay the full installment in advance. And who could really blame him? A lot of writers would probably make a deal with the Devil to get out of writer's block. Well, that's exactly what John did. (somebody finish the rest).
Kraichgauer wrote:
The best advice for any writer I can give is: read a lot, and write a lot. Sounds trite, but there's nothing better than seeing how other writers do it, and there is nothing better like honing your writing skills with practice.
I think I got the "read a lot" part covered, and I am working through a "must-read" list of works.
However, I have noticed that I find the topics of a lot of highly celebrated works uninteresting. I detest family drama, for instance, but it is abundant in literature. As such, it can be difficult to motivate myself to sit down and finish a book - regardless of its literary worth - when the subject matter itself simply bores me.
Faulkner suggested reading everything. And by the way, even though some might consider this blasphemy, I find many of the old classics to have writing styles that are clearly dated. That even includes Poe and Melville.
From reading that sample you provided, I dare say you're more than ready to write.
14 Oct 2020, 8:41 am
