The Grasshopper, Issue #92: So It Goes
“Laughter and crying are physiologically the same” ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Last night I stumbled onto a great short documentary about Vonnegut called The Children’s Crusade (PBS). It dealt with his masterpiece Slaughterhouse Five, a book that not only changed his life but captured warfare with a unique voice and a surrealistic interweaving of stories.
One odd fact was that the book still sells 100,000 copies annually. But the best parts of the doc are the clips of Vonnegut in various interviews. His perspective is always different and he had the ability to cut through bullshit and give us life just as it is or was.
In the book, whenever a death is referenced in any way, and there is a lot of it, the reference is followed by the phrase, ‘so it goes’, a kind of coda I imagine said with shrugged shoulders.
When I was eighteen I worked in a large locally owned bookstore, the largest, it was said, between NYC and Chicago. I worked in the hardcover department which was found in the front of the store. Paperbacks were in the basement along with the model train department.
The store also had a stationary department and a map store, two things whose use has become largely a thing of the past. A time when letters were still sent and often on personalized stationary. It was the best bad paying job an eighteen year old could have.
A book release by Vonnegut was an event and we might sell a hundred hardcover copies in a day or two, especially if a title was featured on the Today Show that morning. A different time for writers.
My relationship with books has changed since then. I was never without a book in progress and there were endless things to read as I tried to catch up on 100 years of great writing. Today I rely on recommendations from friends to wade through the ocean of new titles and finding something really good is a rare gift.
I have to admit that going into the new book section of the library, or a bookstore, is daunting now because I see so many new titles and think about the amount of time and psychic energy a writer devoted to each, often only to see their work disappear into wherever non-bestsellers go.
To be honest, that discouragement I feel makes me wonder why I might write a novel again if it won’t get read. It’s one of the reasons I do the online writing I do these days. Only one of my books sold well and it was about kitchen design, a mundane but ubiquitous topic that is evergreen. Dreaming about new kitchens is a common thing.
I’m rewriting a novel and I try not to think about what happens after that. Finding an agent, getting it read, etc. The whole process has not changed much since the 90s when I was writing those non-fiction books.
This morning I wrote about a change in the tone of this year’s election. You’ll see it in the next release of The Witness Chronicles. It shares an optimism I’m feeling as this new year unfolds, an optimism whose roots are not entirely clear, but whose emergence is welcome.
My daily writing is tied closely to current events which means it has to get published quickly to be relevant. I’ve developed a process that typically means writing in the morning, setting it aside for a few hours, then going back and editing, then publishing in two places, the Witness and Medium.
It’s a routine I enjoy that has a rhythm to it when it’s going well, even as it adds up to a thousand or more words daily in addition to writing my newsletters. It never feels like an obligation or work, which is a gift.
As the political world heats up there is a limit to the bandwidth I have as a writer, requiring me to pick and choose my topics. I believe this improves my writing because I’m less likely to go with a story I’m on the fence about.
Anyone who reads The Grasshopper knows I am a believer in putting your work out there on a public platform where it can find readers. Part of my enthusiasm for this is because a lot of my writing life was waiting, often for months, just to see my work go out into the world.
And then never really getting any feedback from readers. That’s all changed and I’m not really sure younger writers fully appreciate it and understand the responsibility to themselves involved. Sure, you can crank out junk, call it content, and hope it brings in a few bucks.
But there’s no growth in that. Becoming a better writer and communicator should, I think, be the primary goal. I mentioned rhythm earlier and I think it is more important to good writing than we may think. When your work improves, you start to feel a groove. It moves along at the right pace. Like anything else, getting that beat requires practice and finding your own sound.
A lot of writing advice focuses on things like how to construct a compelling title, something I’m fascinated by, but maybe for different reasons. I always start with a title and it sets the tone and sets off the rhythm of the piece.
These are of course musician metaphors, not surprising because I was a bass player for years. You develop your ear through practice and I think that’s just as important when learning to write.
This week we are going to have a January thaw, a little bit of a warmup that follows a few weeks of bitter cold, and recently, some actual snowfall. I’m looking forward to it. I’m a walker and slushy or icy sidewalks are my nemesis. It can pour rain this week for all I care, at least I can walk in it.
Somehow it is the last week in January, a month that I typically experience as a long slog, but somehow this one is zipping by, getting us closer to spring. More optimism I guess.
Did you write today?
Martin
1031 words
~ I write The Grasshopper, a letter for creatives, The Witness Chronicles, a place for my articles on politics and climate, and The Remarkable, a recovery letter, about my addiction and reentry experience. All are weekly and free, however this is how I live and I strongly believe all writers and creatives should get paid, if we provide value. Your upgrade to a paid subscription helps make that happen.
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Believe me, it makes my day. M
"Laughing and crying" are the same release. As Joni Mitchel sang. I believe it to be so. And life goes on. We are living in an unknown world these days. So I continue to laugh. and cry. Every damn day.
I appreciate your posts, practical and motivating.