Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Little of What John Updike Said about Writing
On what sets a writer apart, he said: "There's a confessional impulse that not every literate, intelligent person has. A crazy belief that you have some exciting news about being alive, and I guess that more than talent is what separates those who do it from those who think they'd like to."
About short stories, he said: "...you've got to make everything count toward a certain effect at the end."
In an introduction to his book of essays, he wrote: "Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea."
He said recently: "My ultimate duty to the text, while I'm still alive, is to make it the best I can, so I was hoping to make an absolutely perfect universe here. If only one person in 2050 noticed what I had done, I did not want to make a single mistake."
Of writing books, he said: "You can't think of offending readers. Fiction, it seems to me, should be surprising or abrasive. Fiction should be in your face. I know I've suffered for that -- there are some women who just don't read me because they think I'm sexist or something. What can you say to that at this point -- that I've raised two daughters in the best way I could. I know that criticism has cost me a bit, but you have to sing your own song. You have to write your own books."
And finally, he said: "I'd like to be thought of, at least, as someone who tried to do justice to my own talent and exploited it as fully as I could. And also as someone who was bravely honest, who tried to write generously and in a spirit of interest in his fellow man."
About short stories, he said: "...you've got to make everything count toward a certain effect at the end."
In an introduction to his book of essays, he wrote: "Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea."
He said recently: "My ultimate duty to the text, while I'm still alive, is to make it the best I can, so I was hoping to make an absolutely perfect universe here. If only one person in 2050 noticed what I had done, I did not want to make a single mistake."
Of writing books, he said: "You can't think of offending readers. Fiction, it seems to me, should be surprising or abrasive. Fiction should be in your face. I know I've suffered for that -- there are some women who just don't read me because they think I'm sexist or something. What can you say to that at this point -- that I've raised two daughters in the best way I could. I know that criticism has cost me a bit, but you have to sing your own song. You have to write your own books."
And finally, he said: "I'd like to be thought of, at least, as someone who tried to do justice to my own talent and exploited it as fully as I could. And also as someone who was bravely honest, who tried to write generously and in a spirit of interest in his fellow man."
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Reuters Obit: John Updike
BOSTON (Reuters) - John Updike, a leading writer of his generation who chronicled the drama of small-town American life with flowing and vivid prose, wit and a frank eye for sex, died on Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 76.
"It is with great sadness that I report that John Updike died this morning," said Nicholas Latimer of Alfred A. Knopf, a unit of Random House. "He was one of our greatest writers, and he will be sorely missed."
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author died in a hospice in Massachusetts, the state where he lived for more than half a century, prolific in his writing of novels, short stories, essays and criticism.
Updike's stories often focused on undercurrents of tension masked by the mundane surface of suburban America, which boomed in 1960s and 1970s as his career was taking off. Ripples of sexual tension were frequent.
An early short story, "A&P," chronicled an adolescent boy's inner turmoil when three bikini-clad teenage girls appeared in the supermarket where he worked.
"It's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach," Updike wrote, "and another thing in the cool of the A&P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor."
Updike's frank focus on sex came before the profound changes in U.S. culture of the late 1960s lifted some of the taboo from the topic. His publisher rewrote portions of his second novel, "Rabbit, Run," before its first printing out of fear of being charged with obscenity.
That novel introduced the fictional hero Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, the subject of four Updike novels and a novella over four decades, which won him two Pulitzer Prizes for fiction.
'AMONG THE VERY BEST'
Updike was acclaimed nearly as much for his short stories, poetry and critical essays as for his 28 novels.
More than 800 Updike stories, reviews, poems and articles were published in The New Yorker magazine from 1954 through 2008. Many American readers strongly associated Updike with that publication.
"Even though his literary career transcended any magazine -- he was obviously among the very best writers in the world -- he still loved writing for this weekly magazine, loved being part of an enterprise that he joined when he was so young," said David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.
"He was, for so long, the spirit of The New Yorker and it is very hard to imagine things without him."
William Pritchard, a professor of English at Amherst College who studied and knew Updike, said Updike stood out for his versatility -- writing fiction, nonfiction and verse.
"He stands, for me, at the very top of the practice of being a man of letters," Pritchard said. "Each activity was carried on with great intelligence and wit and love."
'MAKE EVERYTHING COUNT'
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Updike studied English at Harvard University, where he contributed to, and later edited, the satirical Harvard Lampoon magazine. After a year studying at Oxford, Updike moved to New York where he worked for two years on the New Yorker's staff.
In 1957 he moved his family to Ipswich, Massachusetts, a coastal town north of Boston, and later moved to nearby Beverly Farms.
A New England flavor features in Updike's 1984 novel "The Witches of Eastwick," set in a fictional Rhode Island town, which was made into a commercially successful 1987 film starring Jack Nicholson and Cher.
In a Reuters interview in 2005, he said his view of himself as a writer had changed in recent years as he produced an increasing volume of art and literary criticism and struggled with the short-story medium. When asked which genre he preferred, he paused.
"If I had been asked that 10 years ago I would have said short stories is where I feel most at home. I'm not sure I do feel totally at home any more, whether I have maybe written all my short stories," he said.
He was candid about the need to get writing published:
"I've become much more of a book reviewer and an art reviewer for that matter than I ever planned to. At least there is a comfort when you sit down to write one of these that you'll be sure that it will get printed and you'll get paid for it. It's not the case with a short story."
"It is with great sadness that I report that John Updike died this morning," said Nicholas Latimer of Alfred A. Knopf, a unit of Random House. "He was one of our greatest writers, and he will be sorely missed."
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author died in a hospice in Massachusetts, the state where he lived for more than half a century, prolific in his writing of novels, short stories, essays and criticism.
Updike's stories often focused on undercurrents of tension masked by the mundane surface of suburban America, which boomed in 1960s and 1970s as his career was taking off. Ripples of sexual tension were frequent.
An early short story, "A&P," chronicled an adolescent boy's inner turmoil when three bikini-clad teenage girls appeared in the supermarket where he worked.
"It's one thing to have a girl in a bathing suit down on the beach," Updike wrote, "and another thing in the cool of the A&P, under the fluorescent lights, against all those stacked packages, with her feet paddling along naked over our checkerboard green-and-cream rubber-tile floor."
Updike's frank focus on sex came before the profound changes in U.S. culture of the late 1960s lifted some of the taboo from the topic. His publisher rewrote portions of his second novel, "Rabbit, Run," before its first printing out of fear of being charged with obscenity.
That novel introduced the fictional hero Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, the subject of four Updike novels and a novella over four decades, which won him two Pulitzer Prizes for fiction.
'AMONG THE VERY BEST'
Updike was acclaimed nearly as much for his short stories, poetry and critical essays as for his 28 novels.
More than 800 Updike stories, reviews, poems and articles were published in The New Yorker magazine from 1954 through 2008. Many American readers strongly associated Updike with that publication.
"Even though his literary career transcended any magazine -- he was obviously among the very best writers in the world -- he still loved writing for this weekly magazine, loved being part of an enterprise that he joined when he was so young," said David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker.
"He was, for so long, the spirit of The New Yorker and it is very hard to imagine things without him."
William Pritchard, a professor of English at Amherst College who studied and knew Updike, said Updike stood out for his versatility -- writing fiction, nonfiction and verse.
"He stands, for me, at the very top of the practice of being a man of letters," Pritchard said. "Each activity was carried on with great intelligence and wit and love."
'MAKE EVERYTHING COUNT'
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Updike studied English at Harvard University, where he contributed to, and later edited, the satirical Harvard Lampoon magazine. After a year studying at Oxford, Updike moved to New York where he worked for two years on the New Yorker's staff.
In 1957 he moved his family to Ipswich, Massachusetts, a coastal town north of Boston, and later moved to nearby Beverly Farms.
A New England flavor features in Updike's 1984 novel "The Witches of Eastwick," set in a fictional Rhode Island town, which was made into a commercially successful 1987 film starring Jack Nicholson and Cher.
In a Reuters interview in 2005, he said his view of himself as a writer had changed in recent years as he produced an increasing volume of art and literary criticism and struggled with the short-story medium. When asked which genre he preferred, he paused.
"If I had been asked that 10 years ago I would have said short stories is where I feel most at home. I'm not sure I do feel totally at home any more, whether I have maybe written all my short stories," he said.
He was candid about the need to get writing published:
"I've become much more of a book reviewer and an art reviewer for that matter than I ever planned to. At least there is a comfort when you sit down to write one of these that you'll be sure that it will get printed and you'll get paid for it. It's not the case with a short story."
One-Day Workshop in New York City/Feb. 22!
Mike's Writing Workshop and Writers Helping Writers Presents:
The Writing Life
A one-day writers workshop in New York City offering advanced strategies on making it in the publishing world
Please join award-winning writer/journalist Michael P. Geffner, former Simon & Schuster book editor Marcela Landres, and literary agent Regina Brooks for three enlightening hours on the world of big-time publishing.
What: Building the Professional Writing Life; Learning How Editors Think; Finding, Impressing and Landing a Literary Agent
When: Sunday, Feb. 22, 1-4PM (with 4-5PM for private one-on-one consultations)
Where: A gloriously-serene restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens (easy to reach by car or subway)
Cost: $99.00 (PayPal available)
Pre-Registration required before Feb. 18: Please email mgeffy@gmail.com for details.
Register now with payment to reserve your spot! Only 20 people max!
Bios:
Michael P. Geffner has written for Details, Texas Monthly, The Village Voice, USA Today, The Sporting News, Los Angeles Magazine, and The Associated Press. His work has been acknowledged for excellence by The Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press Sports Editors, Best American Sports Writing, New York Press, and the New York Publishers Association.
http://mikeswritingworkshop.blogspot.com
Click here
Marcela Landres is the author of the e-book How Editors Think: The Real Reason They Rejected You, and is the publisher of Latinidad, an award-winning e-zine which was chosen as one of the 101 Best Web Sites for Writers by Writer's Digest Magazine. She speaks frequently for organizations such as the New York Round Table Writers’ Conference, Columbia University, and The National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.
http://www.marcelalandres.com/home.html
Click here
Regina Brooks is the president of the Serendipity Literary Agency LLC., where she represents a diverse base of award-winning clients in adult fiction, nonfiction, and children's literature, including: three-time National Book Award finalist, author Marilyn Nelson; and Oprah Book List pick Sundee Frazier. Brooks has held senior editorial positions at John Wiley and Sons and McGraw-Hill, is the author of Never Finished! Never Done!, and has been featured in Essence, Publishers Weekly, Sister to Sister magazine, and the Writers Digest Guide to Literary Agents.
http://www.serendipitylit.com/Old/
Click here
For an additional charge of $30, you can reserve a 15-minute private consultation with any of the speakers. Book writers should submit no more than 10 double-spaced pages of a manuscript plus a one-page synopsis by Feb 18th, so it can be forwarded well in advance to Ms. Landres (she does not accept poetry or children’s books) or Ms. Brooks. Journalists should submit to Mr. Geffner their query letters and/or resumes of no more than one page, or a story of no more than 10 pages double-spaced. You should include your name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address on the first page of each piece of work.
These one-on-one sessions are open only to workshop attendees.
Testimonials from previous workshops:
"For writers new to the publishing market, but also for those with experience, Michael Geffner's One-Day Publishing Workshops are not to be missed. As someone who has been involved in small-press literary publishing for more than a decade, I can vouch for the good advice given to writers hoping to submit their work to editors and agents. Wearing my other hat, as a writer looking for recognition and support of my own work, I was moved by the generosity that Mr. Geffner and his panelists showed the workshop attendees. The inspiring workshops provide specific advice, opportunities to connect with mentors and peers in a lasting way, and also the unbeatable opportunity to sit one-on-one with professionals in the field, including editors and agents whose attention is otherwise difficult to attract, and receive direct feedback on manuscripts and query letters. Mr. Geffner is on a mission--self-explanatory in the title of his venture, "Writers Helping Writers." You'd be hard pressed to find a better value, or a better way to spend a day, than Mr. Geffner's workshops."
Allison Parker
"A big 'thank you' to Mike Geffner and Marcela Landres for putting so much into Sunday's workshop. I took away so many valuable action points for my next assignment. Thanks for being so generous with the inside track and how to set it all up properly. I walked away with a stack of notes that spoke directly to me and where I am right now. Judging from the writing going on around the room, everyone else was in the same frame of mind. I only wish I had gotten this information 20 years ago. You certainly delivered and I'm going to make sure I don't let you down. For anyone who may have missed it: If we ask really nicely, perhaps they will do it again. Mike and Marcela rock publishing! Thanks again."
Erin Snyder Dixon
"After attending Mike’s workshop I came away with a sense of direction in terms of where to focus my attention on how to find a place for myself as a writer. I now have tools as to where to look for contacts, how to approach the right people and ways to establish myself in this career path. The small group fostered a relaxed atmosphere and great dialogue between the participants and the workshop leaders, which included Marcela Landres. What a treat to be able to pick the collective brains of these two people! Their combined expertise and willingness to share the inside information pertaining to such simple inquiries as to income expectations and the process of publishing a book shed light on questions that too few “insider’s” like to or want to share. Oh and the food was great too!"
Melissa Dorfman
Tip of the Day: Resist!
I know these are tough times for writers, as it is for everybody else.
Virtually every week, we hear news of magazines or newspapers either struggling mightily or, worse, going under. We read about major layoffs, severe cutbacks, and hiring freezes.
And, all the while, we’ve seen our retirement accounts slit right in half.
It’s easy to get down—to simply curl up in a fetal position and all but give up.
So I’m making this suggestion: resist.
That’s right.
Choose not to participate in the misery; instead turn things around with high energy, smart thinking, and positive vibes.
View this moment in your writing life as a wonderful chance to be even more creative about your career.
Think of new strategies to secure work.
Reinvent yourself.
Broaden your horizons.
Get even more active with your networking and letter writing and the like.
Remember, there’s always a way if there’s a will to find it.
Best always and stay positive,
Mike
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