Month: May 2010

Pen to Paper: The Great Poem that Almost Wasn’t

Posted on by bryon

Lt. Alexis Helmer was killed and buried on May 2, 1915, a victim of the Battle of St. Julien, one of the four engagements of the Second Battle of Ypres during World War I. A chaplain was not available, and his service was conducted by his friend and former teacher Major John McCrae. McCrae was a surgeon and commanded a field hospital in the Canadian infantry.

The next day, McCrae stole a few minutes from the miseries of his work to write a poem. He had written medical textbooks and was an amateur poet. He looked up occasionally toward the little cemetery where his 22-year-old friend lay. After twenty minutes of writing, he had composed a fifteen-line poem in the rondeau style.

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Pen to Paper: Empathy in Fiction

Posted on by bryon

In his book Homegrown Democrat, Garrison Keillor tells us, “Prizes for brilliance are a dime a dozen: what’s really special is to write something that speaks for others.”

Speaking for others requires empathy: the writer has to have it, and he has to get it into his story and out through his characters so the reader has a chance to catch it. Being merely brilliant suddenly looks pretty easy, doesn’t it?

Sue Monk Kidd, way back in December 2005, wrote about the encounter with a reader that shaped her thinking on writing and empathy. A month ago, Tayari Jones wrote that she can sometimes tell which stories are going to fall flat because their writers don’t have empathy; she also offers an exercise for developing empathy for our characters.

I wouldn’t mind winning one of those dime-a-dozen prizes, but brilliance in writing doesn’t have the kind of shelf life empathy does. Romeo and Juliet and Casablanca aren’t still popular today because they were technically perfect. They last because they speak to and for the human condition. We care about the characters and perhaps think a little differently about some things after encountering them.

Powerful writing gets not merely into our minds but also into our hearts.

ADDENDUM: After posting this, the results of a study were reported: today’s college students test 40% lower in empathy than their counterparts of two and three decades ago. What this could mean for society is pretty scary. What does it mean for writers trying to connect to readers who don’t feel the same emotions we do, or at least not to the same degree?

Fiction: A Day in the Life of Captain SuperMiracle

Posted on by bryon

“Why – why, look! It’s Harkness Rorholm, the church organist and intrepid, three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning, crusading freelance photographer!”

Rorholm smiled at the young man, accustomed to being recognized by well-informed people wherever he went; his handsome Aryan features and naturally wavy blond hair were every bit as familiar to those in the know as his work.

“The very same,” he quipped. He fished a business card from a pocket of his perfectly pressed suit and gave it to the fellow as a souvenir:

Harkness Rorholm
Senior Organist (All Saints Episcopal)
Three-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner
Intrepid, Crusading Freelance Photographer

and it was already autographed.

“Gosh, thanks, Mr. Rorholm!” the youth gushed. Rorholm, still smiling at him, walked on down the sidewalk.

He stopped suddenly, his sensitive nose smelling something burning just as he heard a cry for help. He looked across the street at an open window six stories up in an apartment building where a wisp of smoke lazily trailed out.

He aimed his camera at the window and the altered viewfinder showed him what danger lay inside.

The appeal from the window came louder, and people on the street looked up. Rorholm took advantage of their inattention and swiftly vaulted upward and onto the roof of the building he had been standing in front of. There, under the shade of a water tower, he doffed the outer garments of the organist and freelance photographer and became something even more — Captain SuperMiracle.

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Pen to Paper: Haiku Poet Helps Others Get Started

Posted on by bryon

Michael Dylan Welch is a famous name in the world of haiku. You don’t have to read many of his poems to understand why.

In Becoming a Haiku Poet, Welch guides the reader through some of the basic techniques of what makes a good haiku. This is an excellent primer from one of the best. Haiku is poetry condensed to its essence, and this tutorial is as condensed as haiku itself.

Welch demonstrates how to use inference to build a strong haiku. This is a technique of subtlety, and as someone once said, it takes confidence to be subtle. My own haiku are most commonly not this subtle, but that mastery of inference is something I can enjoy working toward.

Also, note the link to his tips on writing haiku at the bottom of the article.

Pen to Paper: Words and Public Policies

Posted on by bryon

I enjoy Kristen Hoggatt’s “Ask a Poet” column at The Smart Set, an online revival of the old magazine. One can dive in anywhere and be entertained and enlightened by her approach to life through poetry.

The current question someone has asked the poet is timely, coming straight from the headlines. More, it’s relevant to Hoggatt’s personal life, as she relates. Words matter, she reminds us, and convincingly illustrates this conviction with an Emily Dickinson poem.

(You can learn more about Hoggatt and how poetry saved her life here.)

Fiction: Rearview Mirror

Posted on by bryon

Lewis had worked out a simple plan: Load the old propane tank on the ton truck. Back over the gas pump by the old barn. The truck’s hot tailpipe and some fortunate sparks ignite both the gasoline storage tank and the fume-filled propane tank. Half the farm goes up in a massive explosion.

It should be a quick death, he figured, and best of all it would look like an accident; the insurance company would pay off.

Lorna would be at work at the diner, and Sarah would be in school. They wouldn’t get hurt, and they wouldn’t be around to see it happen. He’d sent them both off that morning with smiles and hugs and kisses, so there would be no reason to suspect he’d taken his own life. And they’d have a last happy memory of him.

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