Wonderful book for writers

We live in an increasingly curated world. We are given suggestions on what to read and what to watch by sophisticated algorithms. These complex calculations determine what we will like by what we have enjoyed in the past. The problem with this approach is that we find ourselves being channeled into a narrow pathway like cattle sent down a shoot. 

There is something to be said for randomness and serendipity. I like to wander the secondhand stores and library sales to discover books that haven't been chosen for me. I delight in finding books that I've never heard of from authors tat are new to me. These books often take me to new and wonderful places that I didn't even know existed.

I just picked up a book that I found in just this way, The Little Virtues by Italian writer Natalie Ginzburg. This little book is a collection of essays about her life during and after World War II. The essay titled My Vocation is a very instructive and entertaining piece for any aspiring writer. When the Coronavirus Crisis is over I intend to track down some more of Ginzburg's books. 

One passage is particularly applicable in this time of quarantine: "at the moment someone is writing he is miraculously driven to forget the immediate circumstances of his own life."

Keep writing and stay safe.

Jim Busch 

John D MacDonald on what makes a story

What makes a story a story? Is it just a collection of words? An article on choosing a lawnmower is a collection of words, but it is hardly a story. Stories engage us. They pull us in and hold our interest. Here is author John D. MacDonald"s definition of what makes a story a story:

"Story is something happening to someone you've been led to care about."

A good story has two elements, characters we care about and a sequence of events which happen to them. 

Keep your cheeks in the seat and your fingers on the keyboard and keep writing. 

Thanks

Jim Busch