Great Flaubert quote

"It is a delicious thing to write, to be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your own creating. Today, for instance, as man and woman, both lover and mistress, I rode in a forest on an autumn afternoon under the yellow leaves, and I was also the horses, the leaves, the wind, the words my people uttered, even the red sun that made them almost close their love-drowned eyes."--Gustave Flaubert

What's the difference between writers and liars?

Here is a great quote for writers and storytellers of all kinds:

"A storyteller makes up things to help other people, a liar makes things up to help himself." Daniel Wallace

This says something about writers, though writers are often thought of as recluses or anti-social, they are motivated out of love. They don't write for themselves (that's a diarist), they write to share with others. We all secretly hope that our work will touch others and maybe make their world just a little better.

Keep those stories coming. Thanks

Jim Busch for the Ligonier Valley Writers

Louise Penny on Developing a Character

My wife and kids accuse me of watching "Nerd TV." Perhaps they are right because one of my favorite shows is "Well Read," which airs on the cable channel WQEDW (201 on my cable system). I just watched a fascinating interview with Louise Penny, author of the Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series. When asked how she created the character, Ms. Penny replied, "I imagined him as the kind of man I would like to marry." Contrary to the advice given to most first time authors, she said that she didn't consider the market when she created the first book in her series. She did not expect the book to be published, so she wrote for her own enjoyment. Ms. Penny wanted the act of writing the book itself to be her reward, her payoff,  for doing the work. She advised writers to embrace the act of writing, "You might write ten pages about a handsome man your encounter or ten pages about a bouquet of roses." These pages probably won't be part of your finished book, but write them anyway."

If you are a writer or interested in becoming one, visit the the Ligonier Valley Writers website http://www.lvwonline.org/ to learn more about upcoming LVW programs. You will also find information on submitting your articles, stories, poems or artwork for the upcoming edition of the Loyalhanna Review.

Keep writing, keep thinking , and keep the ideas flowing.

Thanks for reading.

Jim Busch     

Art--The big YES!!!!

I love this quote from poet Marvin Bell. I think it has a lot of mewning to writers and all other artistic types.

"Much of our lives involves the word 'no.' In school we are mostly told, 'Don't do it this way. Do it that way.' But art is the big yes. In art, you get a chance to make something where there was nothing."

Thanks for reading.

Jim Busch.

Mary Pipher on Stories

"Telling stories never fails to produce good in the universe!"--Mary Pipher

Psychologist and writer Mary Pipher is a great believer in the power of story to improve the world. She made this quite clear in her book "Writing to change the world." Each time we sit down and write a story, a poem or an essay we make the world a little better because we help people to connect with one another.

Keep your fingers on the keyborad, keep the ideas flowing and your dreams alive.

Thanks

Jim Busch for the LVW