Sailing Despite the Storms

So I  picked up Rollo May's book The Courage to Create, thinking to myself how this would be yet another book that discussed methods of creativity. 

Boy, was I wrong. 

The Courage to Create is way more than a book on artistic style and creativity.  It's basically a giant life manual highlighting the absolute necessity of artistic endeavor to the human experience.  Perhaps a better comparison would be a babbling river of philosophy meandering through canyons of poetry, weaver watery postcard signatures that sound as though they should be scrawled within fortune cookies. 

Some freakin' HUGE fortune cookies 

The Essentials:


First and foremost,  Rollo claims that creativity is essential for life, not just making art.  A life without creativity is hollow and meaningless.  This is why creativity matters. 


Rollo goes on further to explain the role of courage in the process of creation.  It is courage that pumps lifeblood into all other virtues and aspects of self.  Courage cannot exist without fear, and only in overcoming fear can one engage in creation. 

Sometimes that's easier said than done. 

There are plenty of artists who completely agree with Rollo on that point, too.  He recounts many experiences he's shared with various artists, most notably Georgia O'Keeffe, who said:


"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do." 

Rollo further claims that conquering fear (and by extension creating art) requires choice.  People are not like acorns naturally bursting our shells and growing into towering oaks.  We must find our inner selves and live up to our potential.  Artists are shaped and strengthened by genuinely creative activities, which Rollo calls "encounters."  It's when a poet pushes past their fears and pens their soul, when a painter captures a moment in time, that an artist grows.  And keeps growing! 

a process that goes on forever...

These "encounters" help artists to express themselves.  Anybody who bottles their truest self away is a traitor to themselves and the people around them.  Remember, creativity is conquering fear - fear of what people think, fear of failure, and so on. 

The Experience:

I'm not gonna lie, The Courage to Create is dense.  Rollo's got a lot of philosophical mojo going on, and it might be easier for some readers (such as myself) to enjoy his writing in small doses.  Like cologne. 

Small doses, Tom!!

Anybody with an interest in art as part of the human experience will really enjoy The Courage to Create.  Not sure it should jump to the top of anybody's holiday reading list, but definitely worth a read. 


I'll leave with my favorite passage from the book (which is actually a fragment of a huge passage from the book):


"Poets may be delightful in the meadow or garret, but they are menaces on the assembly line." 


So go out and be spontaneous!  Don't be afraid to sail into the storm.  Who knows - you might come out of it with something weird and wonderful. 




Maybe more weird than wonderful...

Again, I'd like to state that none of the above images belong to me.  They are graciously provided by the generous all-knowing Google.  Fortune cookies are obviously the most reliable method for planning one's future.  Gravity Falls is a hilarious cartoon, which is surprising since it's produced by Disney.  Olan Rogers is a funny, funny man.  You should watch his YouTube videos posthaste.  Parks and Rec is quite possibly the greatest comedy on Netflix, and you should binge watch it over Christmas break.  Again, none of these images are mine.  They just sorta happened to find themselves on my blog page. 

Voyage Closed and Done

This past weekend left me with a dilemma.  What to do with the sudden surplus of free time?  Well the weekend brought stormy weather, so naturally I decided to finally catch up on some non-academic reading.  And so I finished a rather popular novel by John Green, entitled

Paper Towns


The Synopsis:

Quentin and Margo were great childhood friends.  Until the two stumbled upon the rotted corpse of a suicidal man in the park.  Since then, the two have drifted apart.  Quentin hangs out with the band geeks, while Margo is enthroned among the popular kids.  Quentin loves her desperately from afar, but can't muster up the spine to admit his feelings to her. 

Fortunately for Quentin, Margo sneaks back into his life one night when she climbs in through his bedroom window.  The two proceed to gallivant about town, pranking the poor souls on Margo's hit list and generally acting out their teenage angst. 

But then, gasp, plot twist!  Margo suddenly disappears.  Now Quentin and his ragtag team of misfits must hunt her down before Margo vanishes from Quentin's life forever.  Armed with an old van, a Wikipedia ripoff, and an army of black Santas, Quentin and his fellow high school flunkies chase down Margo's needlessly complicated clues to try to find her before it's too late. 

The Genre: 

Paper Towns is a young adult novel, and as such, features all the obligatory musts of the genre.  There's the troubled romance, the coming-of-age narrative, the high school drama.  But John Green does in Paper Towns what he did in Looking For Alaska - he transcends the genre.  Really, there's some heavy stuff in this book.  Existentialism, suicide, Walt Whitman.  Green doesn't just confine his writing for pubescent adolescents, there's plenty of serious talk and dirty humor to float more mature boats as well. 

The Done-Rights: 

By far, the greatest strength of Green's narratives are his characters.  They are at once instantly memorable, but still capable of depth and substance.  Radio, the obligatory black friend, for example, happens to obsessively operate an online encyclopedia database.  But on more than one occasion, he winds up being the voice of reason amidst Quinton's obsession.  And of course there's Margo herself - teen goddess adored by all, who abandons her life to start anew.  The entire novel is about the complexities of identity and how you can never really know a person. 

Green's humor is definitely spot on, ranging from sexual innuendo to situational comedy.  And while that sounds like it should be obvious, it's really important that Green sprinkled a few laughs in there.  The story would be really dark and droll without them. 

The Verdict: 

 While Paper Towns may not be as fluid and engaging as Looking for Alaska, it certainly warrants its own reading.  There's a lot going on beneath the surface of Green's novel, so much so that he included a list of essay ideas for critical thinking at the end of the book (that's not a joke, he really did).  And while the story can drag at parts, Green's characters are strong and his fluid prose does not fail him. 

I give Paper Towns an 8 out of 10 and four fat stars. 

 

Again, all images belong to their respective owners.  Potter's Puppet Pals is a funny bunch of videos you should watch on YouTube.  Jim Carrey is quite possibly the funniest man in the history of ever.  The image used is from his movie Bruce Almighty, where he is endowed with all God's powers.  That nutjob bantering with himself in the mirror is Edward Nygma, as seen on Gotham, which is a show you should watch on Netflix. 

 

(Ironically enough, the only important person who isn't tremendously memorable in Paper Towns is the protagonist, Quentin.  While everybody else has something that instantly sets them apart - Radio's website, Ben's kidney infection, Margo's restlessness - Quentin's character is basically driven and defined by his attraction to Margo Spiegelman.  There's enough character there to carry the story, but that's really all there is to Quentin.) 
 

Voodoo and Frogmen

As a reader, I struggle to keep my nose in just one book.  My bedside tables are piled with novels of different genres to whet my literary appetite.  Sometimes I'll read a chapter or two from Game of Thrones, sometimes I'll plow through a Matthew Reilly misadventure.  A few days ago, I finished rereading a book by one of my favorite authors, Dean Koontz. 
 
TICK TOCK
 
The Synopsis:
 
Tommy Phan is a Vietnamese-American desperately embracing American culture - devouring artery-clogging cheeseburgers, writing cheesy detective novels, and avoiding his family and their Vietnamese heritage.  More recently, he's bought himself a cobalt blue Corvette, the pinnacle of his American dream. 
 
Tommy's blissful dream is spoiled, however, when he returns home to find an unusual ragdoll on his doorstep.  At first it seems completely harmless, and so Tommy brings it inside. 
 
 

 
And while Tommy tries to escape his Vietnamese roots in his idealized mystery character Chip Nguyen, strange things start happening.  The ragdoll disappears, and soon Tommy is desperately trying to escape this otherworldly threat.  There's not much help to be found -a few members of his family, an enigmatic beauty named Deliverance- as he runs for his life, trying to puzzle together this strange demonic doll. 
 
The Genre:
 
Dean Koontz always toys with genre, but he really pairs off an oddball couple for Tick Tock.  Seriously, the novel kicks off as a horror story, but by the end of the book, it's matured into a screwball comedy.  The humor starts off light at first, but it picks up speed with every turning page.  Eventually, the suspense is almost completely overwhelmed by the fast-pace funnies that Koontz pitches at the reader. 
 
I say almost because Koontz makes the superobjective very clear in this book.  The ragdoll types out a warning message on Tommy's computer, stating that "The deadline is dawn."  So Tommy must try to survive until daybreak - much easier said than done.  So while the humor certainly provides relief from the horror elements, it doesn't ever quite overwhelm the overarching narrative. 
 
The Done-Rights:
 
The humor is really the greatest strength of the novel.  Koontz carves out his characters with care, and this is especially true of Tommy Phan.  His dialogues with the various other characters, and none more so than Deliverance Payne, are exquisitely crafted to not only develop character depth but keep readers rolling with laughter.  On top of that, Koontz's trademark prose is present, filling the novel with gorgeous imagery and fantastic POV narration.  All in all, it's a wild ride. 
 
The Verdict:
 
While Tick Tock may not be Dean Koontz's best novel (there are a lot of contenders for that position), it's a quick read and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that.  Horror fans will get their fill of suspense and supernatural, while readers looking for laughs won't leave disappointed. 
 
I give Tick Tock four stars, or a solid 8.5 for the decimal lovers out there. 
 
 
 
Images belong to their respective owners.  Jurassic World is a fantastic movie that you should watch.  Seriously, it's the best installment of the franchise since the original aired in '93. 
 
I'm not sure I understand people's aversion to rereading books.  If you love a movie, nobody bothers you if you watch it more than once.  But that's a rant for another day. 

Gifting Your Pearls

If branching out into the literary community is the what, then I've been reading up on the how.  A lot of people have a lot of recommendations for how to swim in literary waters.  Some of these suggestions seem challenging, like volunteering at writing workshops and maintaining a strong online presence.  Some of them, however, are far simpler. 

Both Austin Kleon and Lori May discuss how important kindness is to a writer as a member of their literary community.  Both agree that it's crucial to play nice. 

This seems like such a simple thing, but again, there's that question of how.  How can one show kindness towards their literary community?  Lori May, in her book The Write Crowd, says that "one small kind gesture can provide a smile on someone else's face for the rest of the day; one tiny nod of support can make another feel like all the downs are worth the ups." (149)  Whether it's simply tweeting about an author you love or encouraging a writer not to give up on their exhausting novel, we as writers can uplift and help our pen-wielding comrades.

Kleon says it nicely in his book Steal Like An Artist - "Make Friends, Ignore Enemies."  Yes, there are those lacking in the kindness department.  There's something about the Internet that often robs people of their human decency.  The trick is not to let those waves of negativity sink your spirit.  Pay no attention to the bloated blogs and the turbulent tweets that mock and deride.  Do like Ron Burgundy:

I've particularly enjoyed reading Kleon's works on creativity.  He's got a delightful tone and some keen insights.  And among all his recommendations for writers looking to better their craft and dip a toe into their literary community, I find "Be Nice" his greatest piece of advice. 

As writers, we like to put our work (our good work) out after we've smoothed out its edges and polished it until we think it shines.  Do we have the same standards for ourselves?  What part of ourselves do we offer to the people around us?  Are we sharing smiles, kindness, support - our personal pearls - or are we recoiling from the chance to do goo? 

Write that letter to your favorite author.  Tweet that review of the book you loved.  Encourage somebody to write that poem they're always talking about.  And whatever you do, don't go around putting people down or posting hateful comments. 

Kleon quotes Kurt Vonnegut to help him drive this point home:

"There's only one rule I know of: You've got to be kind." 


All images are property of their respected owners.  Special thanks to giphy.com for providing ungodly amounts of entertaining little animations.  Harry Potter, Ron Burgundy, and Adventure Time are all awesome and you should watch them. 

a Sea of Ink

So I'm a writer.  And I know what you're thinking -there are tons of writers.  A couple of clicks online and we're surfing an ocean of blogs, a sea of ink and jpegs.  Between Facebook and YouTube, who's got time for yet another blog?  Who makes time to hashtag things that make them laugh? 

As a writer, I've found myself to be a bit of hermit crab, hiding my work away from curious eyes and withdrawing myself from this torrential tide of text that bombards me everyday on social media.  I'm very careful to moderate my time online, and even more careful with rough drafts and experimental fictions I've worked on.  Needless to say, it's past time for me to branch out. 

I've made steps to come out from under this rock I live in.  I've taken workshop classes (which force you to present your work to others), I've met with other writers to discuss our craft.  Yesterday, I started my first Twitter account.  I'm even taking a literary citizenship class to help me branch out. 

In this online ocean, I don't want to be a hermit crab.  I want to be a squid, reaching out with many arms through many medias, grasping at ways to better my writing and anyone who can help in that regard.  The sea is a big place, and we can all help each other reach new depths. 

So here I am, reaching out.  And you should reach out, too.  Tweet about that one poem you liked.  Post on Facebook about what books you're reading.  The Internet is a big place, and there's room enough for everyone to make a splash. 

So go make your splash!