Wait! Before You Return to “Normal”. . .
It’s New Year’s Day and I’m in that in between place—my daughter and son and his girl friend left a few days ago after having not seen them forever and Carlow’s MFA in Creative Writing Program begins tomorrow and opens the next chapter in my life (excuse the pun)—but I can’t let go of the holiday. I feel a need to share two gems with you.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to bestow platitudes like “hope” or “better days ahead” or “look how resilient we all are.” Those have been accumulating via Facebook like pine needles from the dead Christmas tree (and each one made me shed a tear, those little dickens).
No, I have two recommendations that will illuminate life (or, at least, they did for me) before you rush back to your normal life, whatever normal is these days.
*****
Transform Your Life via punctuation?
A grammar book brought me to tears and promised to transform my life. And, all it took was five pages before I became a true believer. I can’t remember who recommended this little book, but I’m passing on the favor, whether you consider yourself a writer or not.
Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape A Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us by Lawrence Weinstein. The author proposes that by changing our sentence structures, we send neural messages to our brain that change us. Now who doesn’t want that for what’s coming in 2022?
I put this book on my wish list and my nephew gifted it to me, not realizing it would be a beacon of light to help me navigate one of the circuitous alleys this writer stumbles down on dark and sleepless nights: Grammar Alley.
Oh, I can diagram a sentence with the best of the 8th graders and juxtapose nouns, verbs, pronouns and adjectives for entertaining images. But for the past four years, as I have attempted to create prose that grabs hold of a reader’s gut, I have sometimes tripped over the fine nuances of grammar like cobblestones lining that dark alley.
But then here comes Weinstein switching on the street light by pointing to colons as a way to demand the reader’s attention, ellipses to create verbal intimacy and communal bonds, and the placement of the prosaic “but” to denote survival and courage or defeat and shame. And for that, I shed a tear: my alley not so dark and void as before.
*****
The Creative Process Comes Alive
Just because you’ve watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” (maybe three times like me?), “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (without any kids around) or “A Christmas Carol” (my favorite is with George C. Scott), you’re not done.
Back in 2017, I discovered “The Man Who Invented Christmas” with Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce and Dan Stevens, the blond heart throb from “Downtown Abbey.” In this film, Stevens plays a hunky Charles Dickens, scrambling to earn some money after a few failed writing attempts. It’s Christmas (not a holiday celebrated with much ballyhoo back in those days) and his life is starting to unravel around him. He decides to write a ghost story about Christmas in the unheard of time of six weeks. Like Scrooge’s spirits, Dickens’ characters take form, haunt him and then follow him around like an unruly entourage, chiding him at every wrong turn of the story, until he gets it right. The epilogue shows folks standing in line to purchase the book, which is attributed with increasing charitable giving ten-fold and kicking off (for better or worse) the annual celebration of the holiday around the world.
I enjoyed it in 2017 but was captivated this year after having had the experience of my own characters coming to life and keeping me company as I wove them into my novel. Friends have been very interested in my process and fascinated when I tell them how my characters appear, talk to me and help me move the narrative forward. This movie captures that mystery. While there’s still a little eggnog in the refrig, I recommend watching this movie (Hulu and Amazon PrimeVideos).
So, now having passed on these last two morsels, I feel ready to step into 2022 and all that it holds.
Happy New Year to all you resilient folks. Here’s hoping for better days ahead.
Oops. Oh, well, what’s the harm of a few platitudes as we trudge along together into the void? Just as long as we arm ourselves with good books, stimulating movies and friends (who finally appreciate the transformative power of grammar)!