Comments on: The Simple Power Of Words: Guest Post By Debbie Yost http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/ The art of writing, for non writers Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:00:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Debbie Yost http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2238 Debbie Yost Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:45:48 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2238 Hi DebMc, I can only agree with Joanna's response. Thank you for pointing out how differently artists are viewed in their own era. Hi DebMc,
I can only agree with Joanna’s response. Thank you for pointing out how differently artists are viewed in their own era.

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2237 Joanna Young Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:51:16 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2237 DebMc - fascinating points there about the great writers working at all different levels with mass appeal when first written. It's probably only since they've been turned into 'literature' that we find ourselves resisting what we're being told we ought to appreciate... Wondering if Dickens and Shakespeare would have been bloggers? Think the answer has to be yes! Joanna DebMc – fascinating points there about the great writers working at all different levels with mass appeal when first written. It’s probably only since they’ve been turned into ‘literature’ that we find ourselves resisting what we’re being told we ought to appreciate…

Wondering if Dickens and Shakespeare would have been bloggers? Think the answer has to be yes!

Joanna

]]> By: Damien Riley http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2236 Damien Riley Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:37 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2236 @Debbie: Shwoo! Glad to hear that ;) @Debbie: Shwoo! Glad to hear that ;)

]]> By: DebMc http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2235 DebMc Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:30:54 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2235 Great post! We value the well placed simple note around here, too. Just knowing someone cared enough about you to take a moment to jot a message is an encouragement all be itself. What I think is interesting about the so-called 'great' writers like Shakespeare is that he was the Stephen King/John Grisham/Nora Roberts/Steven Spielberg of his day. His plays were all about pleasing royalty AND the common peasant. (Give Stephen King a few hundred years.....) Dickens was a first class soap opera in writing...people waited along the docks for the printer to finish a press run of his current chapter. Don't we wish we had a following like that? As a writer, I admire Shakespeare's skill. He told a fine story with complex plots and characters...and did much of it in rhyme and rhythm. There are days when I can barely write my own name, much less a story in rhyme. As a writer, I can also see times when he must have been under a tremendous pressure to create...and fumbled the ball. For example, we are not fans of 'As You Like It.' Too many characters coming and going. My editing fingers want to snip and strike. Great post and discussion. Great post! We value the well placed simple note around here, too. Just knowing someone cared enough about you to take a moment to jot a message is an encouragement all be itself.

What I think is interesting about the so-called ‘great’ writers like Shakespeare is that he was the Stephen King/John Grisham/Nora Roberts/Steven Spielberg of his day. His plays were all about pleasing royalty AND the common peasant. (Give Stephen King a few hundred years…..) Dickens was a first class soap opera in writing…people waited along the docks for the printer to finish a press run of his current chapter. Don’t we wish we had a following like that?

As a writer, I admire Shakespeare’s skill. He told a fine story with complex plots and characters…and did much of it in rhyme and rhythm. There are days when I can barely write my own name, much less a story in rhyme. As a writer, I can also see times when he must have been under a tremendous pressure to create…and fumbled the ball. For example, we are not fans of ‘As You Like It.’ Too many characters coming and going. My editing fingers want to snip and strike.

Great post and discussion.

]]> By: Debbie Yost http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2234 Debbie Yost Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:45:08 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2234 Hi Karen, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I actually like Shakespeare. I don't usually read him, but I enjoy watching many of his plays. It is good to keep our minds open to other forms of writing. I should do a little more of that myself. I just get lazy at times! Hi Karen,
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I actually like Shakespeare. I don’t usually read him, but I enjoy watching many of his plays. It is good to keep our minds open to other forms of writing. I should do a little more of that myself. I just get lazy at times!

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2233 Joanna Young Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:21:44 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2233 Lis, it's an important point isn't it? One of the benefits of blogging - we chose to read those we value and enjoy, we don't have to follow because of 'shoulds' or what others tell us to do. This gives power I think to both writer (to be themselves) and reader (to read what works for them) Debbie, wonderful responses :-) I particularly liked this line: "I think we use what we learn and accept when we have been wrong, but we shouldn't wait." That's a good way to take responsibility for what we write - including responsibility for the consequences of not writing or speaking up Karen, I think you have a very open mind (and heart) and that's what allows you to see beauty and meaning in many places :-) Lessons for all of us there. Joanna Lis, it’s an important point isn’t it? One of the benefits of blogging – we chose to read those we value and enjoy, we don’t have to follow because of ‘shoulds’ or what others tell us to do. This gives power I think to both writer (to be themselves) and reader (to read what works for them)

Debbie, wonderful responses :-) I particularly liked this line:

“I think we use what we learn and accept when we have been wrong, but we shouldn’t wait.”

That’s a good way to take responsibility for what we write – including responsibility for the consequences of not writing or speaking up

Karen, I think you have a very open mind (and heart) and that’s what allows you to see beauty and meaning in many places :-) Lessons for all of us there.

Joanna

]]> By: Karen Swim http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2232 Karen Swim Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:55:59 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2232 Hi Debbie, I loved viewing this from another perspective. I like Shakespeare, poetry and Hemingway but also love laughing out loud with Janet Evanovich. I think it's silly that we make so many distinctions in the writing world. Janet Evanovich's stories make me laugh and can lift me from the cares of life. In my mind that is power and no less valuable than a poem that stirs my soul. Thank you for reminding us that power is truly in the eyes of the reader. Hi Debbie, I loved viewing this from another perspective. I like Shakespeare, poetry and Hemingway but also love laughing out loud with Janet Evanovich. I think it’s silly that we make so many distinctions in the writing world. Janet Evanovich’s stories make me laugh and can lift me from the cares of life. In my mind that is power and no less valuable than a poem that stirs my soul. Thank you for reminding us that power is truly in the eyes of the reader.

]]> By: Debbie Yost http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2231 Debbie Yost Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:32:41 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2231 Hi Robert, I agree. I know everytime I try to write to suit someone else it seems to fail. Unless I write from my heart, I don't enjoy it and then, it's just work. I don't want my writing to be work, but a labor of love. Hi Lillie, Thank you. Hi Cat, Personally, I'm not sure that somewhere down the road I won't have a different position. I have often looked back on my life and seen that I don't believe the same things that I did then. Sometimes I'm ashamed of what I thought, but other times, life and experience have just given me a different perspective. I think we use what we learn and accept when we have been wrong, but we shouldn't wait. Life is too short. Hi Damien, When I read your post, I laughed. I had already submitted mine to Joanna, so I didn't exactly write it as a rebuttal even though it seems to be. It just goes to show there are so very many styles of powerful writing and no one can relate to them all! Hi Lis, I couldn't have said it better. Just as we don't always like everyone we meet in the world and may not be friends with everyone, we will not always appreciate every style of writing. It doesn't mean there isn't value in it. Hi Robert,
I agree. I know everytime I try to write to suit someone else it seems to fail. Unless I write from my heart, I don’t enjoy it and then, it’s just work. I don’t want my writing to be work, but a labor of love.

Hi Lillie,
Thank you.

Hi Cat,
Personally, I’m not sure that somewhere down the road I won’t have a different position. I have often looked back on my life and seen that I don’t believe the same things that I did then. Sometimes I’m ashamed of what I thought, but other times, life and experience have just given me a different perspective. I think we use what we learn and accept when we have been wrong, but we shouldn’t wait. Life is too short.

Hi Damien,
When I read your post, I laughed. I had already submitted mine to Joanna, so I didn’t exactly write it as a rebuttal even though it seems to be. It just goes to show there are so very many styles of powerful writing and no one can relate to them all!

Hi Lis,
I couldn’t have said it better. Just as we don’t always like everyone we meet in the world and may not be friends with everyone, we will not always appreciate every style of writing. It doesn’t mean there isn’t value in it.

]]> By: Lis Garrett http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2230 Lis Garrett Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:45:43 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2230 Great job! And I agree with Robert in that you simply cannot pretend to be someone you're not. Although not everyone will appreciate your style, your most loyal readers will follow your work because it embodies who you are as a person. Great job! And I agree with Robert in that you simply cannot pretend to be someone you’re not. Although not everyone will appreciate your style, your most loyal readers will follow your work because it embodies who you are as a person.

]]> By: Joanna Young http://confidentwriting.com/2008/04/the-simple-powe/#comment-2229 Joanna Young Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:09:55 +0000 http://confidentwriting.com/?p=395#comment-2229 Cat, I think this is a good way of looking at it: "The constant change forces us to evaluate as we go along (hopefully keeping the big picture in mind - a big picture that shimmers in shades of grey :-)" Not sure it helps with immediate challenges and questions - but it sounds like a good overall approach to me. Damien, I see this as another chapter of the same book too. We get sources of inspiration all over but at the end of the day is our words, our way, our voice that we need to find (which is of course how you concluded too) Joanna Cat, I think this is a good way of looking at it:

“The constant change forces us to evaluate as we go along (hopefully keeping the big picture in mind – a big picture that shimmers in shades of grey :-) ”

Not sure it helps with immediate challenges and questions – but it sounds like a good overall approach to me.

Damien, I see this as another chapter of the same book too. We get sources of inspiration all over but at the end of the day is our words, our way, our voice that we need to find (which is of course how you concluded too)

Joanna

]]>