Another Author’s Insight: Charles Moore (b. 1956)

“I do have a theory about writing books, which is that if you wonder whether a book should be written, you probably shouldn’t write it. You should only write it because you really must write it.”
~ Charles Moore (Lord Baron Moore of Etchingham), author of The Lord and Lady Thatcher; interview on Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson (recorded December 14, 2020, aired January 12, 2021; see 57:47-57:58). https://www.hoover.org/research/lord-and-lady-thatcher

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Even More Sad News.

Butterfly, Be Free!

Mama, an avid reader who became blind, is seen here listening to an audiobook.

This Month, my Mother Passed Away.

(What follows is an edited version of her obituary, written by my sister. )

Joan Alice, or “Joanie” (as everyone called her), 88, died on December 11, 2020.

Joanie was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Frank and Lillian Olejnicki Fijolek, and was a true city girl until moving with her husband, Ted, to Lindenhurst, Illinois, in 1956.  Ted and Joanie were among the pioneers of the village, and their early years were chronicled in her book Love, Joanie: Letters from the Suburban Frontier.

Joanie was a career homemaker.  A devoted wife and mother, she was an excellent cook and slapdash housekeeper who preferred digging ditches, hauling dirt, gardening, listening to opera and reading to such drab chores as washing dishes and/or ironing.  She enjoyed camping, and made even the most…

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Wrap Your Head Around This:

Matt Ridley on How Innovation Works

Source: Wrap Your Head Around This:

I used to live not far from Kitty Hawk. It can be very windy there, which certainly helped that first flight.

When you get to the reblogged site, follow one of the links (YouTube or the podcast), and learn about another way to think about creativity.

I think this is important for writers – especially Indie Authors – because of the frequency with which they can be afflicted by “imposter syndrome.”

Almost nothing has never been done before.

While it’s important to strictly avoid plagiarizing anyone else’s work, nobody has a copyright on ideas. This means that it’s not trite to write in a particular genre, or even just to tell a new story that entails the concepts “Boy Meets Girl,” “The Little Tailor,” or “Gains the World but Loses Own Soul.”

You’re not an “imposter” because you didn’t invent a completely new genre. By telling your own story idea, the one that sprouted between your own ears, you’re innovating: doing something that improves the genre in which you’re writing, because it involves an aspect of that kind of story that hasn’t been told before.

So don’t let anybody (even your inner editor) tell you that you’re an imposter. Write what the Muse is bugging you about. Write according to the concept or genre you’ve chosen (or which has chosen you!). Write using the best grammar and punctuation you can command. Write by using the whole descriptive lexicon of your language – including adverbs!

Just write! Polish it up. And then publish!