[stylist] Good writing

[Judith Bron]

Granted, blind people have a variety of skills that they need just to 
survive.  However, what I've found is that blind people are people who can't 
see at all or very little.  The operative word here is people.  We enjoyed 
that conference call the other night because we are all people who write. 
We bounced around ideas about writing, publishing and whatever else came to 
mind.  It was a people meeting, not a blind meeting.  My view may be narrow, 
but this is my opinion of the many blind people I've met.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <LoriStay at aol.com>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 8:08 PM
Subject: [stylist] Good writing


> >From Slate & Style, volume 18, #2, July 2000
>
> The Purpose of Writing
> by Loraine Stayer
>
> Why do you write?   I've no doubt that we each have different reasons for
> wanting to put words on paper.   For some, writing is a means to earn 
> money.
> Those lucky souls who earn their livelihood at the computer have under 
> their
> belts all the tricks of the trade, including marketing, research, the 
> proper
> contacts, and a way with words.
>
> I recently read a short article about genre writing.   This involves
> tailoring your work to a genre that has a niche already carved out. 
> People will buy
> your work.   They will, in fact, clamor for it.   On the other hand, 
> writing
> to a formula rarely satisfies the soul.   It's a means to an end, not the 
> end
> itself.
>
> But good writing is an end in itself.   Timeless writing will stay in the
> minds of the readers, becoming tomorrow's oft quoted nuggets of wisdom, or 
> if one
> is lucky, tomorrow's cliches.   What would be an example of good writing? 
> The
> Gettysburg Address springs to mind.  The Twenty Third Psalm is another.
> Most of the work of Shakespeare falls under this category.
>
> If you can sell your work, more power to you.   If you can produce good
> writing and sell yur work, even better.   But if you can produce good 
> writing, sell
> your work, and change the world for the better, that would be best of all.
>
> Members of the NFB Writers' Division are in the best position to write 
> about
> blindness, and to write well enough so that what we write can be published 
> and
> sold.   If one searches through the literature for images of blindness,
> accuracy is difficult to find.   Dr. Jernigan told us in his banquet 
> speech at the
> NFB National Convention in 1974 (Blindness, Is Literature Against Us?) 
> that
> damaging stereotypes of blindness abound in published fiction.   Here and 
> there
> one can find exceptions, but one needs to search.
>
> We need to change this.   The way to do it is to sit down and list 
> situations
> in our own lives and write about them honestly.   Were they funny?   Were
> they painful?   Do they illustrate some truth about blindness that doesn't 
> fall
> into a stereotype?   What did the situations lead to?   This isn't genre
> writing, and it may not make us a great deal of hard cash, but writing 
> truth that
> springs from our lives will produce work that is original and honest.
>
> Where can we publish our stories?  Slate & Style will consider them under
> 2000 words.   NFB's Kernel Book series (now ended, sorry folks) such 
> stories.
> If we were lucky enough to get into a Kernel Book, our stories would be 
> read by
> many more people than the number who read Slate & Style.   It's even 
> possible
> that the story will appear in The Braille Monitor, or in Future 
> Reflections.
>
> Is the story universal enough?   Blindness alone won't interest commercial
> publishers, sad to say.   Is there romance, or adventure?   Is there 
> danger?
> Did we solve problems that anyone might have?   Will our stories interest
> people who are not blind?
>
> I think sometimes a danger exists that in the interest of getting 
> published,
> or piquing the imagintion of the average reader, we may buy into fantasies
> that in the long run can be damaging.   The blind person as super-man, for
> example:   A super sense of hearing, or a super sense of smell.   Sure, 
> some people
> have great hearing, and some people have sensitive noses, but blindness
> doesn't cause these characteristics.
>
> Some year ago, I read a story about a blind detective named Longstreet. 
> His
> abilities were phenomenal.   They were not, however, realistic.   Could a
> blind person be a private detective?   Certainly, bearing in mind that
> alternative techniques would be brought into play.   But rarely do these 
> alternative
> techniques have supernatural qualities.
>
> Would such a story sell?   Yes it would.   Are you a real life detective?
> For heaven's sake, write about it!   How do you do your work?   Inquiring 
> minds
> want to know.
>
> At a recent NFB chapter meeting, one of our members asked, "How do we
> educated the public?"   My answer was, "One person at a time."   That is 
> true of
> personal contact.   But if we can write, then we can educate the public in 
> bulk.
>
> It's not a genre.   It may not make you rich.   But I bet it will be good
> writing.   It certainly will serve a purpose.   It certainly will improve 
> our
> lives.
>
> What are you waiting for?
> **
>
>
>
> **************
> Get a jump start on your taxes. Find a tax professional in your
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