[stylist] Good writing-firewood cutting

James Canaday M.A. N6YR n6yr at sunflower.com
Wed Feb 25 16:26:56 UTC 2009 

I'm not so sure about chainsaw in the hands of a blind person, but 
maybe there's somebody out there who does?
but when I was a teen helping on our family farm (insert old fahrt 
sound effect here) I did swing an axe, sledgehammered a maul to split 
logs, and utilized a poleax.
         now, you kids get off my lawn!
jc

Jim Canaday M.A.
Lawrence, KS

At 09:12 AM 2/25/2009, you wrote:
>Well, split it anyway. I haven't found anyone with enough guts to teach me
>how to use a chain saw yet.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>Behalf Of James Canaday M.A. N6YR
>Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:20 PM
>To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
>Subject: Re: [stylist] Good writing-firewood cutting
>
>you cut your own firewood?  what an excellent woman,
>
>I did that too.  no fireplace in homes I've lived in in the city.
>jc
>
>Jim Canaday M.A.
>Lawrence, KS
>
>
>At 09:57 PM 2/24/2009, you wrote:
> >Good article, Lori. Yes, as Judith said, blind people are just people.
> >We laugh, cry, get mad and experience happiness just like everyone
> >else. We are writing to people's perception however. The majority of
> >people don't know what Judith, I, and so many of you know without
> >thinking about it. We write to educate people without their knowing
> >they're being educated. It is the implicit education we engage in every
> >time someone sees us doing something they didn't think a blind person
> >could do. When we go to college we achieve this education. When we get
> >a job, raise our kids, cook, clean, cut firewood, on and on and on.
> >When we write realistic stories about blind people we educate the
> >imaginative part of people which drove them to the story in the first
> >place. When we write true stories about ourselves and our lives, all so
>much the better.
> >         So what am I, an editorial and analysis writer for the most
> >part, doing espousing the value of writing stories about blind people?
> >I know the value of the anecdote, as I use it in my own writing. It
> >appeals to the emotion, grabs the heart, and so, if used judicially, is
> >a powerful tool of persuasion.
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> >Behalf Of LoriStay at aol.com
> >Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 5:08 PM
> >To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> >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
> >neighborhood today.
> >(http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=Tax+Return+Preparation+%26+Fil
> >ing&a
> >mp;ncid=emlcntusyelp00000004)
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