[stylist] Good writing-firewood cutting
Angela fowler
fowlers at syix.com
Wed Feb 25 17:34:59 UTC 2009
Was that before the depression?
Seriously, they teach people to use a chain saw at the national center.
Maybe I'll go there just so I can learn. Besides, Lori posted a description
of the National Center on here a couple of months ago, and I have wanted to
see it ever since.
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of James Canaday M.A. N6YR
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 8:27 AM
To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] Good writing-firewood cutting
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+F
> >il
> >ing&a
> >mp;ncid=emlcntusyelp00000004)
> >_______________________________________________
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