[stylist] Good writing-firewood cutting
slery
slerythema at insightbb.com
Thu Feb 26 05:42:07 UTC 2009
In our family, chainsaws are a big no no. However, the blind person never
tried, I might be more successful.
Growing up, every time we went out to cut wood, my father ended up in the
hospital with his back out or something that was cut.
My brother-in-law is not allowed to use any power tools.
Cindy
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Angela fowler
> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 10:12 AM
> To: 'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Good writing-firewood cutting
>
>
> 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+Preparati
> on+%26+Fil
> >ing&a
> >mp;ncid=emlcntusyelp00000004)
> >_______________________________________________
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> >http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
> ><http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
> >
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