2020

WRITING A PLAY

One of my goals for 2020 is to write a full-length play. I have written short plays in the past. Have a few ideas about a story. I have experimented with turning a short story into a play. It's not easy, that's for sure. The classic movie 'West Side Story' was previously a Broadway play. Doubt if I'll have something of that caliber but you never know.


 

WE'RE DANGEROUS!

NO EASY TASK

WORDS OF WISDOM

Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.


~Oscar Wilde, Poet (1854-1900)

POETRY TO BEGIN 2020

The 46th Annual New Year’s Day Marathon

2PM-12M

At St. Mark's Church 
131 East 10th Street
New York, NY 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

WRITING BECOMES MAGIC

TRUE

WORDS OF WISDOM

If a work of art is rich and vital and complete, those who have artistic instincts will see its beauty and those to whom ethics appeal more strongly than aesthetics will see its moral lesson. It will fill the cowardly with terror, and the unclean will see in it their own shame. 


~Oscar Wilde, Dramatist (1854-1900)

WRITE TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT; ARCHITECTURE

I have been into character development during the past few weeks. Just when I think I have him/her fleshed out, I come up with another virtue or quirk. Maybe I am seeking perfection, I'm not sure. I am drawn to quirky characters or characters who one would not suggest is a purveyor of evil deeds. 

Another aspect I'm working on backdrops. I spent a few days in Philadelphia this past summer. I was fascinated by the architecture of the city hall building. Edgar Allan Poe was great in describing French and English Architecture. A Second Empire style, the building takes in all the elements of that time period. I'm mulling the idea of creating a story or play with the city hall in mind.

I recently finished describing a character in one of my short stories. I'm currently working on another character, a woman with a mysterious persona. More research is in order as to how she will develop. 

SAME CITY, DIFFERENT STATE

AUGUSTA- GEORGIA, MAINE, MARYLAND

SHARE YOUR STORY

WRITING IS A CHALLENGE WORTH FIGHTING

WORDS OF WISDOM

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.


~Khalil Gibran, Lebanese Poet (1883-1931)

LIKE BREATHING

KEEP WRITING

WARNING

MUSIC

Music has always been part of my life. My parents exposed me to many different genres. From jazz to classical to pop to rock to R & B. and other musical styles. I cut my musical chops in the early days of rock and roll. My influences were Chuck Berry, the Coasters,  Elvis Presley, and Jackie Wilson.

 I love jazz from the 1950s and 1960s. Some of my favorite performers were Wes Montgomery,  Miles Davis, and Sarah Vaughn. There are so many great jazz performers. I have listened to classical music, opera (my mom had an album by Mario Lanza), some country and western, and pop.

I am curious to know who were your musical influences? 

HUNTER IS THE AUTHOR

DON'T APOLOGIZE

WRITING AND SANITY

Writing was a blessing to me during some stressful times. It allowed communicating my true feelings without the judgment of others. 

WORDS OF WISDOM

A poet doesn't invent. He listens.


~Jean Cocteau, Director (1889-1963)  

WRITE!

KEEP GOING

AT HOME

WORDS OF WISDOM

Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.


~Amy Grant

WRITE NO MATTER WHAT

SUPPORT THE ARTS

This time of year many organizations will be asking for donations. There are many great causes in which we all can contribute. As I see it, the arts are more important than ever. It speaks many languages across many different genres. Give to an arts venue of your choice.

DON'T HOLD BACK

READING TAKES YOU TO FARAWAY PLACES

WORDS OF WISDOM

It is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.


~Virginia Woolf, Author, (1882-1941)

ONE MORE

BOOKS EVERYWHERE

SO TRUE

WORDS OF WISDOM

I liked to write from the time I was about 12 or 13. I loved to read. And since I only spoke to my brother, I would write down my thoughts. And I think I wrote some of the worst poetry west of the Rockies. But by the time I was in my 20s, I found myself writing little essays and more poetry-writing at writing.


~Maya Angelou, Poet (1928-2014)

WRITER'S BLOCK

WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

BEGINNING

WORDS OF WISDOM

Getting stress out of your life takes more than prayer alone. You must take action to make changes and stop doing whatever is causing the stress. You can learn to calm in the way you handle things.


~Joyce Meyer

DOCUFEST

 

This will take place this Wednesday, November 6th, at the IFC Center.

IFC Center

323 6TH Ave @ West 3rd Street

New York, NY

www.ifccenter.com

Tel. (212) 924-7771

PEN MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

BEGIN THAT STORY

WORDS OF WISDOM

When I'm writing, I just kind of put myself in a place, in a certain period in my life.

~Cuco, Musician

WRITE ABOUT EVERYTHING

NOTEBOOKS ALL OVER THE PLACE

I have a trunk full of old notebooks which I need to go through. Even the books I have right at my disposal I realize that much has been written from my pen. Probably my life story is scattered all through those pages.

WORDS OF WISDOM

The crown of literature is poetry.


~W. Somerset Maughn, Playwright (1874-1965)

CREATE YOUR OWN STORY

MUSIC CONCERT AND ART SHOW

Yesterday my spouse and I attended a concert of classical music. For five years the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra has brought beautiful music to this upper Manhattan enclave. Later we attended the opening of an art show down the road. Local artists displayed their own creations to an enthusiastic community. There was also an excellent dance performance. 

As I thought about it today, there are the composers; those men and women who create and write lyrics. A piece of work in their own image. Dancers project their personalities in their performance. 
Artists create their work through images and colors. As a poet, I love words and discouraging words that I never knew existed. It is truly amazing how all the arts are intertwined. The arts are about life. Without it, life would be dull.  

JUST WRITE

WORDS OF WISDOM

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.


~Patricia Neal, Actress (1926-2010)

DIXON PLACE-LOWER EAST SIDE

A cool space on the LowerEast Side where experimental artists can spread their wings.

Dixon Place

161A Chrystie Street

New York, NY 10002

www.dixonplace.org

WRITING CAN CHANGE

As our lives change so does our writing. Several years ago I wrote some very dark poetry during a low point in my life. I explored the depths of despair, abandonment, confusion, and doubt. I came through it with the determination to discover who I was at that point in my life. 

It's not uncommon for writers to focus on different events. The great poet, Robert Lowell, wrote poetry of his disdain for the Vietnam War. Herman Melville wrote of the horrors of war during the Civil War. Life's journeys brought me to places I never dreamed of or imagined. Yes, I've been to some of the same places but my point of view has changed. 

While the events I focus on do change, I am still the reflective writer I've always been. My basic style hasn't changed. I can write about a particular place at this moment. A year from now, I can be in the exact same place abut my viewpoint will be different. See what I mean. This is the beauty of writing. It's ever-changing. It can be newly created. Old writing can be refreshed and brought back to life. Keep on writing. Don't be fearful of change; embrace it 

We Wear the Mask -- Paul Laurence Dunbar poem (We wear the mask that gri...

WRITE EVERY DAY

CITIES AND TOWNS WHICH FEATURE NAME OF STATE-II

Kansas City, Kansas
Missouri City, Missouri
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho City, Idaho
New City, New York
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Minneapolis, Minnesota

CREATING LIFE

WORDS OF WISDOM

From the beginning of literature, poets and writers have based their narratives on crossing borders, on wandering, on exile, on encounters beyond the familiar. The stranger is the archetype in epic poetry, in novels. The tension between alienation and assimilation has always been a basic theme.

~Jhumpa Lahiri

JACK KEROUAC-DEFYING CONVENTION

One of my writing influences is Jack Kerouac (1922-1969). Prolific during the heyday of the Beat Generation, Kerouac defied convention with his spontaneous prose style of writing. In my mind an artist should go against convention and create something different.

When I first read Kerouac's classic novel, On The Road, I said what in the world am I reading? I couldn't figure the guy out at first. When I read some of his other work I then comprehended his style of writing. My personal favorite of Kerouac's books is Dharma Bums.

I learned that I could take chances and write whatever came to mind. I'm amazed that Kerouac retained in his mind the events that took place in his life. He did maintain notebooks of his adventures. Jack was an outlaw in that his writing style wasn't easy to describe or categorize. To me that's being creative-doing something that's never been done before.

BOOKS

These are just a few of the books I will be reading.

WORDS OF WISDOM

A grain of poetry suffices to season a century.

~Jose Marti, Activist (1853-1895)

ONE REASON WHY I WRITE

WRITING IS NOT EASY

WHY I WRITE?

CITIES AND TOWNS WHICH FEATURE NAME OF STATE

Guess you can say that I'm a connoisseur of unusual information


Florida City, Florida
Delaware City, Delaware
New York City, New York
California City, California
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Oregon City, Oregon
Texas City, Texas
Maryland City, Maryland  
Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
Iowa City, Iowa

WRITING

QUOTE FOR FREE SPIRITS