5 coolest words in the English language

I am loving "desiderium" (an ardent desire or wish; a longing, properly for a thing once possessed and now missed; a sense of loss).

Check out the rest here!

Do you have any favorite words? I've always loved "ineffable".

Story webs

I just read a great piece in the educational journal Young Children about teaching the writing process to first graders. I started thinking about my own early writing education. I think it was truly great for the most part. My classrooms were print-rich and all of my teachers encouraged my writing. I hated getting my yearly dose of grammar from our public school’s standard-issue texts, but I guess it served me well in the end. The one thing I hated and still hate to this day?

Story webs. Did you ever have to use these doodads?

I believe that they quell creativity. I always felt they were a terrible chore. I say if you must use these godawful things in school, wait to introduce them until kids are older, like around the time they have to learn the evil, rubric-graded, formulaic 5-paragraph essay structure for their state standardized tests.

The piece in Young Children talks about how first graders often defeat themselves before they start to write because they feel they must spell everything correctly. If a child does not know how to spell a word, he will refrain from using it. (In the article, the children’s wonderful teacher encouraged them to make mistakes and mark things they weren’t sure about so they could come back to them later.)

To me, introducing story webs in first grade supports that instinct to avoid beginning for fear of failure. If a child thinks he has to plan perfectly and execute his story perfectly, that could be discouraging. Maybe more kids don’t keep writing or see it as a useful mode of self-expression because they’re given these evil boxes and circles to cram their thoughts into. If it doesn’t fit in the box, how will it ever get on the page?

The teacher in the YC article introduces story webs, but also allows children to organize ideas by talking with a peer or by drawing pictures of details they want to include in their stories. Neat alternatives.

What do you think? Do we need to beat the ability to construct a linear narrative into our young ones? Is social conditioning (telling stories to friends, listening to stories told by grown-ups or older kids) enough? Does insisting upon the use of these devices crush creativity?

Readers

This morning in my subway car, I counted 7 women reading and 0 men reading. Whenever I get numbers this disproportionate, I think of this New Yorker piece I read back in February, in which Ian McEwan says: “When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.”
What is up with the gender discrepancy among readers?

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Just finished my newest book club pick, Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion. Check out the cover image: Didion herself in 1967. Are people even allowed to be that cool?

Six-Word Memoirs

For my 25th birthday, my friends Randal and Ginny gave me a cool book called "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure." The 6-word story was supposedly first posed as a challenge to Hemingway, who came up with "For Sale: baby shoes, never worn."

At my birthday party, we passed the book around the wine bar and tried to brainstorm some 6-word memoirs. I was talking that night about how I'll struggle not to cry while reciting my wedding vows, considering that I tear up at this dog food commercial:

So Ginny suggested this one for me: "I cry at dog food commercials."

Today feels more basic, like maybe: "Wake up, make coffee, live life."

Some favorites from the book: 

"I inhale battles. I exhale victories." -William Heath

"Cheese is the essence of life." -Mary Lynch

"Became more like myself every year." -Eddie Sulimirski

"Fifteen years since last professional haircut." -Dave Eggers

What's your 6-word memoir?

Poetic Pair

Do you like your poetry lyrical and sprawling? Or sparse and shocking?

Either way, the Dickman twins, Matthew and Michael, have got you covered. I became fascinated by the story of these talented identical twins when I stumbled upon this recent New Yorker article (sorry, membership required to read full text). You can get more of their background story from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The New Yorker piece explores the vastly different ways in which their works tackle shared experiences. Amazing.

Michael's The End of the West and Matthew's All-American Poem are available now through Copper Canyon Press. Yep, published by the same press. Michael's book was accepted for publication by Copper Canyon, then Matthew entered his manuscript for the American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Prize—and won publication by Copper Canyon. The publisher seems a little worried that they'll take flack for doing something gimmicky, but I think it's good publicity for poetry (it could use some identical, blue-eyed, straight-male poster boys).

As you know, I am a firm supporter of people reading and writing more poetry. So check out: Michael stuff at The Narrative magazine online (includes audio!); Matthew stuff at TheStory.org.

Both are reading this year at the Sarah Lawrence Poetry Festival, tempting me to brave a trip to my alma mater. Dare I? Dare I?

Three (thousand) Stories About Joan

I meant to brag about this and never did. It's been a long year (plus) of movie-making drama, but Camilla Belle says of the boys' script:

"It’s the most intelligently written script I’ve read in a long, long time.”

And then they credit Chris twice and Sam zero. But totally awesome, even with the misprint.

Full interview over at Nylon.

Typewriter magic

In keeping with the "stories/writing" vibe Chris and I have going with our wedding, we will be typing our invitations on my grandfather's 1935 Underwood Portable, purportedly the same model Faulkner preferred. This is on generous loan to us from my grandmother. My grandfather obtained this beauty in a swap with his brother Tom. Gram cannot remember what he traded for it, but she remembers him boasting that he got the better part of the deal. Hard to imagine that he didn't: 

Write poem-trees

Just came across this snippet from Billy Collins in a book of quotations intended for kids. Maybe this was weirdly abbreviated or taken out of context?:

"I think more people should be reading it [poetry] but maybe fewer people should be writing it. . . There's an abundance of unreadable poetry out there."

With all due respect to our nation's former Poet Laureate, I strongly disagree. Maybe fewer people should be submitting their poetry to literary journals of a certain caliber, but I firmly believe that MORE people should be simply writing poetry.

This reluctance to encourage poetry writing seems widespread. I had a high school English teacher who decided to entirely forgo a poetry unit because, "If you write it, I have to read it."

I believe that poetry is undervalued as an outlet for self-expression and as a vehicle toward self-awareness. For anyone under stress or experiencing hardship or grief, writing poetry can aid tremendously in the healing process.

It is one thing to sit in a writing workshop and critique a work of poetry. The authors intend for those poems to be read and critiqued as literature. But in general, I've always found poets to be generous spirits, and I don't think any one of them would knock someone for self-expression (fiction writers are another story). So write your poem-trees, and send them my way any time at all.

Aaron Copland's Table

Ah, the things you may not know about those you live with. Little did I know that Chris has been harboring a secret love.

I have never been to Copland House, the charming composer's retreat once home to Aaron Copland himself, but I imagine the approach to the cottage feels serene and significant. Once inside, we face that which Christopher has long lusted after:

Aaron Copland's table.

A farmer made the wooden desk for Copland in the 1950s, and it still serves as a sturdy and flexible workspace for those who compose at the house. You can see it in the foreground in one of the images here. It is basically a large, un-fussy plank of wood.

While I was away in D.C. last week, Chris decided to bring this obsession into our house (gasp!). His attempt to re-create the Copland table without purchasing a new desk looks something like this:

This large, un-fussy plank of wood now residing in our study allows Chris to sprawl out as he does his writing. It also allows him to work right in front of the window, which, to this humble cube dweller, is as good as it gets. As silly as it is, I sort of love it. One day, I will get him the huge, heavy table of his dreams.

What fascinates me most about the Copland table is the idea of an historic workspace. Does the weight of past work done at that desk always inspire artists, or does it sometimes just turn up the pressure?

Whether it's Jane Austen's dainty little work table or O. Henry's cozy booth at Pete's Tavern, a workspace reflects its occupant. Some folks seem to need clutter and spontaneity to inspire them, while others thrive in an orderly environment. 

Most workspaces live and breathe in their own rights. There are dozens of magazines and hundreds of websites devoted to creating the perfect workspace. Have you created yours? Mine is still evolving, but I'm looking forward to seeing the first work Chris creates at his new table.

[edit: If you love peeking into people's houses like me, this book features photos of famous writers' workspaces.]