Sunday, August 14, 2016

BW33: Ray Bradbury and Zen in the Art of Writing






Last year,  I read Ray Bradbury's writing essays from his Zen in the Art of Writing and felt like he’d given me marching orders for Bradbury's Book Camp for Writers.  Zen is a short but powerful book and lights a fire under you with his passion and zest for life and writing. I've been in sort of a writing slump lately and decided to revisit his book. 

There are so many snippets I underlined and wrote down, it is hard to know where to start.

Everything you have ever experienced in life goes into your subconscious as food for your muse.  How do you tap into that food to help you grow as a writer? Bradbury kept a book full of lists of nouns; words that reminded him of experiences. He'd refer to the list and a word or collection of words would spark an idea such as the ones that lead him to write Something Wicked This Way Comes:

The lake. The Night. The Crickets. The Ravine.  The Attic.  The Basement.  The Trapdoor. The Baby.  The Crowd.  The Night Train. The Fog Horn. The Scythe. The Carnival. The Carousel. The Dwarf. The Mirror Maze. The Skeleton.

In his essay How to Keep and Feed the Muse he says:

What if the Subconscious to every man, in its creative aspect, became, for writers, the Muse. 

How do you feed your muse? Read poetry every day which will flex your muscles and expand your senses. Consume essays, travel through the centuries. Learn and fill up your senses with the shape and size of the world, every color, smell, texture and sound. Read Short Stories and novels. Not only those who write the way you think but those that don't. It all serves to stimulate your Muse's tastebuds. And while you are feeding your muse, you have to keep it shape.  And you do that by writing 1000 words a day for the next ten to twenty five years.  Why?


...to learn enough about grammar and story construction so that these become part of the subconscious without restraining or distorting the muse.

In the essay Zen in the Art of Writing, he goes on to say follow your own path, write for the right reasons and not for the money or accolades.

Fame and money are gifts given us only after we have gifted the world with  our best.

Write from the heart and emotions and learn. Keep writing.  There is no failure as long as you keep writing.  His Zen mantra is  WORK -- RELAXATION -- DON'T THINK

So work at your writing and shoot for 1000 to 2000 words a day for the next twenty years.  Write one short story a week for 52 weeks for five years. Much like the surgeon or artist or athlete train for years before they become proficient and successful, so must you train. Quantity provides the experience and with experience eventually comes quality.  As in all things, writing takes practice.  So feed your muse and start practicing.


To feed well is to grow. To work well and constantly is to keep what you have learned and know in prime condition.  Experience. Labor. These are the two sides of the coin which when spun is neither experience nor labor, but the moment of revelation. The coin, by optical illusion, becomes a round, bright, whirling globe of life.

His idea to read one short story, poem and an essay a night applies for readers as well. You know me and my rabbit trails.  Just think of all the directions our reading could take. So, whether you need reading or writing motivation,  read  Zen in the Art of Writing. 

Also, when you have the time, check out this video – An Evening with Ray Bradbury 2001 of his keynote address at The Sixth Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea.

If you have any favorite poetry or essay books, I'd love to hear about them.

*****************************************************
Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.



6 comments:

  1. Hi,
    I've missed the linkys again.
    Wk 31...
    Unleashed-David Rosenfelt
    http://100sweets.blogspot.com/2016/07/book-reportunleashed.html

    Wk. 32...
    Hounded - David Rosenfelt
    http://100sweets.blogspot.com/2016/08/book-reporthounded.html

    My links to my reviews are included. Thanks lots. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Missed the linky. Week 33:

    Spiritwalk by Charles de Lint
    http://jreadinglife.blogspot.com/2016/08/spiritwalk-by-charles-de-lint.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Julie and Sherrie, Add your links to the current week no matter where you are week wise.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, it's just an incredible writer, I read almost all of his works. His style of writing books is very difficult to repeat, I just had in my childhood dream of becoming a writer , so I even appealed for help to these guys paidpaper.net and you know, it really works. My writing skills are becoming better and better.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! That's the plan. I'm not read so many books in my life! Did that leave all favorite things? And perhaps, ordered all the materials for a college here essays io . That's when you can stock up on tea and devote time to the books)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was inspired by Bradbury. Especially his book Dandelion Wine is my favorite. I think it's an amazing skill of the writer. Also, I ordered a presentation https://academic-consultants.com/ in honor the work of this author. And I made a speech at a conference in my college.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your kind comments.