06/18/2008

John McCain

Barack Obama

With soaring oil prices, the war in Iraq, debates over the world climate, and healthcare concerns, education and literacy have taken a backseat in the 2008 presidential election. Much is at stake this presidential election; according to Education Portal, 42 million American adults cannot read, and 50 million Americans are at a 4th or 5th grade reading level. The number of illiterate Americans increases by 2.25 million each year. These startling statistics beg the question: Where do the 2008 presidential candidates stand on education and literacy programs?

…on the No Child Left Behind Act:

John McCain (R- Arizona)
From "The Presidential Field: John McCain," Washington Post online
"The principles underneath No Child Left Behind -- standards, accountability, transparency, and choice-- are a major step in the right direction; taking away power from education bureaucrats and returning it to those on the front lines of education -- the local schools, the local teachers and the local parents. It has provided support and guidance to our state and local communities to strengthen our schools, while also giving much needed flexibility for every state in the use of federal education dollars. It also contains many initiatives that have helped ensure that more federal education dollars reach our classrooms rather than being lost in bureaucratic black hole."

Barack Obama (D- Illinois)
From "Issues: Education," Barack Obama's official campaign website
"No Child Left Behind Left the Money Behind: The goal of the law was the right one, but unfulfilled funding promises, inadequate implementation by the Education Department and shortcomings in the design of the law itself have limited its effectiveness and undercut its support. As a result, the law has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to adequately support and pay those teachers."

…on financing for literary programs:

McCain
Supported the Reading Excellence Act to combat illiteracy, promote adult education and strengthen teacher preparation.

Obama
Supported a reading initiative in Chicago for $4,000,000, which would offer elementary schools the opportunity to adopt a district-endorsed K-5 reading program with books from several approved publishers. This initiative will also provide new books for classrooms, and modeling, coaching and mentoring for teachers.

…on bilingual education:

McCain
From the 2007 Republican primary debate on Univision on Dec. 9, 2007
“I think the most practical value is to make English used by all Americans and all citizens, and all who come here. The only way we move up the economic ladder from the bottom rung is to know English. And I would emphasize the importance of every person who comes to this country to become a citizen and enjoy its liberties and beauty is to learn English. And I will do everything I can to help them do that.”

Obama
From the 2008 Democratic debate at University of Texas in Austin on Feb. 21, 2008
“It is important that everyone learns English and that we have that process of binding ourselves together as a country. Every student should be learning a second language, because when you start getting into a debate about bilingual education, for example, now, I want to make sure that children who are coming out of Spanish-speaking households had the opportunity to learn and are not falling behind. If bilingual education helps them do that, I want to give them the opportunity. But I also want to make sure that English-speaking children are getting foreign languages because this world is becoming more interdependent, and part of the process of America's continued leadership in the world is going to be our capacity to communicate across boundaries, across borders, and that's… frankly where we've fallen behind. Foreign languages is one of those areas that I think has been neglected. I want to put more resources into it.”

Agree? Disagree? Tell us at editor@writersnewsweekly.com or join the discussion on facebook.com.

By Carole Shmurak

The Maltese Falcon was published in 1930, first in The Black Mask magazine and later in book form, but it still holds up fairly well for the contemporary reader. The true mystery in the book is not what or where the Falcon is; the mystery is Sam Spade, its principal character. What kind of man is he? Is he as amoral as he would lead his acquaintances to believe? Does he follow some personal code of honor? Hammett never lets the reader into Sam’s head, so not until the end do we know what Sam is thinking or why he decides to join the chase for the “black bird.”

One of the problems with reading The Maltese Falcon today is how familiar it seems. Many of us have seen John Huston’s classic film version of the novel, so it difficult not to hear Humphrey Bogart or Peter Lorre or Sidney Greenstreet speaking the dialogue as one reads. (Huston used most of Hammett’s dialogue verbatim.) But more than that, so many of the private eye novels that came after the Falcon were influenced by it, so it seems less special to us than it did to its original audience. Hammett’s lean prose and use of slang, in fact, helped initiate the “hard-boiled” detective genre.

The depiction of women in the book may also cause some readers to groan. There are three major female characters; Brigid, the femme fatale who gets Spade involved in the case: Effie, the Girl Friday who helps and encourages Spade; and Iva, the unfaithful wife of Spade’s partner. Spade doesn’t treat any of them very well; it’s likely that his actions toward the likeable Effie would today be grounds for a sexual harassment suit. But again, one has to keep a historical perspective: Not till the 1980s would writers like Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky turn the hard-boiled version of women on its head.

Nevertheless, Sam Spade and company lead us on a merry chase as they bargain and scheme (and murder) to get their hands on the priceless treasure that is the Maltese Falcon. And this reader still enjoys that chase.

Sara Langan

Sarah Langan has won the Dark Scribe’s Black Quill Award for Best Dark Genre Novel. Her novel, The Keeper, was a New York Times editor’s pick.

Q: How has studying with writing masters helped shape your writing and do you recommend this path for all writers?

Getting an MFA in creative writing makes sense for most people. They open doors. Agents and editors take note of an MFA degree. People who come out of MFA programs know how to edit their own work.

Q: What is it that readers get from your books?

I don’t think they’re drawn to the horror; they’re drawn to the characters and the story. I think the horror/spec fiction/science fiction genres confront those things that we fear and no longer know how to articulate.

Q: In an interview with Deep Blue Publishing, you said, “Publishing seems like a crapshoot to me. If I abhor anything, it’s the fact that good writing doesn’t always find a home.” How can an unpublished writer stand out in the eyes of a publisher?

A: I think it’s the agent’s job to make that pitch, and figure out what distinguishes your manuscript form the 200 other books New York editors receive weekly. You hear about authors who hit the zeitgeist with mediocre books and make millions. In the end, I think you make your book stand out by writing a really good book.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.

One approach to resolving writer’s block is to program the brain for success through building confidence and focus. Confidence is knowing you are going to be successful before you do something.

Focus is that single-mindedness that drives you toward a target or goal while simultaneously screening out the extraneous, irrelevant stuff.

We have a picture of who we are and that is who we are going to be. If we believe we can’t remember names, no matter how hard we try, the subconscious will not allow us to remember names. If we believe we can’t write, the subconscious will not allow us to write. This picture has been called the comfort zone, and we spend every second of every minute, of every hour, of every day striving to stay in our comfort zone.

The part of the subconscious that drives us into our picture and makes us act in accordance to who we believe ourselves to be has been referred to as the servo mechanism, automatic mechanism, creative mechanism and most often the creative subconscious. The reason it is referred to as the creative subconscious is because when we believe we can’t do something, the subconscious creatively makes us mess up or shuts our thinking down.

The creative subconscious has been compared to a homing device found in a missile, rocket or torpedo. The homing device is set to drive the missile toward the target. The creative subconscious drives us toward our picture, and if we see ourselves as nonproductive, a failure, or unable to write, then it is the creative subconscious to make sure our picture is realized.
We cannot control the job of the creative subconscious; it is our motivator. But we can control our picture, we can change the target. In other words we can trick ourselves into believing we are something we are not. The reason we can do this is because the creative subconscious cannot tell fact from fiction or imagination from reality.

So to change our target, we can imagine a different picture and begin to pre-live the picture (see Writer’s Block II). To pre-live the picture, we must imagine it to such a degree that the mind believes it. A person experiencing writer’s block actually believes they can’t write. That is their picture. One way to resolve writer’s block is to imagine oneself as a productive, creative, free-thinking author to such a degree that the mind believes it. This type of thinking must be so focused and so real it will activate the creative subconscious’ homing device and drive the author toward success. As one sees themselves successful, their confidence is restored and they begin to write and think freely.

One way to construct a new picture of success through building confidence and focus is to follow a few simple mental programming steps. Writer’s Block IV walks you through the steps to rekindle your writing talent that is buried within.

Dr. James Payne, a nationally-recognized scholar, educator and speaker, is a professor of Special Education at the University of Mississippi and a Fulbright recipient. He is the developer of the PeopleWise Event Management System and the PeopleWise Profile System.

Ever had one of those surreal moments when you realize you’ve become the person you once imagined? You don’t fit the original vision exactly, but there are similarities you can’t ignore: You’ve optioned your screenplay, agents are calling and you can almost afford that European vacation. Somewhere in the past you envisioned this future—or some version of it—and here you are now, flesh and blood proof.

Forget mysticism, psychology and quantum physics for a second, and ask yourself this: If you’d known then what you know now, wouldn’t you have envisioned the most compelling future possible? And if you’d done that, where would you be today?

You might not be penning bestsellers fireside in your Swiss chalet, but I’d wager my world view that a compelling vision—one that resonates with your authentic self—can bring you nearer the Alps than you’d otherwise get. A compelling vision can also work in the present, to free your mind, energize your spirit and inspire your writing.

Here’s how to get started making and using a vision:
1. Relax. Close your eyes. Visualize your future self: the apex of your development as a writer. What do you see? Who have you become? How do you feel? What have you written? Pay attention to your heart and head. Stay authentic and have fun with this. Extend yourself, but don’t forget to breathe.

2. Visualize your circumstances. Where does your future self live? Where do you write? What’s in your house? Your office? Your garage? What sights, smells, tastes, images, objects characterize your life? Get concrete with the details.

3. Consciously feel the wisdom, experience and accomplishments of your future self. Pleasant sensations should arise in your body. Are they in your chest, gut, head? Let them sink in deeply to energize and empower you. Are you feeling it?

4. Encapsulate your vision in a descriptive paragraph. Post it in your writing space. Incorporate the images, thoughts, circumstances, etc. that resonate most. Like your vision, this sentence is “living” and should be revised and refined as needed.

5. Activate your vision. Access its power before you write, or when you’re feeling uninspired. Think, feel, respond, create like your future self does. Run those pesky plot, publicity and personal problems by this future guru who is you, and be amazed by the wisdom and clarity you receive in the present.

Like a personal Mont Blanc, your compelling vision can be as high and spectacular as you choose to make it. You might not reach the summit, but that’s not the point.

Your vision is there to remind you where you’re headed, show you how far you’ve come and inspire you to keep ascending. If you dream big, push your comfort zone and have a good time, when you next look back the view might blow you away. And that’s a future worth climbing toward.

Have a question for Doug? Click here to submit it to THE WRITE MIND.

Doug Kurtz is a published novelist, certified life coach and the owner of Write Life Coaching (www.writelifecoaching.com). He earned his MA in creative writing at the University of Colorado, where he also taught fiction writing. He currently lives in Boulder, where he’s busy coaching other writers and working on his next novel.

While writing the book The Power of Humility, we realized that humility can be broken down into characteristics and so we wrote about 12. They are 1) openness, 2) an attitude of “don’t know,” 3) curiosity, 4) innocence, 5) a child-like nature, 6) spontaneity, 7) spirituality, 8) tolerance, 9) patience, 10) integrity, 11) detachment, and 12) letting go – all of which lead to inner peace and what we called Level 3 – Co-Creation. In this level of functioning, our creativity is free flowing.

What happened next in our writing process truly surprised us. There were two more principles of humility that came through – not intellectually like the ones above – but in a creative way that is Level 3. These principles are gratitude and being “nobody special.” I knew about gratitude but being “nobody special” surprised me and I had to search my own soul ( battle my ego) and find other avenues to convince me to write about it.

Being “Nobody Special”
In the process of humility we work through a cycle early in our life from becoming ego-attached or “somebody special,” to then becoming ego-detached or “nobody special.” It is in that “nobody special-ness” that we can be anybody. The fatigue, the neurosis, the anxiety, the fear, all come from identifying with the somebody-ness. But you have to start somewhere. It does seem that you have to be somebody before you can be nobody. If you started out being nobody at the beginning of this incarnation, you probably wouldn’t have made it this far… It’s that force of somebody-ness that develops the social and physical survival mechanisms. It’s only now, having evolved to this point, that we learn to put that somebody-ness, that whole survival kit, which we called the ego, into perspective.

“At first you really ‘think’ you’ve lost something. It’s a while before you can appreciate the peace that comes from the simplicity of no-mind, of just emptiness, of not having to be somebody all the time. For when you become nobody there is no tension, no pretense, no one trying to be anyone or anything, and the natural state of the mind shines through unobstructed – the natural state of the mind is pure love, … pure awareness… You’ve cleared away all of the mind trips that kept you being who you thought you were.” (Whitfield et al, 2006)

In a society where everybody has to be somebody special, what a joy it can be to walk along and be nobody special. It is freeing, peaceful and serene. We learn to listen and hear. And where we are when we are nobody special is in the heart of our True Self (or Soul.) Our True Self is the source of our creative abilities. It taps into the depth of our best creative writing by tapping into the energy of what some call “Our Higher Self,” Atman, guardian angel, Christ Consciousness, Ruach ha Kodosh, Buddha Nature, etc.

Our ego wants us to be special. Our ego also is the seat of writer’s block. Our True Self flows with our creative process as long as we keep reminding our ego that we are nobody special. The following is a table showing the roles we play in the three levels. Notice the first two levels have roles that are static nouns. They are set. We are or we believe we are in a box. At Level 3 the roles are represented by words that convey action because we are now flowing with our reality.

Barbara Harris Whitfield is the author of five books and numerous articles on the near-death experience and natural spirituality. She is a near-death experiencer and respiratory and massage therapist. She spent six years at the University of Connecticut Medical School researching the psychological, emotional, and energetic after effects of spiritual awakenings and recently retired from teaching at Rutger’s Institute for Alcohol and Drug Studies. Barbara lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, author and physician Charles Whitfield, MD. They share a private practice helping adults that were repeatedly traumatized as children. Barbara’s new book, The Natural Soul, will be coming out in 2009 with SterlingHouse Publisher. For more information go to http://www.cbwhit.com and http://www.barbarawhitfield.com

"Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad."
--Manly Hall

As communicators and creative wordsmiths, we sometimes take for granted the actual intensity and forcefulness of the spoken or written word.

Words formulate perceptions, awareness, and expectations. They develop emotional bonds and guide how we rationalize our thoughts. Since what we think affects behavior, there’s a strong relationship between the words we use and the end results.

Poorly selected words can destroy passion and spirit, crush self-respect, and lower expectations. Well-chosen words can encourage, inspire hope, create insight, influence thinking, and reshape the outcome.

Generally, when people get their way, they accomplish it with words. Their logic and reasoning are so compelling and powerful, listeners change their opinions and impressions, even abandoning their principles, to conform to what’s being communicated. Written words can be even more effective, since there is often a false presumption that when words are put in writing, they must be true.

Using words in a way that elicit impassioned or zealous responses generate power, often influencing other individuals’ judgment and behavior. Because this kind of authority is invisible and limiting, people can easily be coaxed, manipulated and dominated without their knowledge. We see such persuasive language all the time in advertising. For example, a powerful written description in a brochure detailing an expensive car might cajole a person into buying a luxury item he can’t afford and doesn’t need.

Decisions based on this type of word maneuvering are not built on facts, reasoning, logic, or one’s best interests, but on gut reactions to the individual communicating with the strongest words. When a reader or listener is capable of separating his emotional responses and recognizing these false or exaggerated assertions, they will become ineffective.

As writers, it is important to remember the persuasive craft we engage in and how our words impress and touch others. We never will be fully aware of how deeply our comments affect each other, but we do have a choice to use the power of communication in positive or negative ways. Let’s not forget, it’s a lot more than words.

Lisa Martin owns Martin-McLean Literary Associates LLC. She represents established authors as well as new writers.

Photo courtesy: Diane Finlayson

Everyone has thoughts of what they could have been or what they could have done; if only they could change past events. Traveling through time has been the topic of numerous books, articles and shows over the years. Humans are obsessed with the fascination of traveling back, or forward, to another place in time, either just to visit or to rearrange certain events to their advantage. Don’t tell me you never dreamed of having the chance to go back to younger days, to return to a time when you were young and change just one tiny thing to make your present life perfect. Throwing the winning pass in a college football game, ice skating to a gold medal, asking that certain someone out on a date, or maybe getting the answers for that all-important final exam. But therein lies the problem. Human nature will never let us be satisfied with just one little change. Because once a methodology is created, allowing time travel whenever you wish will definitely mean the certain destruction of mankind within hours. Our need for immediate gratification will have to be repeated over and over for each and every event in history while the future is rearranged to meet the personal satisfaction of every time traveler. All of us know the phrase from school, that for each and every action there is an equal and opposite action. With each change for one person’s benefit, there will be a detriment to another. And like an atomic bomb, there will be a chain reaction of events, wiping man from the face of the earth within days if not minutes. So think carefully about your plans to go back into the past and rearrange events in your favor. Because planning to return to the present time with riches beyond your wildest imagination may be nothing more than a short dream. While you twisted the events of time to your advantage and skewed the forces of nature to create your wealthy kingdom on earth, someone else planned your annihilation a second after you left. It’s a case of past imperfect, but as a writer, you can always bend reality to your will. Brian Douglas Coyle, a graduate of Kent State University in Ohio, has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry. He is currently the Community Development Investment Manager at BB&T, the eleventh largest bank in the country. Brian is the author of Soul Riders and the 2008 release The Devil’s Sanctuary.

My love of walking seems a bit fanatical to people at times. It’s just hard to beat being outside, pounding the pavement, dirt, or sand with my feet, words floating round through my head. It’s impossible not to write mentally while I’m surrounded by the natural world. Scenes of books reveal themselves; stories, letters, and emails are easily composed. As the seasons change, leaves unfurl, and bees chase me, I bring olive leaves or moss back inside with me to sit on my keyboard as I type my ideas out. In the shades of green I’ll find the inspiration to keep the writing alive.

Author TA Barron calls nature “real world magic.” Nature connects the finite to the infinite. Although nature is sometimes used in books to merely set the mood, nature is a strong character herself, a presence that breathes directly into the reader. Nature causes us to see beyond ourselves, our smallness, and allows us to dream and grow bigger. Like sailing, books free us from all walls and lead us into the vastness of our planet, or further.

In childhood books are vehicles that take us outside, leading us into forests, gardens, and seashores. Thinking back to those days we remember the stories that took us outside with new vision. Once the books were read, the worlds on the pages entered us and we tiptoed around the garden pretending to be fairies or climbed trees believing them to be masts. I remember a branch high up in a tree that used to be the control for my rocket. When the neighbor boy accidentally broke the branch, I cried so hard I wanted to have a burial for it. I had to find another way to go to outer space.

At the recent Book Expo in L.A., Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, urged authors to include everyday adventures kids can relate to in their books. As opposed to television, where most children are portrayed indoors, books ought to offer that wonderful role modeling, the sense that the reader can set the book down and run outside in search of something hidden in the roses or to make a secret hideout.

The way to inspire our children and the generations to come through nature is by becoming inspired ourselves. When my twin daughters were learning to talk they would tell me that they loved me “beyond”. Just as they had a sense that love was bigger than what they could communicate, we’re touched by the beyond when we stare up at the night sky or watch the sunset in silence. After we’ve been touched, we then touch others without even realizing it. Let’s get off the computer right now and go outside!

Tyler Oaks earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from California State University, Stanislaus and her Master of Arts in Spanish from California State University, Sacramento. Tyler lives in California's Napa Valley with her husband and twin daughters. Tyler is presently at work on her next novel.

This week we will continue to explore freewriting exercises through the art of freethinking. Freethinking, or observation, is the cornerstone of writing; if a writer lacks the ability to effectively communicate the senses, the reader is left feeling distanced from the work. Some of the following can be used as mental exercises or written ones.

Observation Exercise One
Objective: To develop your powers of observation

Visual 1:
Whenever you’re in a crowd of people, such as in a shopping mall, choose a person that you see sitting quietly in the food court, sipping his or her coffee. Study that person for a full minute. After your time is up, turn away and recall as many details about the person as you can remember: hair color, eye color, type and color of complexion, clothing, expression, position of body, arms and legs and so on. You only have three minutes, so be quick about it. Check yourself to see what you remembered and what you neglected or forgot. Remember, be discreet in your observations. The person should never know you’re even watching.

Visual 2:
Colors play an important role in providing details in fiction. With that in mind, while you’re sat at the mall, choose a store window or any other setting and think about the many colors that you are seeing. Don’t just see them, experience them; capture their shades, their essence. Notice nuances in shades. Brown, for example, might be chocolate, mahogany, chestnut, coffee, caramel, tan, beige, fawn, parchment, honey-brown, bronze or copper, plus many more.

Observation Exercise Two
Objective: To develop your powers of observation

Auditory:
Capturing sound in a novel adds dimension to your writing. Learning to render sound is difficult and will take practice. First ask yourself how skilled are you at observing and recording sound? To find out, keep a sound journal for a couple of days. Record the sounds you hear form morning to evening. The catch in this exercise is that you are not to write down the source of any sound. If you hear the sound of a lawnmower, a woodpecker, a dog, a thunderstorm, or radio static, write the word or words that describe the sound. For example, the lawnmower might be roaring or purring; the woodpecker drilling, pecking or tapping; the dog barking, howling, growling, whining, yapping, yipping or squealing; the storm rumbling, cracking, or drumming; the static crackling or snapping. Remember, do not name the source. Give only the sound. The next morning, pick up your journal and try to identify the source of each sound.

Observation Exercise Three
Objective: To develop your powers of observation

Feel, Taste, Touch:
This exercise is best suited for the privacy of your home. The object of the exercise is to help your concentrate on your other senses, to help you observe, remember and write about objects. Choose a nice ripe piece of fruit, container of yogurt or a piece of rich chocolate cake. Touch it with your fingers. If feasible, gently roll or spread it over your hands or face. Feel it. Observe the texture, the temperature, the softness. Now smell it. Give it a good sniff. How does this smell affect you? Does the chocolate cake remind you of your grandmother’s house, the apple of an autumn day, the yogurt of the many diets you have been on? Finally, taste the food. Is it hot, cold, sweet, tart, fresh? Does the taste remind you of other tastes? What memories are being triggered?

After you have finished your warm-up exercises, you will realize that you can and do accomplish the goals you set for yourself. You now understand that, through practice and repetition, your skills will grow stronger. As you grow more confident, you will discover that you do indeed have much to offer as a writer.

For more helpful tips and exercises, visit www.sterlinghouse-bookstore.com and check out:
Writing Aerobics I by C. Sterling and M. Davidson

Agree? Disagree? Tell us at editor@writersnewsweekly.com or join the discussion on facebook.com.