Writer of the week, Ian McEwan

photo credit: Annalena McAfee

"I used to think I would have to spend a lifetime shaking it off. Now I know that's impossible, and unnecessary, and that you have to work with what you've got."   Ian McEwan, 2011  (article Mother Tongue, from The Guardian)


Ian McEwen is one of the best, if not THE best writers today and I have been reading his articles, essays and listening to his YouTube video talks, as often as time permits me this past week. I decided to loosely write down some of his great advice for writers.

Also, I have become mildly obsessed with YouTube videos on writers giving interviews on writing, the process, the rewrites, the constant edits and the life of a writer. David Foster Wallace is a real thought provoking writer and everything that comes out of his mouth is like every work he's ever written. It is complex and lengthy.

I also watched some videos from The University of Iowa Writers Workshop.  I turn a little green watching Iowa Workshop Writers discussing how they found out they had been accepted in the program. I feel punched in the gut after the credits roll, if only, I confess to myself, if only. I love writers. I love this school. Every book I have read, that was written by a former student of the program is in my eyes, brilliant.

Back to Ian the great. Here are a few paraphrased advise tips. I ingest these like a starving animal, no fat, all meat, perfect to feed a writers mind..

A writer must be/have

• -a hoarder of words
• -set aside time to write
• -expectations placed on you to produce work
• -writers need to read
• -take reading serious
• -become a devoted reader

"I've always believed it is very important to show up at the desk. whether you have ideas or not. You've got to have the work ethic that makes you show up." Ian McEwan

All the above are simple. Yet, so important.

Ian McEwan wrote two of my favorite books, Saturday & Atonement. Sadly, I own neither. I have read both and even watched the movie adaptation   of "Atonement" and it is one of my favorite movies, much like the book. It translated so fine into film. He also talks about where he gets his ideas for stories from. He walks. Taking long walks, watching the world, people and being open, allows ideas to sprout up within him.

If you have never read McEwan, read his work. If you have not seen Atonement, watch it.

My Friday conclusion for the week. Now the weekend begins and I welcome it. No more YouTube videos this week. Ian McEwen's writing tips has me pushing myself to write and continue with completing a piece of fiction I started months ago. I go back to the story, write a little, then stop, this week I will work on finishing it, placing upon myself the expectation to finish by next Friday. Then the grueling task of finding the perfect place to submit it.

May you all have a great weekend and hopefully read a little, maybe a lot. Happy Readings!


Francie McMillon
Contact me for all your writing needs
@ pennedperfectly@gmail.com
(559) 777-0746

Happy Birthday Franz Kafka!

````````````````````````````````````` ```````````````````````````````````Kafka

 

If you Google; as I Google, then you must have noticed todays new Google Doodle. It is Gregor Samsa from Metamorphosis, one of Franz Kafka’s most beloved and heartbreaking novellas. Today would have been Kafka’s 130^th birthday.

He was born July 3, 1883 and died June 3, 1924, as an unknown writer. Throughout his lifetime and even at his death; he received none of the fame that he is so associated with today. On his deathbed, he asked his best friend Max to destroy all his work and never show it or submit it to the world. Had his friend obeyed Kafka, the literary world would have never known great works as, “The Trial” and “The Castle”.   

Yet, nothing quite compares to “Metamorphosis”. It is such a somber read and by far my favorite. Kafka writes with such a deep sorrow and an immense amount of guilt in Metamorphosis.

Kafka’s main character, Gregor Samsa wakes to find he has metamorphosed into a vermin (I imagine him a cockroach, the big fat ugly, water-loving cockroaches, with long shitty-brown antennas). Eventually ,his family also becomes aware of his new body. He lives with his father, mother and sister and they never come to accept the transformation of Gregor.

 Instead, they are disgusted by it. Moreover, Gregor at times just wants to help financially, as he once did, and love them. He is often read, gazing in awe of his sister or peeking out his room, while his mother sews and his father reads the evening paper, watching and lovingly embracing their life. Yet, even his best intentions are abhorred. In one scene, his sister is playing the violin while two male guests are visiting.

Gregor the cockroach is in his room, wounded by an apple that remains stuck inside his buggy body. An apple that his father threw at him in anger.  Gregor wakes from a nap to hear his sister playing and is in awe of the sound. He thinks to himself that he must not be so much of a vermin since he can appreciate good music.

As he crawls out of the room, hair and dust and all the trash the dirty floor holds, clings to his body. He intends to go out, praise his sister and climb on her neck, whisper how much he loves her and how proud he is of her, after all he did pay for her violin lessons and was one of her biggest supporters, prior to becoming a beetle.

Instead, he is seen as a horror and shortly after, left to die with the lone apple still embedded in his side. His family cannot fathom Gregor’s image any longer. So they leave him, in detest they abandon the son, brother that they once loved, and that cared and worked hard to provide a better life for them. Yet, now that Gregor is useless and physically putrid, crawling on the floor as a bug, eating as such, no long is he useful to them and their disgust of Gregor Samsa has reached the breaking point. Happily, they depart.

I encourage you to read this novella. I just told you the parts I loved; there are more images, words, emotions, scenes that are worth purchasing this gem of a book, reading, and adding it to one’s collection of literature.

So a big Happy Birthday to Franz Kafka. In remembrance I am making peanut butter cookies, because peanut butter is brown just like Gregor was in the end.

I skimmed and speed-read my book, once again, searching for one of my many highlighted favorite quotes and there were just so damn many. I think I lit the entire book in yellow. A true testament to how much I loved this book when I originally read it almost a decade ago, and cherished Kafka’s dark and beautifully woven words. Here is one of the many
quotes that I love. It shows the wonderful heart of a man turned cockroach. O Gregor!

“He thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister's. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful reflection until the tower clock struck three in the morning. He still saw that outside the window everything was beginning to grow light. Then, without his consent, his head sank down to the floor, and from his nostrils streamed his last weak breath.”
― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis


Francine McMillon
Penned Perfectly
For all your writing needs
Contact me @ 777-0746
pennedperfectly@gmail.com