I often have my best ideas in the swimming pool far from pen, paper or computer. Gazing through a skylight seeing tall buildings slowly
move through 30 panes of glass lends a cinematic effect as I swim by
watching the clouds groove to music. The ideas most often come in the form of what I should or shouldn’t have done and how I should or shouldn’t do it.
Tag: writing
500 Words #36 –
500 Words #29- Punk Publishing
Doing record sessions in LA we knew hits relied on multiple things and that talent was only 1 of the notes needed to strike the chord. Luck, connections and marketing abilities also come into play- things creators often lack (I know I do). Established artists have infrastructure in place doing it for them i.e. a record company.
500 Words #28- So Many Words
I saw a comedian complaining about reading books. How there’s so many words page after page without a few blank ones in between so you can rest… but no, the words just keep coming. It was very funny and led me to consider how much worse it is writing them, in this case, 500 a week.
500 Words #26- You’ve Come A Long Way Baby
At the beginning of the year this blog ostensibly on my publishing quest (now expanded) didn’t exist. Efforts regarding my manuscript Home Cookin’- The Stories Behind The Food were suspended in amber. It was my first client/now friend Melissa who suggested that stories are more like evergreens- and like good songs, have no expiration date.
500 Words #24 An Audience Of One
Spent the better part of the week researching and editing a new Home Cookin’ profile I’m doing in order to finish the first draft. Hacen is the first subject in years that’s compelled me to write a new profile (with 20 others in the can). As a result I’ve been doing a deep dive into the Northwest Saharan African country of Mauritania where my subject escaped because hereditary racial slavery is still current events there as opposed to mainly legacy as it is here.
500 words #23 – The Storyteller
Transcribing recent interviews for the most powerful piece I’ve written for Home Cookin’- The Stories Behind The Food, my POV should be noted.
Storytellers relate anecdotes and recite tales and their narration makes the audience identify with scenarios and characters. Creativity, humor, timing and merciless editing (aka “killing your darlings”) are important skills to possess. AKA chronicler, fabulator, raconteur, griot, spinner of yarns or anecdotist.
500 Words #22- “Art Is Only Abandoned, Never Finished”
I stopped writing “Home Cookin’- The Stories Behind The Food” a few years ago. I’d written 20 profiles, a seemingly respectable number that was already a couple hundred pages. After 100 unsolicited queries were unsuccessful, and then Covid – the manuscript wasn’t going anywhere so minimal effort was expended by moi.
500 Words #17-
A Week In The Life
As a pleasure glutton that prefers collecting experiences over objects,
the Great Wall of China or sipping vintage port overlooking the Douro Valley wins over a Rolex or designer clothes. The rich tapestry that informs who I am over what I have gives me the mindset to draw upon as life enfolds.
500 Words #16 –
Keep On Keepin’ On
The last one was filled with unpleasantries. A couple deaths, a doctor’s appointment I unnecessarily feared, a friend’s bad diagnosis, an insulting and dismissive business decision directed at someone I love.
500 words #4-
Food As Connection
The thought of working extended periods of time out of town haslost its appeal and the day to day reality of running restaurants,hotels or theaters is not one I’m interested in any longer. Notready to retire, in order to utilize 4+ decades of culinaryknowledge I write about food, and cooks in particular. Growing up in […]