Prepared by: Florence Cardinal Reposted on: July 19, 2009
Exercise: In 400 words or less, tell a story, or give us the beginning of one, that explains what prompted someone to run a classified advertisement. Be sure to include the ad and credit the source at the beginning of your sub. Stick to the information given--don't change the family dog to a cockatoo, or substitute a pair of glass slippers for the wedding gown.
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This is another in the "inspiration is everywhere" category.
Have you ever read the classified ads in the newspaper and wondered about the story behind some of them? For example:
"TO GIVE AWAY: Five-year-old male cocker spaniel. Great with kids. Family pet. Looking for a good home."
Why are these folks giving away the family dog?
Find such an advertisement in a daily or weekly newspaper old or new, a community bulletin board, or at Craig's List, and build a story around it. http://www.craigslist.org/about/cities.html ---------------------------------------
These exercises were written by IWW members and administrators to provide structured practice opportunities for its members. You are welcome to use them for practice as well. Please mention that you found them at the Internet Writers Workshop. .
This Day In Writing History On July 17th, 1889, the legendary mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner was born in Malden, Massachusetts. After graduating high school in 1909, he entered the Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana. He soon dropped out and moved to California, where he became a self-taught attorney and passed the California state bar exam. He opened his own law practice, but later gave it up and went to work for a sales agency for five years before returning once again to practice law in 1921.
Creative and restless by nature, Gardner was bored by the routine of legal practice. What he enjoyed was trial work, especially planning his strategy for defending his clients. In his spare time, Gardner took up writing and sold short stories to pulp magazines, cutting his teeth just as fellow mystery writers Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler had done. In his short stories, Gardner created many popular series characters, including gentleman thief Lester Leith and crusading lawyer Ken Corning.
In 1933, Gardner's first novel was published. It was called The Case Of The Velvet Claws, and it was the first to feature a character who would become one of the great icons of popular culture - a brilliant and cunning defense attorney and sleuth by the name of Perry Mason. In Mason's first adventure, he crosses paths with the spoiled, philandering wife of a rich and powerful man. She's determined to keep her affairs a secret and retain her life of luxury - even if she has to frame Perry Mason for murder to do it!
The Case Of The Velvet Claws became a huge success. By 1937 - four years after it was published - Erle Stanley Gardner quit his law practice to write full time. Many of his Perry Mason novels were published in serialized form in The Saturday Evening Post, then in book form. Sixteen of them appeared in condensed form in the Toronto Star Weekly. Gardner wrote over 80 Perry Mason novels during his career. He also wrote a few mystery novels featuring other characters such as Terry Clane and Gramps Wiggins. In addition to his novels, he also published short story collections and a series of non-fiction books.
Perry Mason was Gardner's most popular character. Always determined to see justice done, while defending his clients, Mason worked tirelessly to solve the crimes of which they were accused. So popular was Perry Mason that he soon appeared in movies during the 1930s and 40s. In 1943, a Perry Mason radio mystery series premiered and ran for twelve years. In 1957, Perry Mason made the jump to television in acclaimed series that starred Raymond Burr as the attorney and sleuth, defending his clients and solving crimes with the help of his private investigator Paul Drake (William Hopper) and his secretary, Della Street (Barbara Hale).
The Perry Mason TV series ran for nine years. Erle Stanley Gardner made an uncredited appearance in the final episode, playing a judge. Raymond Burr would return for a whopping 30 Perry Mason made-for-tv movies that aired between 1985 and 1995.
When he wasn't writing about him, Erle Stanley Gardner became a real life Perry Mason in his spare time, donating thousands of hours to a project called The Court of Last Resort. The project was dedicated to helping those suspected of being wrongly convicted of crimes as the result of poor legal representation or careless or malicious police work or prosecutorial misconduct. The project was especially focused on forensics and the mishandling and misinterpretation of forensic evidence due to ineptitude or malice on the part of investigators or prosecutors.
Gardner was assisted in his project by his many friends in the forensic, investigative, and legal communities. In 1952, Gardner published a non-fiction account of his work for The Court of Last Resort, which won him an Edgar Award in the Best Fact Crime category.
Erle Stanley Gardner died in 1970 at the age of 80. His famous character Perry Mason remains a major iconic figure in popular culture. In his 1995 album Ozzmosis, legendary rock singer Ozzy Osbourne paid tribute to Gardner's attorney and sleuth in the song Perry Mason, which became a hit single:
Who can we get on the case? We need Perry Mason Someone to put you in place Calling Perry Mason, again...
Quote Of The Day "It's a damn good story. If you have any comments, write them on the back of a check." - Erle Stanley Gardner on his first Perry Mason novel, The Case Of The Velvet Claws.
Vanguard Video Today's video features a collection of clips from an episode of the classic Perry Mason TV series, with Leonard Nimoy as a special guest star! Enjoy!
This Day In Writing History On July 16th, 1951, writer J.D. Salinger's celebrated novel, The Catcher In The Rye, was published. It would prove to be not only one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, but also one of the most controversial and challenged novels of all time.
Salinger's poignant coming-of-age story opens with teenage student Holden Caulfield being expelled from Pencey Prep, his boarding school in Pennsylvania. An angry young man, Holden believes that his fellow students and his teachers are all a bunch of phonies. After an altercation with his roommate, Holden packs up and leaves school in the middle of the night.
He takes a train back to New York City, but doesn't want to go home to his parents, so he checks into the shabby Edmont Hotel instead. There, he dances with some tourist girls, has a clumsy encounter with a prostitute, and gets assaulted by her pimp when he refuses to pay her more than the agreed upon amount.
Holden spends the next two days wandering around the city, drunk and lonely. He sneaks into his parents' apartment while they're out so he can visit his precocious younger sister Phoebe - the only family member that he can communicate with. He shares with her a fantasy (based on a misinterpretation of Robert Burns' Comin' Through The Rye) where he watches over children playing in a rye field near the edge of a cliff. He must make sure that they don't wander too close to the edge; he must become a "catcher in the rye."
After leaving his parents' apartment, Holden visits his old English teacher, Mr. Antolini, who offers him a place to sleep and gives him a speech about life - during which he guzzles highballs. Later that night, Holden is awakened to find Mr. Antolini patting his head in a "flitty" way. Whether or not this is a sexual advance is up for speculation and ultimately left to the reader to decide.
When Holden tells his sister Phoebe that he plans to move out West, she wants to go with him. He refuses to take her and she becomes upset, so he tells her that he won't move. The book ends with Holden taking Phoebe to the Central Park Zoo. He watches with melancholy joy while she rides the carousel. He alludes to possible future events, including "getting sick" and living in a mental hospital, and attending another school in September.
That's just a bare outline of The Catcher In The Rye. You must read it for yourself. It truly is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. It's also one of the most controversial. The American Library Association (ALA) has listed it as the 13th most challenged book from 1990-2000 and one of the ten most challenged books of 2005. The complaints range from profanity - including words such as goddamn and fuck - to blasphemy.
Opponents of the book have also complained about the undermining of family values, Holden Caulfield being a poor role model, (encouraging rebellion) and the promotion of drinking, smoking, lying, and promiscuity. A high school teacher, Shelley Keller-Gage, was fired after some parents complained about her placement of The Catcher In The Rye on her assigned reading list. She was later reinstated.
So far, J.D. Salinger has rebuffed attempts at adapting his classic novel for the stage and screen. When his short story Uncle Wiggily In Connecticut was adapted as a film called My Foolish Heart, great liberties had been taken with Salinger's plot. The film, which he hated, was panned by critics, and he vowed that no more of his works would be adapted. In 1961, Salinger denied Elia Kazan permission to turn The Catcher In The Rye into a Broadway play.
Since the novel's publication, directors from Billy Wilder to Steven Spielberg to Harvey Weinstein have expressed interest in directing a film version of The Catcher In The Rye. Many name actors, from Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson to Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio have expressed interest in playing Holden Caulfield. John Cusack once said that after he turned 21, he regretted that he had become too old to play Holden.
There is a rumor that there may finally be a film version coming soon. Until then, everyone should read The Catcher In The Rye.
Quote Of The Day “An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's.” - J.D. Salinger
Vanguard Video Today's video features a reading of the first chapter of The Catcher In The Rye. Enjoy!
This Day In Writing History On July 15th, 1779, the famous poet Clement Moore was born in New York City. His father, Benjamin Moore, was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and also served as the president of Columbia College.
Clement Moore later graduated from Columbia College, earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees there. In 1821, he was made a professor of biblical studies at the General Theological Seminary in New York City - a position he would hold for almost 30 years. For 10 years, he served as a board member of the New York Institute for the Blind, now known as the New York Institute for Special Education. He was also a prominent abolitionist.
Moore's writing career was modest. He only published two books during his lifetime. One of them was a non-fiction work - a Hebrew and English lexicon published in 1809. The other was a poetry collection, published in 1844. One of Moore's poems would become a classic - a cherished holiday classic that continues to be read every year during the Christmas season. Its original title was A Visit From St. Nicholas, but it's best known as Twas The Night Before Christmas, which is also the first line of the poem.
Twas The Night Before Christmas was first published anonymously in the Sentinel, a newspaper based in Troy, New York, on December 23rd, 1823. Moore originally took no credit for writing the poem because he wanted to be known for his serious and scholarly works, not for a whimsical Christmas poem.
The poem tells the story of a man awakened by strange noises late one Christmas Eve. While his wife and children sleep, he investigates the noises and witnesses the arrival of St. Nicholas - Santa Claus - who has come to deliver presents, riding a sleigh pulled by eight flying reindeer. The poem defined the character of Santa Claus as we know him today - his physical description, the names of his reindeer, his tradition of delivering presents on Christmas Eve, and other characteristics.
One thing I always found interesting was Moore's description of Santa Claus as "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" with a long white beard. This may have come from ancient Egyptian mythology, as the ancient Egyptian god Bes was a Santa-like character. The ancient Egyptians believed that on December 25th, their mother goddess Isis gave birth to Horus, the savior of Egypt. Bes, the Elf King, (depicted as a jolly, fat little elf with a long white beard) was a favorite of Isis, much loved by the goddess. He was the guardian of children and women in childbirth, and every year on December 25th, he would honor the birth of Horus by bringing toys and trinkets to all good children.
Twas The Night Before Christmas continues to be read every year during the Christmas season. The poem has become a cultural icon, influencing music, movies, and television, where it has been both parodied and paid tribute. In 1974, the famous animators Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, producers of many classic, beloved animated TV Christmas specials, including Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, produced an animated Christmas special loosely based on Clement Moore's classic poem. Featuring the voices of Joel Grey and George Gobel, Twas The Night Before Christmas is still shown on TV at Christmastime and is also available on DVD. You can read the complete text of the poem here.
Clement Moore died in 1863 at the age of 83.
Quote Of The Day "True poetry is itself a magic spell which is a key to the ineffable." - Aleister Crowley
Vanguard Video Today's video features a rare 1946 short film retelling of Twas The Night Before Christmas. Enjoy!
This Day In Writing History On July 14th, 1902, the Nobel Prize winning writer Isaac Bashevis Singer was born. He was born in Leoncin, Poland. His older brother, Israel Joshua Singer, and his older sister, Esther Kreitman, also became writers. Their father was a Hasidic rabbi, and their mother's father and brothers were also rabbis.
When Isaac Bashevis Singer was ten years old, his brother Israel gave him a copy of Dostoyevsky's classic novel, Crime and Punishment, despite the fact that their strict, orthodox father forbade them from reading non-religious books. Isaac loved the book. Later, as a teenager in Bilgoraj, he would study Yiddish translations of works by Leo Tolstoy, Guy de Maupassant, Anton Chekhov, and other authors. He read all sorts of novels, plays, and poetry collections.
Singer later entered a rabbinical seminary, but came to hate the school and the prospect of becoming a rabbi. He returned to his parents for a time, then went back to Bilgoraj and tried to earn some money giving Hebrew lessons. In 1923, his brother Israel arranged for him to move to Warsaw and become a proofreader for the Literarische Bleter, for whom he would later become an editor.
In his twenties, taking a cue from his brother, who had done the same, Isaac Bashevis Singer broke ties with his parents and rejected his religion. He became part of Warsaw's Bohemian scene, spending time with many of his fellow non-religious writers and artists. Singer's first published short story won a literary contest and established him as an up-and-coming talent.
Singer's primary language had always been Yiddish, he wrote in Yiddish, and Yiddish folktales were a major influence on his writing. His first novel, Satan In Goray, was published in a serialized format in Globus, a literary magazine co-founded in 1935 by Singer and his lifelong friend, Yiddish poet Aaron Zeitlin. Singer's historical novel was set in 17th century Poland, in the village of Goraj. It was based on the true story of how a third of Poland's Jews were exterminated in a Cossack uprising. It also told of the effect of Shabbatai Zvi, a rabbi turned false prophet and cult leader, on the Jewish population.
Although he had rejected his religion as a young man, Isaac Bashevis Singer's writing is often steeped deep in Judaism. His novels and short stories often depicted Jewish characters struggling with their religion. Their struggles sometimes become quite violent, resulting in death or insanity. His most popular novel, Yentl The Yeshiva Boy, was adapted in 1975 as an equally popular movie (which Singer absolutely hated) starring Barbra Streisand in the lead role. Yentl is a young girl constantly at odds with her rabbi father over the traditions of their religion, always debating theology with him - something females aren't supposed to do.
After her father dies, Yentl cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy named Anshel so she can enter a yeshiva and study the Talmud. Her true identity is discovered by her study partner, Avigdor. In his novel, Singer modeled the character of Yentl after his older sister, Esther. Though she was an intellectually gifted child, due to the misogynistic beliefs and traditions of her father's orthodox religion, as a young girl, Esther was confined to a life of drudgery, doing menial household chores while her brothers received an education.
Esther had dreamed of becoming a writer, but her status as a woman in a strict Hasidic Jewish family crushed that dream. She was even forced into an arranged marriage, a fate she accepted grudgingly. The marriage ended in divorce. Later in life, she finally did educate herself and make her dream come true, publishing one novel and a collection of short stories.
Her brother, Isaac Bashevis Singer, wrote over 18 novels and numerous short story collections. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978. Singer died in 1991 at the age of 88, after suffering a series of strokes.
Quote Of The Day "We must believe in free will - we have no choice." - Isaac Bashevis Singer
Vanguard Video Today's video is a clip from the 1987 PBS TV documentary, Isaac In America: A Journey With Isaac Bashevis Singer. Enjoy!
This Day In Writing History On July 13th, 1798, legendary British poet William Wordsworth, accompanied by his sister Dorothy, visited Tintern Abbey, a ruined church that was the first Cistercian monastery in Wales, and only the second in the United Kingdom. Wordsworth's visit to Tintern Abbey inspired him to write his classic poem of the same name.
The poem Tintern Abbey first appeared in the book Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, which Wordsworth co-wrote with his friend, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Published later in 1798, it included Coleridge's classic poem, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner. The first edition sold out within two years. The second edition of the book included a preface article on Romantic poetry.
Tintern Abbey, (its full title is Lines Written A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey) a blank verse poem that read more like prose, dealt with the fundamental themes of Romantic poetry, including communion with nature, which has a restorative power. The poem also deals with memory, specifically childhood memory and how it affects us as adults. These themes were hugely important in Wordsworth's work.
Quote Of The Day "What is a Poet? He is a man speaking to men: a man, it is true, endowed with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, who has a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind; a man pleased with his own passions and volitions, and who rejoices more than other men in the spirit of life that is in him; delighting to contemplate similar volitions and passions as manifested in the goings-on of the Universe, and habitually impelled to create them where he does not find them." - William Wordsworth
Vanguard Video Today's video is the second in a two-part discussion of the works of Marcel Proust, called The Proust Experience. Enjoy!
Thanks to Alice Folkart for reminding me of this neat little venue. I see my story is in the good company of other IWW members.
Mark Budman
My radio interview is now available at Out of Bounds. You'll need Real Player (a free download) to listen to it.
My story "Lot's Wife" has just appeared in Mississippi Review. Thank you very much to everyone who critiqued it last year.
Jeannette Cezanne
My poem "Numbers" will appear in the forthcoming—wait for it—numbers-themed issue of Stimulus/Respond. Very strange little bit of serendipity: I'd finished the poem and had just titled it when I read about the upcoming theme. It felt Meant, somehow! And apparently it was.
Norman Cooper
Recently, I sent an email to my son's wrestling coach to ask if they needed help with managing the club's website. Since I have experience in this area and still have a little room on my plate, I offered my services.
The coach happened to click the link in my signature line (I've always wondered if anyone did this) and he found my wrestling blog devoted to my son. He liked the blog and not only agreed to let me have the website "job," but he offered me the job of the club's staff writer.
Naturally, I accepted. I guess I can add "freelance writer" to my resume now...
Alice Folkart
My very short and slightly odd story, "Better Safe than Sorry," is up at Postcard Shorts.
Marge Hamill
My essay "The Night on the Beach," about my family spending a night on Lake Michigan's beautiful beach in the early 30's, will appear in the July/August edition of Senior Perspectives, a West Michigan publication.
Kristen Howe
A few months ago I received a poetry acceptance from Short Poem regarding a submission sent last year. They apologized for the delay, but asked if "Lady Fern" was still available. I said yes. Now, a few months later, it's online.
Victoria Mixon
My essay, "Everything You Need to Know About Writing a Novel, in 1,000 Words" is up on Nathan Bransford's blog.
Tannice Pendegrass
I've just become the editor of Crawley Happy Times, an online newspaper for Crawley, Surrey (in the UK).
The newspaper's remit is to provide happy, positive news for the local people of Crawley. It's just starting up, but we're building up the content day by day.
I'm chuffed. :)
Randy Radic
My latest book review, "Republicanism and Anticlerical Nationalism in Spain" by Enrique A. Sanabria is up at Alvah's Books. Thanks to Rebeca for the book and the opportunity.
Bob Sanchez
Rebecca's Reads posted a nice review of "Getting Lucky" on their website and on Amazon, which I hope you'll check out.
Also, I read a bit of GL at an open mic event in Las Cruces last weekend--a throng of 10 people. Other performers included two luminaries of the local beat community acting out a short sketch by Alan Ginsburg. I'll bet not every city still has beatniks!
Anita Saran
At last I can share the broadcast of my story "City of Victory," narrated beautifully by the well-known Badria Timmimi for BBC Radio 4 in 2004. I posted a yahoo a while ago about my novella version of this story that was reviewed by Ann Hite. Enjoy!
Wayne Scheer
No new acceptances to report, but a few of my stories are up.
Two flashes from Revealing Moments, "It's Not That Funny" and "Spring Training," are up at Purdee Magazine. Purdee is odd in that it doesn't accept submissions. The editor contacted me, saying he had read my work, and asked if I'd send him a couple of stories from the book. I respond to flattery.
My only poem, "Cousin Harold," is up at Shine Journal. I wrote this one in response to an assignment on the Practice list. Incidentally, Shine now pays $5 for a poem or flash story.
My story, "Drinks with Friends," is up at Long Story Short. I join Ann Hite, who has an essay offering excellent writing advice, as well as her recipe for sweet tea.
My story, "Hemingway Be Damned," is one of the stories featured this week at Sniplits. Be aware it's an audio file and will cost you forty-eight cents to download it.
The good news is Sniplits seems to be staying afloat and plans to reopen for submissions sometime soon. This is important because they pay fairly well. Check the site for details.
Mona Leeson Vanek
As in most small American communities, word-of-mouth, posters around town and a local weekly newspaper are the only media serving rural folks. My tiny yahoo is part of my ongoing efforts to provide 'daily news' access for my small town of Rockford, WA. The Rockford, WA website just recently went online and will have multiple links to the Rockford Blog. I'm thrilled to have just posted the first of what I hope becomes a weekly calendar of events. I notified as many local VIPs as possible, too, including Rockford's mayor and the editor of the North Palouse Journal, the area's weekly newspaper.
The webmasters for Rockford's website have asked me to write the press releases and the blog posts. The website calendar links an RSS feed to my blogspot posts with more information on each event. I am amazed at the clever way they've created fast loading links to make it easy for people to access specifically what they're looking for.
Now begins my campaign not only to bring classes into Rockford to teach people how to make the best use of the website and blog, but also manage to somehow convince residents to attend and learn! Wish me luck. I'll appreciate all the helpful tips I can get, so toss 'em at me, please.
The town's population is more than 50% geriatric. And, probably fewer than 25% own computers and have access to the Internet. Rockford's Horizons Poverty Project (where I'm a volunteer leader) is addressing those needs.
Virginia Winters
My story, "Manhattan," is up at Postcard Shorts. It was critiqued on the Fiction site by several people. Thanks to all.
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