Illiteracy, Red Stairs, And A New Hashtag

Hello, chaps and chapesses! I wanted to pop in for a few reasons. First and foremost is to let you know that yes, I have been writing and yes, it is going well and the reason I've been so incognito on the blog is that our home wifi is null and void and has been for the past two months and by the time I get to Starbucks or another wifi'd place, work for my food + fashion blog has stacked up so much, all my time is spent playing catch-up for that. So this is going to be a fun post because I have twenty minutes to cover a multitude of sins and I'm going to go at it at a running pace.

Teaching:

Tuesday, September 8th, was International Literacy Day! It baffles me to think there are, by some accounts, 757 million adults in the world who cannot read. When I stop to consider how different my life...heck...how different I would be had I never learned to read, it it almost too much to handle. As the primary teacher of two little girls, one of whom is on that precarious brinking of reading-but-not-quite, I feel like I'm up close and personal with the subject of literacy and "can we read," or "can we not read." The following infographic (brought to my attention by Grammarly) gives you a little more insight into the problem if illiteracy and where the highest problem-areas are.

Please don't take for the granted the fact that you can read and write and all the worlds that have opened up to you because of it. And if you ever get the chance to teach a child to read...do it. It brings the subject into such a different point of view!

Reading:

I'm working through Cocktail Hour by P.G. Wodehouse as well as slowly tromping through the rest of Schindler's List (it's so heart-rending I find I can only take very small doses), and reading through (over breakfast each morning) Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking. I heard this past weekend that Rooglewood Press is officially and permanently offering one of its author's stories as a free download, and Hayden Wand's The Wulver's Rose (from their Five Enchanted Roses collection) as chosen as the featured title! So definitely go download that and see if it tempts you into buying the whole collection.

September has also been a great month for another friend of mine, author Rachelle Rea, whose second novel, The Sound of Silver, Whitefire Press releases on October 15th! She's been busy all month sending out e-ARC copies to fellow authors and I just know it will be as huge a success as the first title.

Writing:

My untitled Sleeping Beauty story. I'm still not sure whether I will enter Rooglewood's Spindles contest with this story, but I am writing it to that end. If the story wants to stretch itself and get bigger than the allotted word-count, I'm not going to cramp it and make it fit. I have a good feeling about this story and if it wants to become a full novel (though I'm not saying it will) I want to give it its freedom. Also, Cottleston Pie, which is being conducted on paper, has been locked in my trunk for two weeks. But it is so much almost finished I keep forgetting I need to actually do the deed.

Just now, as they mounted the red stairs again, the Queen weighed the cost of asking the one question to which she already guessed the answer: “When our sweet Mariechen died, did you swear to never again love anyone, even her mother?" But, as always, she hesitated. Already so strained, what might honesty add to the turmoil? No, far better to accept the coolness in place of warmer emotions and, philosopher-like, remark that the weather was pleasant enough to require only a light wrap. She placed her arm in his, reminded him of their evening engagements and, at the door to his study, parted from him with a sensation like frostbite pulsing in her throat

Changing:

The hashtag for #wordplaywednesday! I know I've trained all of you to hashtag your weekly posts with that, but apparently we share it with something entirely different. So from now on, #wednesdaywordshare is the name of the game, okay? If you think of it, please share the news around so that we can all get grouped up again! :)

I will be back as soon as I can with a full snippets post, but I wanted to pop in while in the presence of wifi and say that I hadn't died, rotted, or abandoned ship. The Inkpen Authoress is still alive. Somewhat more stressed, busy, and wifi-deprived than of yore, but as full of words as she ever has been. Cheers, darlings!

Organization is the key...?

Well, I did as I said I would and put together a post about my book projects. :) For once I was not thinking about writing books--only about organizing and sorting them. Here are the basics:

^ My shabby little fake-wood shelf before... (wasn't it depressing?)

...and after. :) Looks much more respectable, doesn't it?

I organized the shelves in my own little way. From the bottom up there are...miscellaneous books/Sarah's school books. Next shelf: Beloveds. Middle Shelf: Classics. After that: Antique Books. Top Shelf: Lamplighter/overflow classics. :)

My falling-apart copy of The Fellowship of The Ring--that's dedication you know; reading a book in that state.

I had forgotten I had bought a reprint Sears Roebuck's Catalog from 1902. :) It's the most marvelous thing for price-checking when writing a book set in that era....funny illustrations too. :)

Long underwear... haha!

My personal antique copies of books. :) There is nothing that delights me more than reading old books that I know were read and loved and cherished even before I bought them. :) I've got Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Windy Poplars, Little Women, Under the Lilacs, two of The Waverly Novels, Strawberry Girl, Hans Brinker, A Garland for Girls, Gulliver's Travels, a quote book, Moby Dick, and A Man Called Peter. :)

and my dear A.A. Milne books. :) I love the bumble-bee print covers. :)

My most cherished Literary Collection: 8 Dickens novels I bought with some graduation money. :)

This is actually Sarah's book--all of the letters Beatrix Potter wrote to little children--so sweet!

Detail of one page...

You want to know where I christen all my characters?

Yep. I admit it. Many of them have un-illustrious births in the Everything Baby Names Book. :D

My little book-loving statue. :)

This is the Antique Shelf after adding Sarah's books--some Thornton W. Burgess books, Eight Cousins, Jo's Boys, and others. :)

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little of my literary collection. :) After the sorting of the shelves I got rid of the books I never have liked. *feels slightly guilty.* ;) That means all these books left on the shelf (or nearly all of them) are tried and true and well-loved. I plan to expand my collection as I grow older, but for now it's probably just as well that I don't have any more books. As it was, Sarah is innocent of all charges of Book-Hoarder. Most of the titles on this bookcase are mine. :P Actually, I have a refurbishing project to do on a little cupboard that I hope to turn into a bookcase--I'll let you know how it goes! :)

They go Together Like...Fire and Gunpowder

"There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose." 

~David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Oh, oh, oh! Do words ever strike you as you read them, steal your breath away, and only return--demanding compound interest--once they've rattled through your mind again and again? Or perhaps a simpler description, more to the point, would be, do you ever read something and find it resounds with your very soul? So much so that you cannot forget it? 

These words from David Copperfield did just that to me. I can't tell why, exactly. Perhaps it was because I knew David shouldn't have married Dora, and it pains me to see him pained. Perhaps it is because that is a truth I have long suspected but had never heard put down quite so perfectly.

This is, perhaps, not quite a writing post, as much as it is a post about a thought literature provoked. But one can accept a change of subject, right? 

Unequal marriages have always bothered me. Think the painful marriages in literature that make you want to punch the husband or wife clear out of the pages. Mr. Gibson and Hyacinth Clare. Richard Carstone and Ada Clare. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet...I am even tempted to add poor David and Dora to the group. But what is it that makes a marriage unequal? What is it that adds such disparity to an otherwise average couple?

1. I profess an opinion that station has nothing to do with it. As Emma Woodhouse says, "There have been many happy and unequal marriages!" Station and social status have little to do with having a happy marriage. Think of any of the successful couples in literature, and one will find that many of them were of different classes...Mr. Darcy and Lizzy Bennet. Captain Ralph Percy and Lady Jocelyn Leigh. Even Sir Percy Blakeney and Marguerite St. Just came from different backgrounds.

2. Age has little to do with it. Think of Emma and Mr. Knightley. There were 17 years between them! In fact, many  if not most of the classic couples had a span of at least 10 or 20 years age difference.

3. Similarity of personality isn't a necessity. We've all heard that opposites attract, and I can think of many cases where this is evident. Think of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan in How Green Was my Valley.

If none of these things, what is it that makes an unequal, unhappy marriage?

"My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner life." So Mr. Bennet warns Lizzy when she admits her love for Mr. Darcy. The inability to respect your partner is a large component in an unhappy marriage. But Dickens hit the nail on the head when he spoke of the subject: unsuitability of mind and purpose. A couple who cannot share the same sympathies, who cannot relate one to another, are like oxen who are supposed to be a team but are pulling in opposite direction. It just doesn't work. 

My heart is sore for poor David Copperfield. He should have married Agnes Wickfield. He totally should have married Agnes Wickfield...like, I almost wanted to throw the book across the room when his wedding with Dora actually happened. What did my sweet David ever do to deserve this?

"It was impossible to say to that sweet little surprised face, otherwise than lightly and playfully, that we must work, to live.

"'Oh! How ridiculous!" cried Dora. 'Why should you?"

"'How shall we live without, Dora?' said I.

"'How? Any how!' said Dora."

And I shall keep a tidier house, thank you.

Anyone want to help me throw the book? ;) It just set me thinking on my own marriage, someday. I shall strive to be a good wife, suited to my husbands mind and purpose. I will strive to share his hopes and dreams and support him during the rough times so that he won't, unlike David, have to hide his burden within himself when he finds I am not strong enough to bear it alongside him. ~Rachel

The Long and Short of It

Following close on the heels of the post about description in my books, I thought it appropriate to look to the masters and see what they have to say on the subject. After all, I am only an aspiring authoress, not a critically acclaimed writer. (Though you all are sweet and encouraging indeed)

I don't mean "the masters" as in the people who sit back and point fingers and tell you how you ought to be a better writer and show instead of tell and that sort of thing. (though that is often helpful) I mean the masters who are beloved authors and whose books are destined to last throughout literature-dom. :)

I will begin with a demonstration of How Not To Do It, by Sir Walter Scott, who excelled at lengthy descriptions:

"The human figures which completed this landscape were in number two, partaking, in their dress and appearance, of that wild and rustic character which belonged to the woodlands of the West Riding of Yorkshire at that early period. The eldest of these men had a stern, savage, and wild aspect. His garment was of the simplest form imaginable, being a close jacket with sleeves, composed of the tanned skin of some animal, on which the hair had been originally left, but which had been worn off in so many places that it would have been a difficult to distinguish, from the patches that remained, to what creature the fur had belonged. This primeval vestment reached from the throat to the knees, and served at once all the usual purposes of body-clothing; there was no wider opening at the collar than was necessary to admit the passage of the head, from which it may be inferred that it was put on by slipping it over the head and shoulders, in the manner of a modern shirt, or ancient hauberk. Sandals, bound with thongs made of boar's hide, protected the feet, and a roll of thin leather was twined artificially round the legs, and, ascending above the calf, left the knees bare, like those of Scottish Highlander. To make the jacket sit yet more close to the body, it was gathered at the middle by a broad leathern belt...."

And so on and so on and so on until you wonder whether you accidentally stumbled into a costume designer 101 class instead of trying to enjoy Ivanhoe. Now, do take care in my criticism, to remember that I count Ivanhoe as one of my favorite classics, despite wading through page upon page of trifling descriptions.

This technique, of choking the reader with superfluous finery was much used during the 1800's. I guess it is just a preference. There are cases when this can be used as an effective tool. Take the opening of Charles Dicken's Little Dorrit. He uses an extremely long description of the glaring sun at the Quarantine station in Marseilles to convey actual physical discomfort to the reader. I read this book in December, but by the end of the first few pages, I truly felt hot. :) Look it up. You can read the first chapter here:

I feel like Dickens used his length to good effect, while Sir Walter Scott dabbled too long and too far in bits and pieces. However, this technique of long-winded-ness, even if it does have a point, is looked down upon these days.

The general consensus is that less is more. Showing things instead of telling them. Adding the description here and there like hidden nuggets, instead of taking time to spotlight it in its own paragraph. Take this excerpt from Jan Karon's Out To Canaan:

"At the hardware, Dora Pugh shook her head and sighed. Betrayed by yesterday's dazzling sunshine, she had done display windows with live baby chicks, wire garden fencing, seeds, and watering cans. Now she might as well haul the snow shovels back and do a final clearance on salt for driveways."

Here Jan Karon told us what the window of the hardware store looked like while still having it move the plot along and tell us something...that it was still cold out. :) The only danger with less description is that the story can begin to feel as if it's happening in a void.

The third, and one of my favorite kinds of description is one that Charles Dickens uses a lot: that of unusual comparisons and word choices. Here's an example in The Pickwick Papers:

" 'Stand aside then. Now for it.' The boy shouted and shook a branch with a nest on it. Half a dozen young rooks in violent conversation, flew out to ask what the matter was. The old gentleman fired by way of a reply. Down fell one bird and off flew the others."

"...in violent conversation, flew out to ask what the matter was." Isn't that so clever? Dickens is definitely a favorite of mine. :)

Try out the various styles of description in your own writing and see what works best! Pair them up and find the best style for you.

The "Literary" Genre

For a long time I have wondered about classic literature. Why do those authors like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, and many others seem to get away with things that are no-gos in our time? Like telling, for instance. And the author's voice slipping in.
The beginning of Pride and Prejudice is all telling and author-voice for the first paragraph. But everyone seems to love it. Have our reading preferences changed so drastically that what was good writing back then is shabby craftsmanship now?
I was rather confused myself so I asked my critique group about it. Diana Sharples , the group leader, explained it rather well.
She said that the classic novels are in the "literary" genre where such things are acceptable. The only problem is that modern readers are not so much into the "literary" thing. They want faster-paced, more exciting books. If you are trying to write in the "literary" genre you have to have plenty of talent, be a fair hand at keeping an interesting and worthwhile "author voice", and be able to sell it. If you truly do want to be a "literary" writer, than you'll have to accept the fact that your public of adoring fans will be much smaller than if you write for the main group of readers.
I was glad to get that question answered--I don't think I could have figured it out for myself. :P Also, while on the subject of publishing and writing and things of that nature, Taylor Lynn did a really great post on the submission process of publishing, as well as writing queries, etc.
So hop on over and read it--she has some great ideas! :) -Rachel

"The Game of Famous Persons"

As I promised that this blog would be for all things literary, and not just about writing, or reading, or any one thing, than I decided I'd tell you all about a game I recently discovered in the American Girls' Handibook.

(First of all, I really want to recommend this book to any young lady who loves the 1800's, and who wants amazing ideas for all sorts of things- this book was written by two sisters, Lina and Adelia Beard in the 1800's. The only thing I cannot fully recommend is the chapter on Halloween which naturally has some iffy stuff in it.)

Anyway! To move on. This game is called "The Game of Famous Persons" and is a super easy game to play while working in the garden, or doing some other task where you hands are not free.
It's really simple. Think of a famous person, like Shakespeare. Your task is to describe the name to the others players, so for Shakespeare I might say, "My first is something you do when you are cold, my second is a weapon of warfare."
The first person to guess goes next. Sometimes you can tweak the hints and make it a little harder. For instance, in one game I was trying to get my sister to guess "Columbus", and I said, "My first is something in a palace or temple. My second is a mode of transportation." Get it? Column-bus? :P These sorts of conundrums can be tricky, but they are so satisfying when you get them! There are lots of names that work well for this game, among them

Wordsworth (Word and worth)
Goldsmith (Gold, and Smith)
Cromwell (Sounds like "bomb", and a Well)
Angelo (Angel, and Low)
Columbus (Column, Bus)
Shakespeare (Shake, Spear)

And any others you can think of, modern or historic. :) You could even throw in well-known characters from books, if you wanted. Try this game sometime with friends who love to read, and see how far you get!