Write Stuff – Coffeehouse Junkie

The idea is not the story

Does one really create ideas? I suspect I know what this writer is attempting to say. However, writing prose is about the story not the idea. Ideas embedded in the story make it great, but the idea itself won’t sell the story. The etymology of the word “idea” is “figure, image, symbol” and “to see.” A great idea is nothing unless it has a narrative substance. Besides, does one create an idea or does one have an idea?

Transition a bit rocky

For the last four or five weeks I’ve been tormented. Should I, or shouldn’t I continue contributing to Write Stuff¹. See, I’ve been extremely busy in my professional life (of publishing other people’s books) that I felt that my contributions were lacking the quality I wanted to deliver. So I emailed the site’s leader this weekend and politely resigned and promised to deliver one final contribution: “Rainless among marram”.²

This morning I read today’s Write Stuff post about defining genres and left a comment. That was deleted! I mean, is it necessary to delete the comment?

My comment mentioned that genres are mainly decided by publishing companies to help bookstores sell books. In the same manner, the recording industry uses the same strategy to sell albums by differentiating their target audience by marketing a project as ‘country’ or ‘alt country’ or ‘punk americana country.’ I referenced Peter Rubie’s book Telling the Story: How to Write and Sell Narrative Nonfiction. It includes a section on how genres are defined. Rubie write to help writers pitch their work.

So, crassly speaking, genres help sell books. Or not so crassly, genres help publishers deliver titles to the correct audiences.

Why would that get deleted? I don’t get it. Whatever. I go back to work now.

UPDATE: Not only was my post deleted, but someone else’s (username Square1) was also deleted. Thanks to Google Reader (I RSS the Write Stuff comments), I was able to learn this detail. I wonder if there is a glitch in their comments software, because Square1 left a comment on my final Write Stuff post, “Rainless among marram” that was not deleted.

Write Stuff: Pursuit of the personal essay

I’ve been sharing what I learned during a 5-week writing course in my Write Stuff¹ columns. This week’s piece, “Rain–everyone needs it like everyone needs a great narrative”,² continues the story.

Last week’s post, “Rain intensifies the drama of the question”,³ evoked the following response:

…one of the most profound statements I’ve ever read. —Tammi

NOTES:
1) Write Stuff, accessed April 9, 2009, http://www.take2max.com/writing/ (page no longer available, web site deactivated. Write Stuff published blog posts from 2006 to 2008. Write Stuff moved to a new home Write Anything, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/)
2) Matthew Mulder, “Rain—everyone needs it like everyone needs a great narrative”, August 13, 2007, Write Anything, accessed April 24, 2026, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/rain%e2%80%94everyone-needs-it-like-everyone-needs-a-great-narrative/
3) Matthew Mulder, “Rain intensifies the drama of the question”, August 6, 2007, Write Anything, accessed April 24, 2026, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/2007/08/06/rain-intensifies-the-drama-of-the-question/

Write Stuff: Learning the art of personal essay

Write Stuff¹ writers and readers have expressed their interest and learning what I learned during a 5-week writing course and a 1-week writer residency. This week’s piece² begins the story of my experience and what I’ve learned and hope to share.

Write Stuff: A definition poem

Recently inspired by the poetical form sometimes referred to as a “definition poem” (akin to a recipe poem), I offered a poem sketch on Write Stuff.¹ Link.

Write Stuff : The Economics of Writing : 1

As stated last week, this is a bit controversial: writing contests are bad business for both writers and publishers… why is this bad business for publishers? Write Stuff¹ read more »

Write Stuff: The Economics of Writing: 0

The first in of a series titled “The Economics of Writing” appears here on Write Stuff.¹ Let’s face it, every writer wants to be #1 on the NYT bestseller list. No writer wants to find copies of their beloved manuscript on the $1 rack at Barnes and Noble. Which means every writer wants to succeed. In order to succeed one needs a plan. I began writing this piece as a way to re-examine my writing/publishing strategy.

Write Stuff: Valintine’s Day Card

This week’s contribution to Write Stuff¹ is a Valintine’s Day Card.

Write Stuff: Lit–the Drug

This week’s Write Stuff¹ post: Lit–the Drug.

Excerpt:

I’d rather be down at the Flood Gallery (in the River Arts District) listening to emerging writers… or sitting on the floor of the kitchen reading Soft Skull Press’s Tear Down the Mountain on a windy Saturday afternoon.

Tags: [writing, creative, writers, Write Stuff]

Write Stuff: My Father’s Promise

This week’s Write Stuff¹ poem is based on a writing prompt–write from a child’s perspective: My Father’s Promise.

Comments so far:

As usual … you’ve said a lot in just a few words.
This shows absolute trust – I hope the father doesn’t let him down.
—Karen

This is loaded! I love it.
—Tammi

“He saught tautness, compactness, the hard image that both conveyed and … was the meaning the poet was after,” wrote critic Thomas Lask (Nov. 2, 1972) in his obituary of Ezra Pound (reprinted in Alan Levy’s book Ezra Pound: The voice of Silence). “Every word that was not functional in the line was eliminated.”

That is what I am striving toward–“tautness, compactness, the hard image.”

Crafting the poem My Father’s Promise took more than a week. It was a process of subtracting or distilling toward a dense yet simple five lines or eight words.

My wife and I debated the last word; “wait.” Initially, I used “waited” to fit a two-syllable line, but I changed it after much discussion to “wait.” She helped me turn the line with a voiceless alveolar fricative stop–word ending with a “t.” Using “waited” added voiced alveolar fricative stop which, when read aloud, sounded like I ran over a speed bump. When the last line is read aloud, the “t” in “wait” explodes of the alveolar ridge and ends the poem with gravity and urgency.

Write Stuff: taking notes

This week’s Write Stuff¹ piece is directly related to the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival: Notes from a Poetry Workshop.

Write Stuff: Short story subject matter in the news

Weird. I wrote a first draft fictional story for Write Stuff¹ based on actual events. The working title is Career Mistake and relates a story about a civil rights attorney defending Native Americans in the 1970s.

So this morning I just heard Daniel Kraker’s report on NPR’s Morning Edition: Navajos Protest Violence Against Tribe.

September 12, 2006 · The Navajo Nation is concerned about three recent incidences of violence against Navajos in Farmington, N.M. The Navajo community is rallying to draw attention to the problem.

Woah. I thought I had picked an obscure subject matter; you know, not like newspaper headline story.

Write Stuff: A Greek Tragedy

This week Write Stuff’s¹ regular contributors are to write about “premonition.” The assignment was handed out a week or two ago.

For the last week I’ve been engaged in a lecture series on “Introduction to Greek Philosophy” from Boston University (via The Teaching Company). I was able to rent the 4 DVD set from the local library. That has lead me to examine texts on Alexander the Great as well as explore The Theogony.

With the writing prompt being premonition, my mind turned to the tragic Greek tale of Cassandra. I started out to write a formal sonnet with a twist. The twist being that I did not want to use a rhyming pattern nor did I want to use iambic pentameter; rather, I wanted to write iambic dimeter verse.

When I completed the initial drafts I realized it lacked the urgency and tragedy that I want to communicate. So I departed from the initial hybrid sonnet I attempted and completed the poem as four strophes of four lines each — total of sixteen lines. Let me know what you think of Cassandra’s Gift.²

Write Stuff: ‘Cause that’s what poets do

Proof positive that I can write under pressure with many children under the age of six (no, they are not all mine). Before you click the link and read this week’s Write Stuff¹ post, here is the backstory.

My wife and I invited a friend and her children to join us for a Bele Chere² excursion. My children were very excited to have guests and were acting accordingly by running from one end of our small cottage to the other end while loudly proclaiming their enthusiasm. I started writing the piece around 11 AM amid the din of my progeny, and guests arrived around 11:30 AM for an early lunch before we headed to Bele Chere. With double the children the beautiful chaos did increase. By 12:30 PM I had posted this week’s column while everyone else ate lunch.

For more than I month I had been reading and pondering the essence of this piece but had not committed it to paper. Inspired by the lyrics from the Steve Brooks’³ song Dead Poets Society (from his Purgatory Road album), I chose the title — “‘Cause that’s what poets do.”⁴ My outline for the piece was simple and I offered the question, “Why should I write poems if people are more interested in my activism?” Realizing the piece ended darker than I anticipated I added a sarcastic spin at the end àl a George Thorogood’s “One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.”

So here’s this week’s, “‘Cause that’s what poets do.”

By the way, Bele Chere was a hoot! The kids enjoyed it because they all received balloons that they could fight over and the parents enjoyed it because the children were very tired from all the walking and went to bed early. And that is what parents do.

NOTES:
1) Write Stuff, accessed April 9, 2009, http://www.take2max.com/writing/ (page no longer available, web site deactivated. Write Stuff published blog posts from 2006 to 2008. Write Stuff moved to Write Anything, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/)
2) Bele Chere, was the largest free festival in the Southeastern United States until 2013, accessed April 27, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bele_Chere
3) Steve Brooks, accessed April 27, 2026, https://stevebrooks.net/
4) Matthew Mulder, “‘Cause that’s what poets do”, July 30, 2006, Write Anything, accessed April 27, 2026, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/2006/07/30/cause-thats-what-poets-do/

Write Stuff response

This week’s Write Stuff¹ piece brought the following comments.

“Wow! Something to think about . . .”-Michèle

“I love the taste and feel of words on my tongue and in my head. I love it when they come out when I am writing with feeling and I come “out of it” to read what I have written and I can’t believe that I have written what is on the screen or paper. It is a passion, a deep feeling of love for writing and the written word. I am only half way following my calling half way. I needed this kick in the butt, thank you very much.”-Shelli

“This is beautiful … I am twisting and turning but I’m afraid that my student loan payment has tasted more of my writing efforts than I have.”-Tammi

The column begins: “I used to think I needed a job that allows me to be a poet and writer. I think a lot of people believe this. I don’t think much of it anymore.”²

After making that statement I explore, in brief, some practices of distinguished poets like Anthony Hecht, W.S. Merwin, Ezra Pound and John Ashbery. It was meant to be a challenge more to myself than readers. However, if it got Michèle to “think about” it and gave Shelli a “kick in the butt” then I would consider that a bonus.

Write Stuff: So you think you have something to say?

This week’s Write Stuff¹ column is “So you think you have something to say?”

NOTES:
1) Write Stuff, accessed April 9, 2009, http://www.take2max.com/writing/ (page no longer available, web site deactivated. Write Stuff published from 2006 to 2008. Write Stuff moved to Write Anything, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/)
2) Matthew Mulder, “So you think you have something to say?”, June 25, 2006, Write Anything, accessed April 27, 2026, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/2006/06/25/so-you-think-you-have-something-to-say/

Epsicle episode

All weekly contributors to Write Stuff¹ present a piece based on a photo prompt. My contribution is a poem titled: Red Dye #40 Epsicle ice pop. Comments include:

“tasting heatwaves. great description.”
—Divine

“There is something eerie about the little note of trivia at the end that I can’t put my finger on but I like it. I also like the clean, concise language as well.”
—Tammi

“Normally I’m not a fan of Haiku, but I like this a great deal.”
—d.challener

Thanks Divine.

Thanks Tammi. I love studying the origin of words and their meaning. Recently inspired by Ezra Pound’s poetry, specifically In a Station of the Metro, I attempted to do likewise but in my own voice.

Thanks D. Challener. I was more influenced by Pound than by haiku. However, knowing that haiku is often used, abused from its honorable beginning; I picked it up, dusted it off and attempted to “make it new.”

Reading Write Stuff

Every week I write an article for Write Stuff¹. This Sunday I posted Under the Holly². Every Sunday I’ll contribute an article.

Read the Write Stuff?

By invitation, I’ve begun contributing to Write Stuff. I’ll post new articles every Sunday. Here’s my first piece: Below an Oak Tree.

NOTES:
1) Write Stuff, accessed April 2, 2009, http://www.take2max.com/writing/ (page no longer available, web site deactivated. Write Stuff published blog posts from March 2006 to September 2008. Write Stuff moved to a new home Write Anything on September 19, 2008, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/. Write Anything announced July 2011 that moved again to a new web site. The archived content is still active.)
2) Matthew Mulder, “Below an Oak Tree”, April 2, 2006, Write Anything, accessed April 24, 2026, https://writeanything.wordpress.com/2006/04/02/below-an-oak-tree/

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