Friday, May 22: Bandersnatches
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by Steve Steinbock
Maybe it was reading Melodie’s “Swan Song” column. Maybe it’s lack of caffeine. Maybe it’s hay fever or spring fever or the sudden heat wave that hit Maine on Thursday. I have a list of interesting topics on which to base columns. But I can’t seem to settle on any of them.
I’ve been wanting to write about the linguistics work Jacob Grimm did in the early 1800s, and the anthology of folk tales he and his brother, Wilhelm, published as an anthropological work that was, after two printings, transformed into a children’s book. But I feel it will take more research and knowledge than I have at present.
I’ve been wanting to share my renewed love of the works of P. G. Wodehouse, and my first encounter with his non-Jeeves writings. But I feel I should wait until I’ve read more Wodehouse before I can consider myself qualified to even bring up his name.
I’d like to write about G. K. Chesterton’s first “Father Brown” story, “The Blue Cross,” and how it not only formed a bridge between the Great Detective stories of Conan Doyle and the Gentleman Thief stories of LeBlanc and Hornung, but how it opened a door to new depth in detective fiction. But I don’t want to get too deep.
I ought to devote a column to the issue of ebooks, copyrights, and fair use. There’s been a lot of chatter on the matter of late. I’ve always thought that Sonny Bono’s Copyright Term Extension Act went too far in one direction, and how Google Books went too far in the other direction. But what do I know?
I’d love to do a column of narrative voice, on dialogue, on setting. I’d like to ask the writers out there at what point they share their projects with others. (Earlier this week, Michelle Gagnon discussed this and more in
her Kill Zone column. I happen to agree with her advice even though I don’t always follow it.)
I’d like to do a column that links my former life (as a Bible scholar) with the subject of short stories by illustrating how one very short (nine lines) story in the Bible is a brilliantly constructed tower of a tale. The story even follows the Palindromic structure that I wrote about last week. But I’d worry that discussion of palindromic story structure is too esoteric and that Bible scholarship is a turnoff to many modern readers.
I’d like to do a column on the strange permutations of words and expressions like “gothic,” “egg on,” and “eighty-six.” But a whole column on words?
I could use this column to brag about how I mastered the Perfect Faro Shuffle), a card flourish that is legendary in its difficulty. I managed to do it twenty-four times yesterday, until my fingers were numb and my hands were shaking. But I can already hear what you’re thinking, that Steve needs to get out more.
At the end of the day, I still don’t know what to write about. You tell me.
You have hit upon the secret formerly known only to people who must write a column every day: when you have nothing to write about, write about nothing. Works every time.
However, you do need to get out more. Twenty-four times?
A good piece of advice is not to tell people what you are writing about (or thinking of writing about). It takes the pressure off, shall I call it the narrative urge.
I’d like to read about your Biblical career, and more about magic, and everyone here seems to like columns about words.
Dick, my experience supports what you said. Some of my best writing has been the result of not writing about anything in particular.
Rob, well put. Telling others about a writing project can serve as a surrogate for the actual act of writing. I’ve found that my urge to share my work-in-progress with others often hijacks the work. The possible exception is with writing groups.
Your columns are always interesting. But be aware, we are now expecting pieces on each and every one of the subjects you mentioned. No shirking.
I too would like to read about your career as a Bible scholar. As the voice of the moose on my desktop says “do it, do it.”