Confessions of a Ghostwriter

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OConnor 02 Confessions of a GhostwriterWRITING IS AN INGLORIOUS PROFESSION even though we writer types too often long for recognition. “I would write if I never made a dime or saw my name in print anywhere,” are words often heard from key note speakers at writer’s conferences. Conference attendees nod approvingly as though none of them came in hopes of finding an agent so they can get published so they can sell books so they can … you get the idea. Admit it or not, we talk a lot about not caring about the glory but embracing that is a different matter altogether.

Even those who never intend to write seem stymied by my current gig as a ghostwriter. “Doesn’t it bother you that your name won’t be on it?” they ask. I sanctimoniously answer “no” while secretly knowing the truth of that statement is more than suspect. As I approach the end of the first full-length book authored by me that will be published, the truth is I am left a bit empty by the fact no one will ever know I wrote it except the person whose name will appear on the cover.

Am I tempted to spill the beans and tell someone I’m not supposed to? Not really. Perhaps that’s because before signing the contract I saw the Roman Polanski film, The Ghost Writer and read Ghostwriter by Travis Thrasher. Here’s a brief synopsis of both:

The Ghost Writer: A ghostwriter stumbles onto a secret that places his life in danger as he takes down the life story of a former U.K. prime minister in this Roman Polanski-helmed adaptation of the Robert Harris novel. Convinced by his agent that he’s been granted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, talented British screenwriter “The Ghost” (Ewan McGregor) agrees to aid British prime minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) in completing his memoirs after the leader’s former aide dies under mysterious circumstances. Almost immediately after The Ghost arrives at a remote mansion in the U.S. to begin working with the prime minister, Lang is accused of committing a war crime by a former British cabinet minister. Amidst a deluge of protestors and reporters, The Ghost delves into the unfinished manuscript and comes to the terrifying conclusion that his predecessor died because he discovered a link between Prime Minister Lang and the CIA. The more information The Ghost uncovers, the more convinced he becomes that his life could be in danger as well.

Ghostwriter by Travis Thrasher: For years Dennis Shore has thrilled readers with his spooky bestselling novels. Now a widower, Dennis is finally alone in his house, his daughter attending college out of state. When he’s stricken by a paralyzing case of writer’s block and a looming deadline, Dennis becomes desperate. Against better judgment, he claims someone else’s writing as his own, accepting undeserved accolades for the stolen work. He thinks he’s gotten away with it . . . until he’s greeted by a young man named Cillian Reed–the true author of the stolen manuscript. What begins as a minor case of harassment quickly spirals out of control. As Cillian’s threats escalate, Dennis finds himself on the brink of losing his career, his sanity, and even his life. The horror he’s spent years writing about has arrived on his doorstep, and Dennis has nowhere to run.

That is enough to convince me to keep my mouth shut.

Andrew Crofts, who has ghostwritten over 80 published books, observes. “Only the smallest percentage of books get reviewed. Most vanish completely from the shelves within a few months of publication, and are usually pretty hard to find even during those few months.”

In truth, only a few books are timeless. Most are transitory but the art of words, ideas and writing is not. Flannery O’Connor said, “I write to discover what I know.” That is what is lasting about writing – discovering what I know and I would add what I don’t know. Writing is indeed an inglorious profession if recognition, prestige, and wealth are the reasons you have embarked on its path. But if learning what I know and don’t know is important, then perhaps writing (ghost or not) is the one of the most fulfilling things I can do.

The Most Read Fiction Across Two Centuries

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Bunyan The Most Read Fiction Across Two CenturiesQUICK QUESTION: next to the Bible, what was the second most read book in the world for at least two centuries following its release? Was that book fiction or non-fiction and what is its subject?

Give up? Perhaps the two following references from recent works of fiction will give you a clue. Both are either veiled or open retellings of the subject of that book. One is a novella written by Mike Duran entitled Winterland. The other is the soon to be released Quest for Clestia by Steven James. Take a moment to read the blurb and watch the video and then see if the answer comes to you.

Summoned into her dying mother’s coma, recovering addict Eunice Ames must traverse a surreal, apocalyptic dreamscape in search of three generational spirits who have imprisoned her mother’s soul. Together with Joseph, a crippled drifter who serves as her guide, Eunice treks an abandoned highway strewn with debris from her mother’s “emotional” wars. Along the way, she encounters Mister Mordant, a perpetually whiny grub, Reverend Ash a fragile, supremely self-righteous minister, and Sybil, a beautiful sylph with a knack for deception. Eunice and Joseph endeavor to lead this peculiar brigade into the hell of her mother’s making, through the swamp of Mlaise and the volcanic plains of Cinder, to the Dark Throne where they were forged. Along the way, Eunice experiences, in awful living color, the forces that have shaped her mother’s descent into madness and disease. And no amount of psycho-babble and positive thinking can withstand the literal monster that is waiting at the end of this highway. – Winterland

Quest for Celestia by Steven James

So what book sold more copies than any other with the exception of the English Bible for over 200 years? It was written in prison by a commoner whose only offense was to preach without the blessing of the state church of England. The book in question along with a number of others was written during the author’s 12 year imprisonment. He even wrote a touching account of his blind daughter, Mary.

The writer (drum roll) was John Bunyan (1628-88) who both religious and secular experts still consider on the influential writers in human history. During imprisonment, Bunyan made shoelaces to his family and preached to his fellow inmates. He also penned his spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, also considered a classic.

John Bunyan’s magnum opus, which has been imitated in so many ways yet never truly matched, is none other than The Pilgrim’s Progress. Written while in prison, polished on his release and published in 1678 it is a masterpiece of simplicity for its time. Part allegory, part autobiography and part everyman’s story it stands apart from every effort to copy it.

This is not to say that Mike Duran and Steven James, in their own ways, do not pay homage to it because they do. Both do much more so, in my opinion, than some a few years ago who attempted to label The Shack a Pilgrim’s Progress for the 21st Century. Paying homage is an admission by the author that he cannot match the masterpiece but rather seeks to call attention to it and the timeless truths in contains.

So now the question comes: have you read this most read of all non-Biblical books and if so how long ago? If you have read Bunyan’s work does it speak to you like it did the millions of men, women, and children before you across the centuries?

I’ll be on the Fringe Tonight

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image1 Ill be on the Fringe TonightMost serialized stories on television die of self-inflicted wounds: no new ideas, old ideas posing as new ideas, no story arc, favorite stars leaving for greener pastures. Fringe is not one those shows. It has grown, survived loosing its way at times, and offered a complete story in five years. This in spite of the fact that FOX is legendary for ruining its own Sci-Fi creations. Anyone remember Space Above and Beyond? And of course there’s Firefly.

I know, many of my regulars here don’t watch it and that’s okay. In fact I kind of relish the idea that this story of how one man’s obsession with saving his son by playing God literally rent the heavens in half will be shared by a faithful few like me – a few million that is.

Since, I’ve had the flu and need all my neurons working at full capacity to keep up with an intricate story arc being brought to conclusion in a few hours, here’s what I wrote about the show almost two years ago.

……………………

WHAT SWEEIPNG EPIC tells the story of star-crossed lovers, Peter and Olivia? Separated since childhood they are reunited through a series of events that at first promise hope and happiness but ultimately the couple seems destined for tragedy. Is this a new novel by best selling author Karen Kingsbury or Francine Rivers? Perhaps Dee Henderson is finally reentering the Christian fiction arena. Or maybe this is sophomore author, C.J. Darlington’s break out novel.  My guess is only a few of you have your hand raised, confident you have the right answer.

The correct answer is that Peter and Olivia are the creation of Hollywood wizard J.J. Abrams of LOST fame. For those of you who are too busy watching Biggest Loser or making the phone companies rich by punching in your choice for American Idol there is a quiet success that airs every Friday night on FOX by the title of Fringe.It’s a superbly written, acted and executed story that involves alternate universes, a bit of time travel, some odd visitors called Observers and what appears to be the fast approaching end of everything. In brief it’s science fiction.

“But I hate science fiction,” many of you will retort. Are you sure? The monumental cross over appeal of epic stories like the Star Wars saga prove that millions who never read or watch science fiction don’t hate science fiction. They hate science fiction for science fiction’s sake. Give them science fiction that is well made and contains the elements basic to human nature and they will, in large part, give it a shot

When you peel away the genre, the author’ s voice, the prose and get to the core of all great stories you find the same common elements: isolation, love, failure and redemption.

Ever since the Fall these have been the basic elements of the story of mankind. So what does that have to do with the title of this article or a couple on some quirky show on television?  The truth is I don’t really hate romance. After all, I’ve been married to my best friend for 36 years and have never once forgotten our anniversary. What I hate is romance for romance’s sake. Why? Because romance for romance’s sake is the worst kind of fiction. In short – it’s fictional. True romance only means something when set against the backdrop of everything else that makes us human.

image thumb1 Ill be on the Fringe TonightFringe uses the platform of a story about two worlds coming apart at the seams to tell an even greater story. It is the tale of two empty souls overcoming insurmountable odds to break free of their isolation and commit themselves to each other. Along with it is the story of a father desperately seeking reconciliation with his son and redemption for his disastrous failings. Isolation – Love – Failure – Redemption.  I think what many people find troubling about a lot of modern romance is how devoid it is of those elements. Then again, so are novels and movies from many other genres.

Come to think of it, the average “so-called” Christian worship service suffers from the same two dimensional shallowness. Praise songs and great sermons  without the foundation of a biblical understanding of the nature of man and the nature of God try to tell the greatest story ever after first ripping the heart out of it. What should be the most powerful love story ever heard becomes a cheap romance only fit to rush to the second hand book store and trade in for another.

Give it to Fringe for trying to tackle the themes of isolation, love, failure and redemption with a lot more passion and depth than many a Sunday morning worship service. Does it fall short? Of course it does. At best, all fallen man can do is ask the big questions and Fringe does that with excellence.

So why I do I hate romance? Because it should be Romance with a capitol R. May we all learn to tell stories that lead people to ask the big questions about those common elements of the human condition. May we live our lives so they ask us how they can answer those questions.

How to Become a Writer in Five Minutes or Less

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image How to Become a Writer in Five Minutes or Less

STEVE MARTIN AND I are worlds apart in many ways. He is a multi-published bestselling author, playwright, world class banjo player, winner of multiple Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards, and an avowed agnostic. I am none of these. I have, however, watched The Jerk and acted like one myself more than once so we do have that in common.

After all, who couldn’t relate to someone who had these lines in such a classic?

I know we’ve only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it.

Though he has moved on from stand-up comedy to a variety of pursuits that range from bluegrass music to the collection of fine art, Martin retains his snarky wit when he talks about the art of writing. He would tell you, it’s easy to become a writer in five minutes are less. All it basically involves is something to write on, something to write with, and some words.That’s it.

For example, says the funny man, he finds it easy to write in his rose garden. “Each rose, “he says, “represents a story, so I’m never at a loss for what to type. I just look deep into the heart of the rose, read its story, and then write it down. I could be typing kjfiu joew.mv jiw and enjoy it as much as typing words that actually make sense, because I simply relish the movements of my fingers on the keys.”

Another suggestion he makes if one faces dreaded writer’s block is to borrow some words that have already worked for someone else:

The other trick I use when I have a momentary stoppage is virtually foolproof, and I’m happy to pass it along. Go to an already published novel and find a sentence that you absolutely adore. Copy it down in your manuscript. Usually, that sentence will lead you to another sentence, and pretty soon your own ideas will start to flow. If they don’t, copy down the next sentence in the novel. You can safely use up to three sentences of someone else’s work — unless you’re friends, then two. The odds of being found out are very slim, and even if you are there’s usually no jail time.

In all seriousness, some authors are so intent on ensuring they only write things that are new they never watch TV shows or read novels in their genre. They want to always be fresh and only write something no one else has. Good luck with that!

Kyle Callahanisn’t the first writer to suggest there are really only two plots for any story to be built upon: a stranger comes to town and a hero goes on a journey. Of course there are a million variations but in the end Solomon knew what he was talking about when he said there is nothing new under the sun. The trick is not to invent something no one else has ever said but rather to say it in such a way it resonates as though no one ever heard before.

Unlike Steve Martin, I have been hearing and embracing the greatest story ever told since I was a child. There is no way to count how many times I have heard that old, old story. You know, the one about how a Savior came from glory, how He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me.

Even so, from time to time someone tells that story in such a way I know without a doubt it is their story. And when someone tells that story that way it resonates with me as though I’m hearing it for the first time.

Now apply that to everything you do, say, and write. The way to become a writer or anything else in five minutes or less is to say, write, and do what you truly believe in. What is truly you? What can you talk about, write about, or do that leaves no doubt it isn’t manufactured or bogus? Now take out the next blank page of your life and write something that resonates with those around you.

What Kind of Idea Parent are You?

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ideas have consequences What Kind of Idea Parent are You?Before I read Jack Foster’s little gem of a book, How to Get Ideas, I was under the misconception that the general population suffers from a serious shortage of ideas. One need only watch Jay Leno’s Jaywalking segments where he asks average people questions an educated turnip should be able to answer to get the same impression.

In fact, it almost seems our culture sees merit in lacking any original thought at all. This led Kent Ruth to observe, “Men can live without air for a few minutes, without water for about two weeks, without food for about two months – and without a new thought for years on end.”

Foster writes from an advertising background so he naturally places a high premium on ideas. They are, after all, the currency of Madison Avenue. Where one gets ideas and how one keeps on coming up with them is the subject of his work. Some of the more choice quotes from How to Get Ideas include:

The best way to get an idea is to get an idea.– Cliff Einstein

The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. – Linus Pauling

Due to rising energy costs, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. – Unknown

While I find Foster’s thoughts worthwhile, I wonder if a lack of ideas is at the heart of the problem for many creative types. And by the way, Foster rightly says everyone is a creative type. Even puppies have ideas. If I could introduced you to our new 8 week old Shi Tzu / Chinese Crested Powderpuff you would know what I mean. Man has he got ideas!

Jeff Goins believes the problem for many of us is not a lack of ideas but rather too little focus on a few right ones. In his, You are a Writer, he effectively debunks the myth of multitasking.

The myth goes like this: “You have to be everywhere.”

That’s ridiculous.

You know who says that? People who are always responding to the latest trend. I know this, because I was one of them.

When I started writing every day, I realized a painful truth: I can’t react and create at the same time. Neither can you.

Our brains don’t work well when we try doing too many things. Though we may have eclectic interests, we can only do one thing at a time and do it well.

Multitasking is a myth. You can either create or react. But you can’t do both. Choose wisely.

It’s hard to say no, but it’s even harder to spin your wheels. To waste your creative energy on frivolous things like an endless series of check-ins.

Jeff Goins – You are a Writer

I’m guilty with the worst of them of having too many ideas, and not the just mediocre run-of-the-mill variety. When it comes to vivid storytelling, imaginative scenarios, and just plain jam up good sounding ideas, I’m loaded with them. And characters aren’t hard for me to come up with either. There’s at least a hundred or so running lose in my head right now.

Too many ideas! How many are too many? The answer is simple: when I am not acting on any of them effectively. I short-circuit the process when I continually give birth to thoughts I don’t give the proper time or energy to nurture, mature, and send along their way full-grown. People with a head full of great ideas are in abundant supply. Those who know how to be a proper parent to them are rare.

My goal for now is to take a few good ideas and give them my relatively undivided attention. Relative because life has a pesky way of demanding our  attention no matter how focused we may intend to be. I am determined to give multitasking a rest. Nothing will deter me from this goal. Unless, of course, this 8 week old Shi Tzu / Chinese Crested Powderpuff at my feet insists on being the center of attention. One does have to set priorities you know.

So what kind of idea parent are you? Any orphans out there? Now what?

10 Reasons Snobs Hate Quotes

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spurgeon 10 Reasons Snobs Hate Quotes

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s no secret that I like to drop a pithy quote from time to time in various places. But you may not know why I began to create these little graphic quotes and pass them along their merry way. The reason is neither noble nor altruistic. Plain and simple, it’s because a literary snob got under my skin one day.

I can’t remember who said it and that is probably for the best, but the gist of it went something like this: “People who like to quote others apparently have little of value to say themselves.” This person went on to contend that writers should have enough original ideas that they don’t need crutches  provided by the thoughts of others.

To that person (if for the life of me it had mattered enough to remember his name) I would reply, “consider Charles H. Spurgeon”. At 19 he came to London with no formal education. By the time he died, Spurgeon’s words filled countless volumes. He is remembered as the Prince of Preachers and left behind thousands of volumes in his library. His masterpiece, The Treasury of David, is filled with hundreds of quotes that would have been lost to obscurity were it not for the fact he humbly understood the value of the words and the people that had come before him.

So what are the 10 reasons literary and otherwise snobs don’t like quotes? In truth I have no idea but do know that 10 Reasons is a great way to start a blog post. People love lists for some reason. Even lists of quotes.

So with that in mind, here are some of my favorite quotes from a man who has been quoted more times that most anyone else in the past century:

Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

Everything stinks until it’s finished.

Be who You are and say what You mean. Because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

It’s opener out there, in the wide open air.

Will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! Nintey-eight and three quarters percent guaranteed.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where you go.

Anyone care to guess who penned those words? How about sharing one of your own favorite quotes. Surely you don’t want to leave me here all alone with all these non-original thoughts.

Strangling the Inspiration Mythos

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crazy writer Strangling the Inspiration Mythos


I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning. 

 Peter de Vries

 

When was the last time you decided to be inspired? Not hoped to, fretted for, or pined over. Decided!

Creative types often foster the impression that their works come from some mystical place only a chosen few will ever know. Musicians, artists, poets, and authors talk about their muse or as Stephen King so aptly puts it “the boys in the basement”. The impression left to the rest of us mere mortals is that these select ones have been given a secret passcode to a magical orchard where inspiration waits hanging like overripe plums just waiting to be picked.

Adding to this myth is the fact people with creative minds have indeed often found their ideas in the most unlikely places. More than one famous author woke from a dream with a story idea already in full bloom.

Back to Stephen King and the spontaneous inspiration myth grows. In the case of Misery, King describes falling asleep on an airplane and having a dream about a fan kidnapping her favorite author and holding him hostage. When he awoke, King was so anxious to capture the story of his dream that he sat at the airport and frantically wrote the first 40-50 pages of the novel. Misery became a best-seller that inspired a successful movie and earned Kathy Bates and Oscar.

“I’ve always used dreams the way you’d use mirrors to look at something you couldn’t see head-on, the way that you use a mirror to look at your hair in the back.” – Stephen King

Or how about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Robert Louis Stevenson had a dream about a doctor with split personality disorder and woke up gripped by a creative frenzy. Stevenson quickly documented the scenes from his dream and then went on to finish the entire manuscript in an astounding ten days, from the moment he woke up from his dream.

Lest you think the “inspiration out of nowhere” legend belongs only to writers of all things strange and troubling, consider the writing habits of Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon always kept a note pad by his bed for those times he awoke in the middle of night with a sermon idea. His faithful wife took notes for the London pastor on at least occasion as he mumbled a complete sermon outline in his sleep.

But did these ideas fall off an inspiration tree into the lucky hands of snoozing writers of horror and powerful men of God? Read further about their lives and habits and you will discover the truth is quite the opposite. King is a prolific writer, pounding out millions of words across his career. He is quick to confess, there are far more of those words in the trash than on the shelves at Barnes and Nobles.

And the pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle, Charles Haddon Spurgeon gave his Master plenty to work with even when he was asleep. Spurgeon never went to college but read thousands of books before his death. He almost single-handedly reminded the world of the Puritans and others whose writings were quickly becoming forgotten. Throughout the week he would fill his mind and heart with Scripture and the writings of learned and inspired men who had come before him. Then on Saturday night, he would close his study door and furiously jot down his notes for the next morning.

The lesson is this; as Jack London put it, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club”. Dreamers are people who wait for inspiration to tap them on the shoulder and then lead the way. Visionaries are people who go looking for it. And when they don’t have any, they keep on doing what they already know until they can hunt more inspiration down.

But don’t think it’s just writers and artists who need to learn this lesson. No inspiration for spending time teaching your children? Grab a club and go looking for it. Sleepwalking through your spiritual life hoping something will motivate you to service? You’ve got to be kidding! Open your eyes, clean out your ears, and keep on doing what you already know. Do that and the inspiration will come.

In fact – perhaps that IS the inspiration.

Just Find the Book

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PS 1188 Just Find the BookTHAT ENIGMNATIC equation was the ruin of me. It’s illusive answer the recreation of me.

The first time I saw those six maddening characters was at the home of Jonathan Samuels. After months of negotiations and good old fashioned begging I had finally been granted a brief interview. He was, after all, one of the richest men in the world who had lived in virtual seclusion for decades.

My past research had turned up a few nuggets of information about the reclusive billionaire. I knew he had no family, no wife or children, legitimate or otherwise. One unsubstantiated report claimed the man had experienced some kind of life changing event that drove him into his present seclusion. But in truth, everything I knew about Jonathan Samuel’s personal life was of the tabloid variety. Now for the first time in years, a relative novice like me had the chance to ask him whatever I desired.

From the moment I entered through the massive oaken doors of his English Tutor home I was struck by the absence of life in the place. There were no personal effects on the hall shelves. No family pictures on the walls. Most houses hint at the character and nature of their owners but not this one. No doubt it held secrets but it wasn’t hinting at what they were.

Upon entering his private room, the futility of the man’s existence made itself immediately known. Medical equipment surrounded his bed and the constant hiss of oxygen accompanied his intermittent coughs and wheezes. The gray flesh of his face topped with that sparse shock of snow white hair gave him the appearance of Dickens’ Marley. Perhaps he wasn’t “dead as a door-nail” but he would be soon.

Trying to mask my emotions, I glanced at my note pad and then back at the dying man. I counted to three, regained my journalistic composure and began to ask the usual questions: about his family, his wealth, his advice. I rattled off an impressive list of his accomplishments, interjecting the appropriate inquiries at the appropriate places.

In the midst of my stellar interview, Marley raised his head up as far as he could and glared at me through pale sickly eyes. As he began to speak I half expected his lower jaw to drop and ethereal groans to come in the place of words. “Is that what you’ve been hounding me for the last few months?” he croaked. “You could have opened any of twenty different copies of Newsweek, Time, or The Wall Street Journal from the last fifty years and gotten all of that pabulum without bothering a sick old man about to check out of this wonderland. Life is too short to waste with such meaningless trivia. My life is too short … and so is yours.”

His fell back to his pillow and his breathing grew shallower. The brief but impassioned diatribe had apparently cost him what little strength he had left. He looked at me and whispered, “You’re wasting your time son. You’ll never get the right answer if you don’t ask the right question.” And then he grew silent.

What was the right question? The old man had definitely phrased his statement in the singular rather than the plural. Finally in a moment of inspiration I knew what I wanted to ask this man who controlled vast empires of industry and commerce. Hoping he had the strength and inclination with which to answer any more questions I leaned closer.

“If you could share just one secret to lasting prosperity,” I asked, “what would it be?”

And that’s when it happened. The old man’s heart monitor began to beep loudly and a worried looking nurse rushed in. She started to push me out of the way but her charge held a feeble hand up to stop her. Lacking the lung capacity to speak further, he grabbed a notepad and pen beside him and wrote:

PS 11881 Just Find the Book

And then, he was gone. He died with his bony white fingers locked around the pen. For all my preparation and effort I left that tomb of a house with only those six characters and a head full of unanswered questions. Eighteen months working for the interview of a lifetime and all I had to show for it was

Over the years that followed, I consulted every expert I could think of to decipher its meaning but to no avail. Every free minute, every spare dollar and every last ounce of sanity I had went into unlocking a dying man’s secret. A cryptologist friend who worked at the NSA fussed over it for months before surrendering to its mystery. Several experts in the financial world studied and argued over it until I grew weary of their guesses and they grew equally weary of me. Recalling reports of Samuel’s “life changing” experience even took me to Nepal and Tibet hoping the sages of the East might have some clue. But all the guesses were as devoid of life as that tomb of a house I left the man in that day he took his last breath.

Those six character conspired together to rob me of most of my sanity and all of worldly goods. Years of seeking to understand them left me with no friends, no family, and little left of what I once knew as me. All of my dreams, hopes and aspirations had been wasted on my quest, leaving behind this shell of man I am now.

That’s how I ended up at this homeless shelter. With no money and no family, it was the last place I wanted to be but the only place that would have me. Then tonight, less than hour ago the answer came looking for me. Tonight, in this place of lost dreams where men abandon hope I finally understood.

I was giving my usual “mad man” rant about PS1188 and how it had ruined my life to a fellow overnighter at the shelter. To both my amazement and consternation, this woman, with her life in a shopping cart, confidently proclaimed she understood the mystery that had hounded me for so very long.

I must admit I though her confidence most amusing. Scholars, Special Agents, cryptologists, financial wizards, and Buddhist monks were stymied. But this simple woman claimed to see the answer at first thought. I looked up at her through blood shot eyes and dared her with my stare to divulge her supposed answer to the mystery. And she did!

To prove it she lifted a battered old book and flipped through its pages nearly as thin as the pallid skin stretched across the back of her hands. Without a word, she pointed to a few underlined sentences. The answer to the question I had posed all those years ago was indeed there. An answer offered right in the exact middle of an oft rejected book held by an oft rejected shadow of humanity.

This was beyond a doubt the answer to Jonathan’s Samuel’s secret of lasting prosperity and it had been available at every turn in my journey in a thousand different places and nearly as many languages. Trust me, it’s always been there. Just find a copy of that book; there are plenty of them around. Look it up for yourself.

I would offer yet one last clue, the one offered to me by a woman whose past and future rested in a rusting shopping cart. But without the journey that led me to her I doubt you would believe the answer could be there. But when that day comes, and it will, you will have to decide to either embrace the answer of walk away from it. Just find the book – PS 118 8 is the answer.

______________________

Think you know the answer to the question? Leave a comment here and share it with everyone else.

The Power of a Story Well Told

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samartian2 The Power of a Story Well ToldSTORIES INVITE US to get inside other people’s heads and hearts. To walk in their shoes. More importantly to figure out which shoes fit us best. Stories entertain while at the same time invite us to perceive the world from outside ourselves. The best fiction doesn’t so much offer answers as rightly frame questions.

The great American philosopher Groucho Marx once observed, “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” But it was never too dark for me to read when I was a kid as long as I had my trusty flashlight. Many a night, long after lights out had been decreed for the last time, I lay under the covers with flashlight and book, sweltering in the Louisiana humidity unable or unwilling to remove myself from the story world of Edgar Rice Burroughs, or Jack London, or my best friends, the Hardy Boys. I had discovered the power of story.

Jeff Goins, in his article, “Why I Believe in the Power of Story”, observed:

  • A good story has conflict, but ultimately resolves.
  • A story is messy and full of confusion, but there is meaning and completeness to it.
  • A story is about people and places, not ideas and concepts.
  • Stories are concrete, absolute, and certain. Yet, they are mysterious.
  • Stories have natural momentum to them, fueling our passion to find out more from the teller.

Jesus understood the power of story as illustrated in the numerous parables recorded in the New Testament. Perhaps one of the most remembered of those is recorded in Luke chapter 10 when He told a story to answer a question. That exchange between Jesus and a lawyer went something like this:

  1. Lawyer asks a profound question – What can I do to live forever?
  2. Jesus offers a concise answer – Have a vital, loving relationship with God that is reflected in how you act toward those around you.
  3. Lawyer asks another question probing for a different kind of answer – Who is my neighbor?
  4. Jesus tells a story and then asks a question that demands a reaction.

The story of the man robbed and left for dead contains all the elements of a powerful story mentioned by Goins. It is indeed a story populated with characters that all of that day could relate to in one or another. It is a messy story, leaving hearers to wonder why a man on the fringe like a Samaritan would take the heroic lead while more likely characters like priests fade from sight quickly only to remembered as callous villains. And it is a story with ultimate momentum. It demands a gut reaction. It demands a response.

A good story in print (or in digital format) holds more power than other medium. Keith Oatley, an emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto (and a published novelist), notes that a novel or short story, “is a particularly useful simulation because negotiating the social world effectively is extremely tricky, requiring us to weigh up myriad interacting instances of cause and effect. Just as computer simulations can help us get to grips with complex problems such as flying a plane or forecasting the weather, so novels, stories and dramas can help us understand the complexities of social life.”


“Indeed, in one respect novels go beyond simulating reality to give readers an experience unavailable off the page: the opportunity to enter fully into other people’s thoughts and feelings … Individuals who frequently read fiction seem to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and see the world from their perspective”.

 An article in the New York Times on Neuroscience and Fiction

 In other words, stories invite us to get inside other people’s heads and hearts. To walk in their shoes. More importantly to figure out which shoes seem to fit us best. Stories entertain while at the same time invite us to perceive the world from outside ourselves. The best fiction doesn’t so much offer answers as rightly frame questions.

Think about it; Jesus started out with the answer. Then He told a story that invited His listeners to look at themselves from a different angle and ask the right questions for the answer He had already offered.

That is the power of story and more importantly of a story well told. Couple that with the One telling the story and that lawyer didn’t have a chance.

Jane Austen’s Shin Bone

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image Jane Austen’s Shin Bone

 

Okay I confess, this was just a catchy title to get you to read what follows. Though you will find both Mark Twain and Jane Austen a few paragraphs on down. Now to the real reason I brought you here.

One of the things that often mystify my friends about writers is that we not only accept criticism, we encourage it. In fact, those of us who desire to be the best we can be at our craft have been known to pay for it. You heard me right; we take those words we have labored over until finally giving birth to a full-fledged story and rather than coddle and coo over them, we usher them out into the cruel world to be poked and prodded until they scream for mercy.

Journalist, Gene Fowler once said: “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” So then why would anyone in their right mind take such a labor of love and invite others to look for its flaws?

The good writers invite critiques because they want to write better. Even when I disagree with someone’s criticism I still become a better writer. I don’t even have to use any of their recommended changes to be a better writer. Just examining my work from another person’s viewpoint drives me to be writer better. I’m sure there’s a life lesson hidden in there for all of us – writer or not.

With all that said, writing like everything else in life is fraught with uninvited and misguided critics. Not the kind who offer constructive and knowledgeable advice but those who simply make a sport of finding fault. Then there are those who have received accolades for their successes but apparently didn’t get the memo about passing on such recognition to others.

I must confess I do find a certain element of solace that it isn’t just unknowns like me who suffer at the hand of such critics. Consider some to the following critiques handed out literary giants of the past.

Mark Twain on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

“Every time I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin bone.”

Anthony Trollope on Charles Dickens

“Of Dicken’s style it is impossible to speak in praise. It is jerky, ungrammatical and created by himself in defiance of rules … No young novelist should ever dare to imitate the style of Dickens.”

London Critic on Walt Whitman

“Walt Whitman is as unacquainted with art as a hog with mathematics.”

The Examiner on Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

“How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery. It is a compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors.”

The New Yorker on Chesapeake by James Michener

“I have two recommenda­tions. First, don’t buy this book. Second, if you buy this book, don’t drop it on your foot.”

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