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177 pounds
"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."
--George Orwell
The most common advice given to beginning writers from established authors goes something like this: "Writing success boils down to hard work, imagination, and passion -- and then some more hard work."
With that I heartily agree. And that is probably why I have never been and most likely never will be a successful published author. I have always had a wildly vivid imagination,
vivid being an adjective that describes a bold and bright color, an intense feeling, or an image in my mind that is so clear I can almost touch it -- but this quality has been fading in me with the passage of the years.
One of those other qualities,
passion, has also become more faint lately, along with that of imagination. About the only thing about which I feel almost overwhelming passion is the tobacco industry and the federal government members who simply will not tax the business owners who produce the noxious weed out of business -- but instead encourage them by greedily accepting (under the table) a huge share of the profits. You might say that I also feel strong passion about government corruption. But I never
do anything about it.
And
hard work, being the most important of the three tips for success in the field of writing is a degree of endeavor I have always done my best to avoid.
What about
talent? I'm glad you asked that question. I have absolutely no idea what talent is. As closely as I have ever been able to recognize talent, it seems to have appeared as the admirable product of tons and tons of extremely hard work.
Hard work.
I am lazy. I know this and so does everybody that has ever associated closely with me, or anybody who knows me well.
This supposedly negative quality of being a lazybones is, in my opinion defined as: "Hastening to stop myself from becoming immersed in the throes of strenuous toil or some overly laborious task..." which, as I've always feared, will severely diminish my desired state of slothful ease and continual happiness.
Writing well -- writing professionally -- is the most damnable form of grueling torture, inducing the production of copious amounts of blood sweat and tears and everlastingly decreasing one's physical and mental comfort that I have ever encountered and thereafter suffered from.
And that's no shit!
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Did You Know . . .?
A German author wrote a novel in which Hitler wakes up in modern Berlin with no memories since 1945 and becomes a comedian.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
On this day in 1863, responding to acute food shortages, hundreds of angry women rioted in Richmond, Virginia, demanding that the government release emergency supplies. For several hours, the mob moved through the city, breaking windows and looting stores, before Confederate President Jefferson Davis threw his pocket change at them from the top of a wagon. Davis ordered the crowd to disperse or he would order the militia to fire upon them. The riot ended peacefully, although 44 women and 29 men were arrested.
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WORD FOR TODAY
character
noun
1. The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person from another.
2. A distinguishing feature or attribute, as of an individual, group, or category.
3.
Genetics A structure, function, or attribute determined by a gene or group of genes.
4. Moral or ethical strength.
5. A description of a person's attributes, traits, or abilities.
6. Public estimation of someone; reputation.
7. Status or role; capacity:
in his character as the father.
8. A person portrayed in an artistic piece, such as a drama or novel.
--The Free Dictionary
A character (or fictional character) is a person in a narrative work of arts (such as a novel, play, television series or film). Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr, the English word dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor" developed. Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person." In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practised by actors or writers, has been called characterisation.
--Wikipedia
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born April 2, 1961)
Christopher Meloni is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz. In June 2012, he returned to HBO, as the vampire Roman on True Blood. He appeared as US Air Force Colonel Nathan Hardy in Man of Steel.
(born April 2, 1945)
Linda Hunt is an American film, stage and television actress currently known for her role as Henrietta Lange in the CBS series NCIS: Los Angeles. After making her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye (1980), Hunt portrayed the male character Billy Kwan, her breakthrough performance, in The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). She has had continued success in films such as The Bostonians (1984), Dune (1984), Silverado (1985), Eleni (1985), Waiting for the Moon (1987), She-Devil (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), If Looks Could Kill (1991), Rain Without Thunder (1992), Twenty Bucks (1993), Younger and Younger (1993), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Relic (1997), Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998), Dragonfly (2002), Yours Mine and Ours (2005) and Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
(April 2, 1908 - July 6, 2003)
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running CBS television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones. Ebsen also played Fess Parker's sidekick in Walt Disney's Davy Crockett miniseries (1953–54), and was cast as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939) until he fell ill from an allergy to the makeup.
(born April 2, 1973)
Roselyn Sanchez is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, model, actress, producer and writer. She is best known for her roles as FBI agent Elena Delgado in the CBS police procedural Without a Trace (2005-2009), and as Carmen Luna in the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013-present). In film, Sánchez starred in Rush Hour 2 (2001), Boat Trip (2002), The Game Plan (2007), and Act of Valor (2012).
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When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.
--Ernest Hemingway
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