“What goes in must come out.”
That adage is something I always heard growing up, especially from my parents when I would read R.L. Stine books as a kid.
And they were right.
When I was ten years old, I wrote my first “book,” which was about 80 pages long in a spiral bound notebook.
It was about a girl who, after a basketball game, went to a convenience store and drank a sports drink that was poisoned. In order for her to not be harmed by the poison, she had to give it to other people, poisoning them.
She started by poisoning her younger brother.
Somehow, one of my parents must have found my “book” and out of concern for my younger brother’s life, quietly removed it from our wholesome Christian home.
And I started therapy.
I really didn’t start therapy then, but I’ve always remembered that the things I soak my remaining brain cells in will show in other areas of my life.
A few weeks ago, I shared that I would have an opportunity to thank a former teacher in my life for the influence he had. I didn’t mention this in the earlier post, but he’s one of three people I dedicated Permission to Speak Freely to, as he taught me how to write from my heart.
He’s now a brilliant teacher at a prestigious academy in Pennsylvania, and last Monday, I got to spend some time with him (see, here’s a picture of us), hanging out in his English classes and clearing cobwebs that have been forming in my head since I was a junior in High School.
Most of us have read some of the “classics” in our high school or college days. Melville. Twain. Hemmingway. Homer. Salinger. (Etc., Etc., Etc.)
If you’re anything like I am, I left those books behind with my prom dress.
After spending time in Mr. Bennett’s classes, listening to sixteen year olds discuss the greatest line in American literature (?All right then, I’ll go to hell? – Huck Finn) I began thinking, “These kids understand classic literature more than I do,” and as the visiting “professional” author, felt entirely like a poser.
“Have you read this?”
“Ummm…once in seventh grade.”
“Do you remember the line about…”
“Never read that one.”
“Last year, when you guys read…”
“Crap.”
In the midst of jokes about Hemmingway and my feelings of inadequacy, I made a decision.
If I want to write timeless content, I should probably read timeless content.
Because what goes in must come out.
Before I wrote Mad Church Disease, I had spent my “ministry” years reading “ministry” books and lo and behold, produced a “ministry” book of my very own.
With Permission to Speak Freely, I had ventured more into memoirs, essay collections, poetry, and spiritually contemplative books and I think it’s fair to say the tone of PTSF reflects that.
The goal of any writer is to become a better version of themselves (and not give into the temptation to be the next Anne Lamott, Donald Miller, David Sedaris, or Elizabeth Gilbert).
As writers, we should hone in to cultivate our own voice and make it the best it can be.
That only happens with time.
What can we do with our time to develop ourselves into timeless writers?
We have to nurture our creative spirits, and that looks different for each of us. But within that universal pursuit, find authors who have proven themselves as staples, not trends, that speak to you. Find poets who connect with your soul on a level brief metaphors can speak to. Find music that causes your mind to journey into abstract places. Find places in nature where time stops and the colors, the smells, and the sounds pour into you, because you are a piece of nature yourself.
And write…
Workshops are good (I guess, I’ve never actually been to a writing workshop), and how-to books can be beneficial. I own my fair share of them.
But remember, practicality is rarely a pathway to creating art.
Most art isn’t practical.
If it was, it probably wouldn’t move us in the way that art often does.
—–
Comments
60 responses to “Want to Write Timeless Content?”
This is a great reminder. So much of what I read is not for pleasure or inspiration, I need to get back to that.
.-= Lindsey Nobles´s last blog ..Miscellaneous Thoughts from Thirty Thousand Feet =-.
since being in ministry, i find myself stuck in the same pattern of reading theological and/or ministry books exclusively. this past summer, i decided to take 3 months off, and i read TWELVE books – none of them could be classified as literature, per se, but honestly, the journey outside of the aforementioned genre reawakened the real reader and hence a bit of the writer.
in HS, i devoured Silvia Plath (among other crafters of true literature) & there was a joke in our reunion-prediction newsletter that i would ultimately begin to believe i was her reincarnation. they all saw me as a writer then partially because i was, and partially because that is what i survived on. it is funny how feeding on that which is timeless and rich ultimately fertilizes that writing soil.
thanks for reminding me. i need to go to the library. :)
.-= heather´s last blog ..Balancing isn’t a solo act… =-.
So what classics are you going to start reading?
.-= Danny Bixby´s last blog ..Real Church Innovation =-.
This is just the beginning, and I have a few already on hand:
Moby Dick (Oxford World’s Classics) Herman Melville
Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger
American Primitive Mary Oliver
The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
Dream Work Mary Oliver
I’m a total nerd when it comes to old poetry. I love that sort of thing. It’s funny how I can tell what I was reading when I look back over things I’ve written. You really do write like whatever your reading.
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Untitled No.3 =-.
Lauren –
Can you recommend some good poetry for a guy that doesn’t read any poetry unless you count the Hallmark cards?
.-= Richard Westley´s last blog ..Look for a Breakthrough =-.
I know you asked Lauren, but I would recommend Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, ee cummings, Edgar Allen Poe, Walt Whitman, and for a dash of dark angry white girl – Sylvia Plath. :)
.-= heather´s last blog ..Balancing isn’t a solo act… =-.
In addition to the above–Mary Oliver…Keats…Bukowski (gritty old man poetry)…Neruda (passionate/sexy but not overly erotic poetry)….
I’ve been reading a lot of e.e. Cummings, Keats, and Yeats.
T.S. Eliot, Andrew Marvell, and Shakespeare (find some of his sonnets) are good as well.
Heather is right on with Robert Frost too, most of his stuff is not too complicated, so it would be good for getting started.
.-= Lauren?s last blog ..Untitled No.3 =-.
You MUST read Billy Collins. Calling him “light verse”, as he is classified all too often, is too dismissive. Some of his poems grab you by the shirt collar, others sidle up and whisper in your ear. Look up “Litany”, “The Lanyard”, or “Forgetfulness”. Sensitive, yet manly. Also, Anne is right about Pablo Neruda. His “A Certain Weariness” is one of my favorites.
Well said! True for any area of life.
“Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Prov 4:23
Guard it not like a hockey goalie (keeping everything out) but like eating catfish (watching out for the bones while you eat it).
Anne,
I met you a few weeks ago when you were here with the Wesley girls at Ole Miss. Since then I have started reading your blog and have been enjoying it very much. I am D.’s wife, and he might have told you that I’m working on a PhD in English here.
So here are my recommendations: Passing by Nella Larsen and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. Also, anything by Eudora Welty.
Finally, just don’t read Moby Dick. Don’t. :)
Corrie
Welty. yes….
At the advice of Mr. Bennett…I am going to read two pages a day, in the morning. No more, no less, until I am done with Moby Dick. I read it before….but for school, not for the sake of reading it. :)
So true, Anne. I’ve also found it to be true when writing music. I had never thought about it until I began to take in a lot of writing (thank you Holy Bible & CS Lewis) and other music, along with paying attention to my (and others’) life experiences along the way.
I’ve been surprised with what has come out, but now that I think about it…not so much.
.-= Josh´s last blog ..Got Plans for Saturday? Help Haiti Live =-.
The temptation to sound like someone else is very tempting.
I think the reason it is so tempting is that it is pretty easy to do. At least for the moment. Writing blog post that copy others, even a book that can copy another book, but over time (like you said) it will crumble and fall apart.
I myself have worked hard at staying away from being like ______ (insert cool christian blog or book writer here) and more developing my voice and my writing that fits me.
Tough to do.
Like Lindsey mentioned most of what I read is for pleasure & decompressing my brain. I read mostly murder mystery. However, yesterday I just started reading G.K. Chesterton’s biography on St. Francis Assisi. This is the first biography I’ve ever read. If my life can be influenced even a minute amount by this remarkable man of God then even that is a massive change.
.-= Prudence´s last blog ..When Pollen Attacks =-.
Good stuff Anne!
It’s amazing how we can fall into “ruts” in our reading and writing…
Thanks for this!
.-= Guy´s last blog ..Cone of Learning =-.
I am an insane CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien (I have an Elvish tattoo to prove the latter)I think I have read almost everything written by Lewis or about him and I know I have read everything written by Tolkien. But by loving their works I fell in love with the works of GK Chesterton and some of Charles Williams stuff. I obsessed on Dickens in my early 20’s and read several of his books, my favorite being Oliver Twist, it’s still in my top ten books of all time. I love the classics but I would say most of my inspiration has come from Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, Dickens because of who they were, in life, and in how they wrote. It’s beyond creative and inspiring to me. Plus I like to tell myself that both Lewis and Tolkien were in their 50’s before their great works were published..at 43 that inspires me.
.-= Carole Turner´s last blog ..Hear No Evil =-.
You are my husband, but female. :)
cool!!
.-= Carole Turner?s last blog ..Hear No Evil =-.
I kind of have the opposite problem. I’m a classics junkie and tend to reread the same books over and over each year. Today, though, I was realizing just how little poetry I’ve read. I’ve never really liked it…but I think I just haven’t developed a taste for it. This year I challenged myself to read 35 books I’ve never read before and I want to include some poetry. I saw the suggestions in earlier comments and I think
I’ll start there. Anyone have a good book that provides a nice collection of poets for a beginner?
Check this out:
http://www.amazon.com/Six-Centuries-Great-Poetry-Collection/dp/0440213835/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267462866&sr=1-4
Also…just google “famous poets” and get a ton of free stuff online…a great way to explore who you resonate with and who you don’t.
And I need to add to my above suggestion, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning. And Yeats. And….crap. I need to get paid because I am buying a lot of books now. :)
Wonderful post, Anne. I am not a writer, but I am a reader. After finishing law school many years ago and realizing that much of my formal education was over (only now I have decided to pursue an MBA), I decided to go back and read many of the classics that I never read in high school. A whole new world opened up for me, and now I am not as turned on by modern, literary fiction. I have loved reading Tolstoy (Anna Karenina), George Eliot (Middlemarch), Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov–which really resonated with me because I am an Orthodox Christian), and Edith Wharton. I read Pride and Prejudice several years ago, but now I want to go back and read more of Austen’s books. I also am excited to explore the world of Stendhal.
Coming to the classics as an adult gives a person a whole new perspective. I have found as an adult that I can find timeless truths in the classics in a way that I cannot find those truths in modern works.
I hope you can find truth and beauty in what you will be reading. I always look at people who don’t read and think that they are missing out on something really great. Well-written fiction can really speak to our souls.
A very interesting and encouraging blog. I remember the first “book” I ever wrote was for a fourth grade Book Fair at my school. It was an interesting little tale about a family and a skunk. I think I may actually still have it somewhere…lol. The thing I love about reading and writing, music and art is the opportunity to see things from new perspectives. Whatever creates beauty, whether it’s a timeless classic or a bit of emo prose, adds a bit of color to the world.
.-= Kristine McGuire´s last blog ..Nothing…Just Nothing =-.
Thanks for sharing this today, Ann. It spoke to me on many levels.
As my kids are in public schools they are getting to read classics that I never saw since I was educated in sanitized and anesthetized Christian schools. I am playing catch up and reading along with them. (I’m so thankful for my Kindle!) Not only am I connecting with some great writing, I’m having conversations with my kids I may not have had otherwise.
In terms of my own writing I was briefly excited last week to find a theme that would clearly help me script out these chapters that bounce around inside my soul. It was short-lived as I realized that the theme is dated, that it may not be publishable, that an agent and a publisher would probably want me to find something more relevant to current pop culture.
But when I read your statement, “The goal of any writer is to become a better version of themselves” I realized the theme I’ve chosen is important because it is mine. And the real reason I write is to get in touch with those things inside me.
Thank you once again for being real.
Chad
.-= Chad Estes?s last blog ..Agents of Grace – Grace Gambrell =-.
Aaaahhhh – yes, it feels wonderful to already be a timeless writer! Oh, wait – you didn’t say ENDLESS,did you? Just “timeless.” Sorry. Endless I have down pat, especially on first-drafts. “Timeless” still needs work. I look on your recent “Just Imagine” blog, on water in Africa, as a great example of “timeless.” At least it is to me.
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
This book was originally written in 1937 and can be applied to the use of Social Media today. It is a classic book about how to treat people…never fails to show me something new every time I read it.
.-= @austinklee´s last blog ..Short =-.
You should definitely read The Great Gatsby if you haven’t already. I love it…and could read it many times over. Also, The Bell Jar….both books that I didn’t appreciate the first time but am so thankful to have rediscovered them!
I second The Great Gatsby. I studied it in my final year of highschool. One of the few books that actually “stuck with me,” spoke to me about humanity and changed my perspectives.
“Nurturing our spirits, cultivating our own voices …”
Nurturance, cultivation, whatever we call it … takes time, space, energy, effort, focus, stillness, creativity, daring.
It calls for us to give up some things we might have pursued. And to release some relationships because they don’t permit/allow/know what to do with this person who needs to tend her own garden.
But out of that inmost place of our being, where we connect deepest with God, comes an abundance of fruit … with an overflow to share with others.
I love that.
.-= Linda Stoll´s last blog ..Battling Cancer =-.
I am not sure of the exact criteria that makes something a classic, but my all-time favorite book is The Hitchiker’s Guide to The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. It is slightly recent(This century) but excellently written. As far as “old” books go, The Huntchback of Notre Dame is timelessly witty. An ever-poular smack on government and society.
Typically, I prefer prose. But a poet I do enjoy, and find very accesible for someone such as myself, is Billy Collins.
And yeah, Moby Dick is a beating. Yeesh!
Son of a….I meant to add Collins into my order yesterday. DANG!
Are you a Swift fan?
The same teacher had us read A Modest Proposal when I had him…I love his stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal
.-= Anne Jackson´s last blog ..Want to Write Timeless Content? =-.
I don’t know Swift. I will look into that. I’ve been trying to read more poetry because I know it improves writing.
Collins is great. He makes me laugh, and he seems to know what he’s doing. Sailing Around the Room is a good collection of his work.
Have a good one, Miss Anne Jackson!
To Kill a Mocking Bird
The Screwtape Letters
I am a big fan of the Russian novelists. You have to read a least one of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy. Very different in feel, but I like them both.
I would also include some of the 19th century Christian devotional and missionary authors like Andrew Murray, EM Bounds, Hudson Taylor and George Muller. All of those you can get decent kindle versions. These are not always great literature, but are great in their love and devotion to Jesus.
.-= Adam Shields´s last blog ..Organic Church by Neil Cole =-.
I am definitely agreeing … read some Dostoevsky. I recently decided to reread Crime and Punishment and my roommate laughs at me for being a nerd. Its all in good fun though.
Recently re-read (because I didn’t pay attention or absorb it in high school…. or my brain cells were a little fried) To Kill A Mockingbird and Pride and Prejudice, oh and the Scarlet Letter….. which were all so fabulous and enjoyable reads now that I can appreciate them.
When my kids are overwhelmed by my un-coolness I usually get a dismissive “wow”. Like I can’t believe you think that. Actually it’s much worse than they know, but I have the edge, at least in years. As the boomer dad of eleven and without any genetic connection to any of them I’ve been blessed with a unique laboratory for observing the emergence of the adolescent mind. None of them are interested in the classics and most eschew the intellectual pursuits. I am guessing they will be “late bloomers” as was I, strangely enough.
Whether you are a writer or a reader is less important than are you a thinker. If you can’t think well you will read but without comprehension. Of course you can’t write without thinking either. If your soul is truly prospering then you will be increased by that measure. Whether you read the Russians or the Germans or the Latinos you will move ahead because your heart and mind are engaged. It’s probably no coincidence that gold, silver and precious stones have to be mined out of the ground.
Tozer read Shakespeare but did so on his knees and prayerfully. Why did he think that was necessary? Something about us wants to look over the other guys fence. We want to understand what others are saying and thinking in order to better understand ourselves. Does God really care whether you read the classics or not. I wonder.
There are probably lots of good recommended reading lists but I would say read that which moves you upward as a person. Read the Bible too, that’s the one you will be tested on.
I don’t have the answers but thanks for the stimulating assignment Anne.
.-= Harold?s last blog ..Bloom Energy | Be The Solution =-.
Thanks I needed to hear that.
.-= Josephine Fast?s last blog ..I Would…. =-.
Well said. I’ve recently started going to the “library” also known as my aunt’s collection of books. There’s only so much time you can spend in B&N & Boarders before you feel like you’ve read everything possible or an imitation of everything possible. I didn’t think my aunt and I had the same taste in books but even when one of us doesn’t like something we can apreciate it for what it is, in some way. The more I read, and that can be 2 books a day, the more I want to write, even if it is a simple journal entry.
.-= Sarah?s last blog ..Cracked =-.
modern day classics…
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
On Writing by Stephen King-King says the same thing you do. a good writer must always read. he reads 80+ a year.
classic classics:
A/The Doll’s House
King Solmon’s Mines
As I Lay Dying
Oedipus Rex
Thanks for this reminder. I’ve been getting into ex-pat writers from the 1920’s and 1930’s this year, like Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Orwell. I’m always amazed when their descriptions of society hits home, even 8 decades later.
As far as Russian novels go, they feel like hard work to me. Something to persevere through, but worth it (possibly).
Next on my list is The Great Gatsby.
.-= alisha?s last blog ..Send me a postcard please! =-.
Yep, as usual, excellent point. Just last week, I felt myself slipping, which is totally dangerous because I already feel the bottom with my toes.
Leaders are leaders because they know who to follow (and because they say “who” all the time instead of “whom”). :)
-Marshall Jones Jr.
.-= bondChristian´s last blog ..4 practices to serve and interact when you’re physically alone =-.
I’ve finally gotten back into fiction and classic devotionals. And I’ve been gazing longingly at the classics on our shelves. It’s time to get one down. I never did get into Tolkien or C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. But, oh look–there’s Annie Dillard and Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Hawthorne and Bunyan and yep, there it is–Moby Dick!
.-= Sandra Heska King´s last blog ..Of Close Calls and Frazzled Angels =-.
Poetry: Wendell Berry. I love his new volume, “Leavings.”
C.S. Lewis. Scot McKnight reads him just about every day.
There’s a reason everyone recommends him, after all. :)
Eugene Peterson has a great list in “Take & Read.” Not all of the books are “spiritual” or theological.
Frederick Buechner is great, too.
I made a pact a few years ago that for 6 months I would only read a book from the library if the cover didn’t have pictures (and preferred the ones with the ‘old book’ smell). Some good (and terrible) reading…
If we want to write timeless blog posts whose blogs should we be reading?
(If this question has already been asked/answered let me know and I will search out the comments. Thanks!)
.-= David Knapp´s last blog ..Germany – These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things =-.
End of last year I started and beginning of this year I finished Frankenstein. It was a difficult, long read. But I am glad to have actually read it. I just finished Dracula and loved it. I’d never read either of these books. I was taught at home for high school and we didn’t have required reading. I’ve read House of Seven Gables, The Scarlet Letter, and most of Anna Karenina.
.-= Prudence´s last blog ..When Pollen Attacks =-.
One of my favorite memories as a child was visiting the House of Seven Gables. Nathaniel Hathornes home in Salem, Ma. My Mom was born and raised not far from there and we went back *home* for a visit when i was tenish. What an amazing place. And then to read about it & The Scarlett Letter in HS. WOW!
.-= Pamela Hunter?s last blog ..Love =-.
GREAT post. That’s it. Thanks.
Anne, why no love for The Lord of the Rings? It’s inarguably a timeless classic at this juncture.
Lewis said something somewhere about rebaptising our minds with classics like in between the more “modern” books we read.
LOVE this post! And all the comments. Great suggestions!
I also love Dostoevsky. Read him in the summer when life is bright, because he is heavy. But he creates rich, textured characters that will drag you into their stories and have you feeling, and fearing, and loving, and hoping right along with them. Brothers Karamazov is my favorite.
There have been so many lovely poets mentioned. I would add Rilke. Sometimes when I read his words I feel like I am pulling on a familiar garment…like the words are mine and have just been waiting for me to find them. Comfortable would not be the right word because often they are difficult. But they are precisely the right difficult, if that makes sense. Thomas Merton also waxes poetic at times, and says so many things I want to say.
Chesterton is BRILLIANT! George MacDonald’s Lilith is excruciatingly exquisite. And Voltaire’s Candide absolutely cracks me up. He is feisty and clever (if, admittedly manipulative)in the extreme!
.-= Shelia´s last blog ..Passport to Memory: Part the Second =-.
I am thoroughly addicted to books fiction, non-fiction, classics and quite a bit in between. In regards to classics, I am personally a fan of A Tale of Two Cities, Crime and Punishment, and The Scarlet Letter.
Don’t know if this is considered a classic, but my roommate just finished reading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. She thought they were good if not a little trippy, so those could also be some good options.
Great post, Anne.
.-= Jess´s last blog ..Normal? =-.
Two of the most memorable literary pieces for me are The Scarlett Letter by Hawthorne and The Raven by Poe. I can still recall the word picture in my mind that Poe creates:
And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me – filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door –
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; –
This it is, and nothing more,’
LOVE this?
.-= Pamela Hunter?s last blog ..Love =-.
This post is an excellent reminder that to write well, or to give anything of value to others, it’s important to be fed and full yourself. Thanks for the encouragement to feed my soul and mind a little bit more.
.-= laura?s last blog ..Some Stats =-.
Was just reminded of my favorite *classic this weekend. (although i’m not sure if it qualifies as a classic or not) I just love Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley (considered the sequal). I really can’t say how many times i’ve read these books, but i own them both and they are treasured for sure.
.-= Pamela Hunter?s last blog ..Love =-.
I really enjoy your blog, I’ve been an avid reader for a while and I don’t typically write in the comments section, mainly bc I never know what to say.
But just wanted to thank you for this post. I was truly inspire by it and decided to start reading the classics again. I really like what you pointed out about finding authors that speak to you. And well, I’m going to start searching for them. So I am going to start this journey with Anne Bradstreet.
I personally have enjoyed also learning about her and her life while reading her poetry. It has been interesting putting her life and where she draws inspiration from in context with her writing.
Thanks again for the suggestion!
Anne, I just wanted you to know that this post has inspired me to read better things AND to read them more often. Thanks.
.-= Tony McCollum´s last blog ..When You’re Running on Fumes =-.
Beautiful story and insights.
I’ve found the secret of timeless content is to find the principles and patterns … that gets to the heart of things.
In software, we share timeless knowledge through patterns and pattern languages. It’s a way of framing and naming a space and then passing along knowledge and wisdom through shared vocabulary.
.-= J.D. Meier´s last blog ..Information Overload is Not the Problem – It’s Filter Failure =-.
Hey, First of all, what a interesting blog! i’m in the process of doing a bit of research for my website but i had a problem reading this post due to the text sticking out on to the menu…. Edit: sorry, the problems my end, it is my ancient version of chrome causing the fault. Could be worthwhile asking ppl to update. All the best. Roxy Mitchell