Hemingway's Shotgun and the Price of Success

Within the past 24 hours I have encountered two cultural references to the unfortunate suicide of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway. While the writer's death by his own hand is common knowledge, I was taken aback by one of these references, while I feel the other must be taken into context to be fully understood.

The first reference to "Hemingway's Shotgun" was in a recent episode of the FOX sitcom Family Guy. In this particular episode three of the characters (Stewie, Brian and Chris Griffin) travel back in time to learn about famous moments in history. Why the writers felt that Hemingway's suicide qualified as such an event seems a bit forced, but that is a topic for another day. The "writer" among the group, Brian, is thrilled at the chance to meet Hemingway and begins pandering to him the moment they meet. In the cartoon Hemingway then brandishes his famous shotgun and takes his own life rather than listen to Brian.

The second reference was in a short story I recently read by one of my own favorite authors, Charles Bukowski. While this story was written fifty years before Family Guy ever existed the punch line concerning "Hemingway's Shotgun" was much the same. Bukowski makes multiple references to his friendship with Hemingway throughout his writing. The fact that he knew Hemingway before his death gives him some room for comment. The way Bukowski quips about Hemingway's choice of weapon (a shotgun) might give the casual reader the impression that Bukowski didn't like Hemingway. As a fan of both authors, I feel that it is clear that Bukowski actually admired Hemingway greatly. He ever refers to Hemingway as "the best among us" on more than one occasion. Anyone who is familiar with Bukowski's work is also familiar with his rather blunt and often intentionally offensive sense of humor. Despite this fact, Bukowski seems to have been more deeply affected by the Nobel Prize winners death than he is comfortable admitting.

While both references were clearly made in jest Bukowski's comments, however comedic, seem to have some actual heart and sympathy behind them. The unnecessary and poorly scripted joke on Family Guy, however, had no such heart. Seth MacFarlane and his contemporaries seem to feel they have dramatic license to mock Hemingway and other great authors. In terms of sheer freedom of speech these comedy writers certain have that right. Charles Bukowski, on the other hand, was a contemporary of Hemingway's. He actually KNEW the man, the author, the artist.

While both jokes seem similar, their intentions are very different. Despite what one might think of Bukowski his writing has a blunt honesty to it. The bottom line is that if anyone has dramatic license to make such comments it would be the man's contemporary, Charles Bukowski not a comedian who never knew the man.

http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Times-John-Eric-Buckley-ebook/dp/B00F5BVSFU
http://www.amazon.com/Elsewhere-John-Eric-Buckley-ebook/dp/B00QAS3SCS

Raymond Carver, Birdman and the Academy Awards

I never cared for Raymond Carver.

I can't really explain why, but as a younger man I was required to read Cathedral (held by many to be his best work) for purely academic purposes.  Perhaps that is why I didn't care for the story.  Possibly because someone in a position of authority (in this case a professor) told me that I had to read it.  I did as instructed.  I even wrote a report on the piece.  I don't recall what grade I received on that particular report, but as a solid A/B student in college it is safe to say that it was a decent grade.

Good grade or no, I didn't care for Carver.  I read that he had a drinking problem (hell what literary great didn't).  I read that he died tragically at too young an age.  Not of that phased me. I still dismissed him as run of the mill.

That changed this year when I saw Birdman.  Now I know what you are thinking.  Birdman was not written by Raymond Carver.  Only the short story that Michael Keaton's character has adapted into play (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love) was actually written by Carver.  And you are right.  But the basis of this film digs much deeper than the story of a washed up actor who is trying to make a comeback on Broadway.

While Birdman itself was not written by Carver, Birdman does not work without Carver.  It cannot work without Carver.  This film could not work without Carver's short story serving as the foundation for the entire theme of the movie. 

I loved Birdman.  I think Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone should all win in their respective Oscar categories.  I also think the director should win for Best Director and that it should be named Best Picture.
It won't be though.  American Sniper will steal a number of awards from it.  As might The Imitation Game and Selma.

That will be a shame.

Even if Birdman wins nothing during the Academy Awards it has accomplished at least one thing:  it has given this reader (and many others) a new appreciation of the work of Raymond Carver.

If Carver were still alive today, I would write him a letter apologizing for giving up on his work when I was in college.  Or perhaps he would have a Twitter account (I know some of you just cringed) so perhaps my apology could be sent in the form of a "tweet."

In any case, I will be rereading Cathedral as well as several other Raymond Carver short stories.

I hope that many of you reading this article will do the same.

Writer's Block, Bukowski and the Post Office

Today I would like to suggest yet another tip to becoming a better writer. Today's tip actually has more to do with not writing than actually writing, as odd as that might sound.

BALANCE.

This topic occurred to me while reading Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski. In one particular piece Bukowski attempts to explain a bout of writer's block that he once suffered and indirectly attributes his problems to the existence of daily mail delivery.

Anyone who has read anything that I have ever written knows how much I love Charles Bukowski. I have always been drawn to his direct no holds bar way of writing. The reader never has to wonder what Bukowski is thinking. Make no mistake he is going to tell you and in no uncertain terms. He has been called a bully, a hack, a womanizer and worse. Regardless as to what you or I may think of the man he is clearly one of the most influential writers of the last century.

As a former postal employee, Bukowski has every right to criticize the postal service. He worked for that organization for a decade first as a mail carrier and later as a postal clerk. To put it bluntly, the man paid his dues in that organization and has every right to criticize his former employer.

Despite this fact, I have to wonder if the distraction of daily mail delivery is really a legitimate excuse for writer's block. In this particular exert, Bukowski admits that he became obsessed with reading and responding to his readers' correspondence. At the outset this sounds admirable. He later admits that he usually only responded to the women, and more often to the attractive female readers who included photos of themselves in their correspondence. These admissions lead the reader to question whether the interruption of his daily mail carrier was really the cause of his struggles with writer's block.  Instead, allow me to suggest that the contents of those deliveries and his obsession with certain female fans might actually have been the root cause.

While I doubt that many of us have had this same exact experience we have all experienced writer's block. Whether we write novels, poetry, short stories or even something more technical or business related each of us has stared at a blank screen or sheet of paper in frustration at some point.

May I suggest that rather than blame arbitrary events and distractions (such as daily mail delivery) for our problems that we should all learn to lead a more balanced life. We cannot afford to become our own creations. Balance is the key to everything. If you write in the mornings then by all means write in the mornings. But do something else in the afternoon and evening. If you write in the afternoons or evening by all means be true to your routine but find something different and more social to do during your mornings.

Despite certain stereotypes not all great writers are antisocial recluses.

I hope that together we can continue to grow as writers and as human beings.

It is essential to find a good healthy balance that will allow each of us to become a better writer every day!

Thanks again for reading and as always...

KEEP WRITING!

http://www.amazon.com/mn/landing/B00F7MLT3I
http://www.amazon.com/Elsewhere-John-Eric-Buckley-ebook/dp/B00QAS3SCS

My favorite moment of the Superbowl....

Today I take a break from my ongoing blog series to share some thoughts on last nights big event...namely the Superbowl.

My favorite moment by far did not happen on the television screen.  While trolling through Twitter and reading all of the reactions to the morbid Nationwide commercial (I'll let you look that one up if you happen to be the ONLY person on the planet who hasn't seen it or any of the memes it produced) I came across a very simple tweet from a reader.

This intelligent young woman simply stated that while the rest of her family was watching the Superbowl she was enjoying a book.

At first this might not sound like much but let the implication sink in for a moment.

While the rest of us (including me, I freely admit) were engrossed in a ballgame this young woman was reading.  The significance of this may not be obvious but allow me to expand.

In a world filled with handheld and online video games (not to mention YouTube and what not) this young woman prefers to read.  I am both shocked and encouraged by this admission.  I myself love reading and prefer it to most forms of media.  If I have learned anything by tracking my book sales these past few years it is that more readers use an electronic device (aka Kindle or Nook) to read books than actually buy paper books these days.

I am a bit of a dinosaur, I'll admit, in many ways.  My preference for actual books further alienates me from the average American.  I still like to hold a book in my hand and I rarely go anywhere without one type of book or another in hand.  (Right now I am reading Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski.)

It was refreshing to see this tweet from someone significantly younger than me during the Superbowl.  Now I can't be sure whether the tweeter (is that even a word?) was reading a paper book or on an electronic device.  The truth is, it doesn't really matter.

What matters is that she rejected the social norm to stare blankly at a screen all day and she chose to read instead.

I hope that all of you find this anomaly as encouraging as I do.

Until next time...

KEEP WRITING!  (and reading!)

New Series: Writing Tips for Potential Authors

Hello friends and fellow readers!

Today I begin a series of writing tips that I have collected not only from my own experiences but from interaction with other authors. I hope that each of you find something new and positive that will encourage your own writing.

#1:  STAY POSITIVE

This may sound like a no brainer but doubt can be a killer.  There are going to be periods of rejection in each of our lives.  An independent author is going to face a lot of rejection.  I recall my first rejection came as a form letter from Dark Horse Comics.  I had submitted a storyline for a potential comic book that I titled "The Worst of Times."  Anyone who has dealt with the comics industry knows that the big boys (Marvel and DC) do not accept unsolicited submissions...but the smaller imprints do!  Thus my submission to Dark Horse.  Dark Horse sent me a very polite yet firm letter stating that while they appreciated my submission they had no interest in my story "at this time."

That was 2010.

Five years later I'm not even sure if Dark Horse is still around but if they are they still have no interest in my story lol.

As some of you already know, I later expanded this storyline into my first novel also titled The Worst of Times.  I am proud to report that we are fast approaching our one thousandth download of The Worst of Times for Amazon Kindle!

My point is that just because a story or idea is rejected by one format or publisher does not mean the death of that story.  Only your own self doubt can truly destroy the potential success of your creation.

I hope that this first tip proves useful to all of you.  I plan on offering many more in future posts!

As always...

KEEP WRITING!!!