Comments on: Different Skills from Different Writers

By: Rick

Rick — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:44:01 +0000

Stream of Consciousness (21st C) Dave Eggers - I guess Kerouac is the king of stream of conscious writing, but Dave Eggers has mastered this technique and modernized it for the 21st Century. In terms of influence for a blog style of writing i.e. attempting to record the thousands of thoughts and opinions running around your head while trying to maintain humor, Eggers is the writer to learn from.

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 19:25:53 +0000

This was a good list and gave me lots to think about…

By: dewfish

dewfish — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:15:00 +0000

great list. the only two I would change would be Ice Cube and the Onion. To me, 2Pac was the epitome of brevity. No tricks, no metaphors, no similies, just straight to the point. As fas as straight-face comedy goes, the all-time king of that has to be Leslie Nielsen. It’s not just that he did the outrageous while keeping composure, but the fact that he did it with the same amount of calm someone would use to check their mailbox. Mr. Bean was close, but his staight face was more of a clueless buffoon. With Nielsen, it is as if he knows he is being outrageous, but it’s perfectly normal. Probably also helped that in most Nielsen films, the world around him was just as crazy as he was.

By: Jarrett

Jarrett — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 22:27:19 +0000

Good damn list, sir. Pharrell views music like art, I guess writers view words like music. My influence? Off top I would have to say Walter Mosley for contemporary and Ralph Waldo Emerson for the throwback.

By: Quibian Salazar-Moreno

Quibian Salazar-Moreno — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 01:54:51 +0000

C.S. Lewis

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 16:58:21 +0000

I have to co-sign what Rex said about you and your “wit”. You could most assuredly keep Lennon company. You’re much to hard on yourself, because whether you realize it or not, that smirk (your smirk) comes across in your work. It’s one of the things that as reader, keeps me coming back. And again, to agree with Rex, it’s clever. There’s a way in which you infuse even your most serious writing with levity, that although deliberate(?), still comes off as very natural and easy. It’s being funny (smart/funny), without looking like you’re trying.

By: strong

strong — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 13:52:35 +0000

Samuel R. Delaney - Balls

I’ve always been fascinated with the combination of science fiction, sexuality and racism that Delaney has successfully woven into his stories over the years. If you haven’t heard of him, check him out. There’s also Jewelle Gomez who has an imagination quite unlike any other in recent history.

By: Rex

Rex — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:03:24 +0000

OK, OK, I know I’m going over my post quota here. This will be the last one I swear.

J.D. Salinger - Timelessness

I read the “Catcher in the Rye” as a teenager. But then a year ago I read it again. As I was reading it, I had to keep reminding myself that it was written in 1951, because from the text, you’d never know that. It could just as well be set in today’s day and age. It is a timeless classic.

Boy, Holden was one interesting character. The novel was ahead of its time, as no one had really written about teen angst in that vain before.

By: Rex

Rex — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 08:53:29 +0000

I take that back. Change “wit” to “cleverness.”

By: Rex

Rex — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 08:50:42 +0000

I think someday Bo if/when someone puts you in their own list like this, they’ll have to list your writing characteristic as ‘Wit.” You can keep Lennon company.