Ten Things I Learned From a Speech Given by Ray Bradbury

 “You won’t know what’s in you until you test it.” - Ray Bradbury

On February 22, 2001, Ray Bradbury gave the keynote address for the Sixth Annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. The Writer’s Symposium by the Sea is an annual event where guests share life stories and talk about the creative process. I learned about the symposium after finding a video of Ray Bradbury’s keynote address on YouTube. In his address he gives writing advice which he calls the "hygiene" of writing. Here are ten things that I learned from his speech. 

One: Write Short Stories

The first thing he mentions is to start with writing short stories. The danger with starting with a novel is that you can spend a year working on it but it may not turn out well because you haven’t learned to write yet. He does add that if your novel is going well for you then this advice doesn’t apply though. 

He suggests “writing a hell of a lot of short stories.” Write one short story week. At the end of the year, you’ll have fifty-two short stories, and they can’t all be bad. He says, “I defy you to write fifty-two bad ones! It can’t be one!” He also mentions the psychological aspect of completing a story every week. 

He points out that quality doesn’t matter at the start, at least you’re practicing. You’ll learn to look for ideas and you’ll learn to compact things. By writing short stories you’ll be in training and learning your craft.

Two: Read Short Stories

He suggests reading lots and lots of short stories and mentions a lot of authors. (See list below.) This has been easy for me to do as I love short stories. Based on his advice I read Fancies and Goodnights, by John Collier. It’s a collection of fantasy and suspense stories. I really enjoyed it. Several of his stories were adapted for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series. I've also read some Roald Dahl short stories and a collection of G. K. Chesterton essays. All good stuff. He also suggests reading science fiction stories because they deal with metaphors. 

Three: The Importance of Metaphor 

Mr. Bradbury feels that metaphor is something that is missing from modern writing. The ability of seeing metaphors, knowing how to write metaphors, and making a collection of them, will make you a better writer and then you’ll be ready to write a novel. Something I’m more aware of recently as I read. I see them more but I also recognize how difficult it is to come up with them. He explains that he doesn’t know how to teach you how to recognize metaphors when you see them, but he does offer advice. Stuff your head from various fields by reading a lot. 

Four: Read Before Bed

 

He suggests reading before bed every night. Read one short story, one essay, and one poem a night. Read from various fields, archeology, zoology, biology, politics, philosophy. This reminds me of all the reading Louis L'Amour did before he started writing. I wrote about that in a previous blog post:

Jim Reddy's We Learn By Writing: Education of a Wandering Man

Mr. Bradbury says to read before bed for 1000 nights. By doing this your head will be full of ideas plus your own personal experiences and perceptions of life. The more metaphors you can cram yourself with, the more they’ll bounce around inside your head and make new metaphors.

Five: Live in the Library

Since he couldn’t afford college he went to the library three to four days a week. After doing this for ten years he says he graduated from the library at the age of 28. He says to live in the library, “not on the internet or computers and that crap.” He talks about the joy of browsing and discovering new books by pulling books off the shelf. “To pull books off the shelf and not know what the hell they are.” Going to the library is a surprise. He adds, “You’re looking for something like you, aren’t you?” I agree with this so much. I do similar things online but it’s not the same. I miss going to the library. 

Six: Watch Old Movies

He recommends old movies as the movies from his childhood had a strong impact on him. The first movie he ever saw was The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the age of three. He also mentions the Phantom of the Opera, The Lost World, and King Kong. These movies gave him inspiration. “I want your loves to be multiple.” He adds, “I don’t want you to be a snob about anything.” Basically, he says if you like it and it’s fun, watch it.

Seven: Make a Love/Hate List

Make a list of ten things that you love and ten things that you hate or fear. Your own personal fears. Then write about them and kill the things that you hate. His short story The Thing at the Top of the Stairs was based on a childhood fear of going up a dark stairway in the house he grew up in. 

Eight: Have Fun

Writing should not be work. If it feels like work, stop and either write about something else or do something else. Don’t write to benefit the world. Set out to have fun. 

Nine: Try Word Association 

Sometimes sit down and just type what comes to mind. It’s one way to have fun. You may be able to discover more about yourself this way. By the time you get to the bottom of the first or second page some character may take over. This could be your true self. 

Ten: Whatever Works 

One time he got an idea while he was out in the desert. No computer, no typewriter. He used what he had, a pad and a pencil. He wrote something and finished it. His advice here is “Whatever works.”

In Conclusion 

I realize that every writer is different and there isn’t a set formula. For example, some writers suggest coming up with an ending and working towards it. Ray Bradbury has an opposite take on the process. He says that all his books have been surprises. “I’ve never known where the hell I’m going. That’s the great fun.” 

I found a lot of what he says to be intriguing and helpful. His message for writers seems to be to have fun and surprise yourself. You may not always know where you’re going at first, but you’ll be surprised by where you wind up. 

These are the ideas that worked for him and maybe can work for others. In the end though, do whatever works for you. I think that's a good message. It's something I've been trying to do as I've been reading about writing and trying to put into practice what I think will work for me.

Even though he was eighty years old when he gave this speech, his passion for books, storytelling, and writing seemed just as intense as if he were his younger self. I hope that I have such passion at that age.

Author List

Here is a list of the authors he recommends during his speech:

Short Stories by:

• John Collier 

• Roald Dahl

• Guy De Maupassant

• John Cheever

• Richard Matheson

• Nigel Kneale

• Catherine Anne Porter

• Edith Wharton

• Eudora Welty 

• Washington Irving

• Herman Melville

• Edgar Allen Poe

• Nathaniel Hawthorne

Poems by:

• Shakespeare

• Alexander Pope

• Robert Frost

Essays by:

• Aldous Huxley

• Loren Eiseley

• G. K. Chesterton

• George Bernard Shaw

A shorter version of this blog post first appeared in the Fantasy Amateur Press Association fanzine Fandomain F, Vol. 1 No. 7, August 2018. 

Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 1

 “Weird Tales was the anvil on which Howard forged the sword of his literary legacy. These stories are that legacy.” - Mark Finn, from his introduction to Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 1.

This is the first volume of a series that collects the fiction and poetry of Robert E. Howard as it originally appeared in Weird Tales magazine. The Kindle edition includes twelve short stories and twelve poems.

“While not strictly in the order that Howard wrote them, they are valuable in that it gives us a picture of how quickly he improved. Each story builds on the last one, bringing with it whatever worked from the previous endeavor.” Mark Finn, from his introduction 

I completely agree. I enjoyed reading this collection as there is some variety and I really could see Howard’s progression as a writer. It’s hard to believe that he sold his first short story, “Spear and Fang,” at the age of eighteen. He starts out quite good and just gets better. Howard is a master of action and as he writes more stories, he starts adding more characterization. 

In these stories you’ll meet cavemen, werewolves, Picts, ghosts, Solomon Kane and King Kull. Werewolves feature in the second, third, and fourth stories. Howard’s take on werewolves was interesting, I had not come across his version before. I enjoyed the Solomon Kane and King Kull stories the most. These stories felt more fleshed out and there is more characterization than in the earlier stories. The Kane stories also had creepy creatures and brutal fights. The Kull stories include some interesting world building and a character that wonders about his place in that world. I could also see the beginnings of Conan in Kull. 

On the negative side, Howard  brings up race and racial purity in some stories and it does come across as racist. Sometimes it’s just a few lines and sometimes it’s more. It definitely pulled me out of the story whenever it came up. Something to be aware of when reading Howard. 

I’ve read some Conan before but I never got around to reading anything else of his. After reading these stories I'm really looking forward to reading more of his work.

“Many readers overlook Howard’s poetry and they do so at their own peril.” - Mark Finn, from his introduction 

I agree! I didn’t realize that REH had written so much poetry. I enjoyed the poems quite a bit. 

“Weird Tales was Howard’s literary home. He felt comfortable enough within its hallowed pages to break new ground and try new things.” Mark Finn again, from his introduction. 

I’m looking forward to the next volume.

Contents of the Kindle edition:

Spear and Fang (3/5)

In the Forest of Villefore (3.5/5)

Wolfshead (3.5/5)

The Lost Race (3/5)

The Song of the Bats (poem)

The Ride of Falume (poem)

The Riders of Babylon (poem)

The Dream Snake (2.5/5)

The Hyena (1/5)

Remembrance (poem)

Sea Curse (4/5)

The Gates of Nineveh (poem)

Red Shadows (Solomon Kane) (4/5)

The Harp of Alfred (poem)

Easter Island (poem)

Skulls in the Stars (Solomon Kane) (4.5/5)

Crete (poem)

Moon Mockery (poem)

Rattle of Bones (Solomon Kane) (4/5)

Forbidden Magic (poem)

The Shadow Kingdom (King Kull) (4/5)

The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune (King Kull) (4/5)

The Moor Ghost (poem)

Red Thunder (poem)

Overall (4/5)

Looking Back, Looking Forward

“Writers are either developing an idea or they are questing, even if unconsciously, for the germ of an idea.” - Patricia Highsmith

Well, 2020 turned out to be quite the year. I started this blog two years ago in an effort to write more. I wrote twenty-four posts in 2019 but only ten in 2020. Oh well. Time to reflect and plan for the future. 

I did write a couple of articles at the end of the year. My good friend Patrick Ijima-Washburn has taken over as editor for a zine called Mangaverse and he asked me to contribute. Mangaverse covers manga, anime, U.S. comics, film and Japanese culture. It's part of The National Fantasy Fan Federation aka N3F. I wrote a manga review and an article about my experiences buying American comics from when I lived in Japan. I’ll be writing more articles this year. 

My main goal last year was to finish things. Finish the writing course I had started and finish short stories. That didn’t happen. 2020 got in the way in more ways than one.

Towards the end of 2020 I was hoping to finish a short story but I hit a barrier and stepped away for a while. I've just had a breakthrough though and have a good idea where the story is going now. This story is important to me as it’s based on the first real short story that I ever wrote in high school. That story is lost but I still remember the title and the basic premise. The new version is turning out to be the same in spirit but more detailed. Finishing it is one of my first goals for 2021.

Books Read and Things Learned 

I got a lot of reading done in 2021, both fiction and non-fiction. Here are the books on writing that I read and what I got out of them. 

How to Write Action Adventure Novels by Michael Newton.

Solid advice on how to craft action stories. He gives both good and bad examples of passages that I found useful. 

Writing for Your Life by Lawrence Block.

The chapter on “automatic writing” or “fast writing” was useful. Sometimes all it takes to overcome hesitation is setting a timer and keeping the pen moving without overthinking things. 

Don’t Live for Your Obituary: Advice, Commentary and Personal Observations on Writing, 2008-2017 by John Scalzi.

This is a collection of the author’s blog posts and covers a wide variety of topics. I didn’t take notes but I remember finding the chapters on what it’s like being a writer pretty motivating. 

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein.

This book covers both fiction and non-fiction. I found almost everything from the fiction section very useful. In particular, the chapter on hooking the reader with an interesting first sentence and an interesting first paragraph was very helpful. 

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia Highsmith.

I liked how the author talked about how story ideas can develop. Sometimes an idea needs a second idea to get the story going. Then flesh out the idea with characters, setting, and atmosphere. 

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Ann Lamott.

I got a lot out of this one. The author stresses the importance of giving yourself short assignments and finishing first drafts. Having a first draft gives you something to work with. She also explains that you may not get to the good stuff until you’ve written three or four pages. 

The Successful Novelist by David Morell.

Sometimes I’m hesitant when trying to write fiction because I’m not sure where the story is going. The author explains that although he has an idea of where a story is going, the specifics don’t emerge until he starts writing and that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. His advice about description is also good. He points out that beginning writers often only provide visual description and that it’s important to also include sound, touch or smell descriptions sometimes. Stein talks about that in his book as well. 

Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury.

I found the most helpful ideas from the first half of this book. Write quickly. “In quickness is truth.” Make a list of things you love and things you hate. Play with words and make lists of titles. Feed your muse by reading a lot. Read novels, short stories, essays, and poems. 

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

In this book the author defines resistance and the various ways that it can get in the way of getting your writing done. This was really eye opening for me. 

Most Popular Posts

Although I started this blog for myself, a few people have dropped in now and then. Here are my five most popular posts. 

The fifth most popular post is Childish Things. I wrote about how reading comics in my childhood turned into a love of storytelling. Jim Reddy's We Learn By Writing: Childish Things

Fourth is Incident at an Airport. This was an assignment for the writing course that I’ve been taking. Jim Reddy's We Learn By Writing: Incident at an Airport: Setting Exercise Part 2

Third is Man, Lying on a Hill, Looking Through a Rifle Scope. This was also an assignment for the writing course. Jim Reddy's We Learn By Writing: A Man Lying on a Hill, Looking Through a Rifle Scope: Setting Exercise Part 1

The second most popular at 115 views is Education of a Wandering Man, a review of the book by Louis L’Amour. Jim Reddy's We Learn By Writing: Education of a Wandering Man

My most popular post, at just over 300 views, is A Time When I Was Deeply Embarrassed. Another assignment for the writing course. Three hundred views may not be a lot for most blogs but it's a big jump from most of my posts.  Jim Reddy's We Learn By Writing: A Time When I Was Deeply Embarrassed

Looking Ahead 

Last year I came up with goals but I didn’t plan out how I was going to accomplish those goals and I didn’t keep track of them. 

This year I’ve started keeping track of how much writing I do. I make a note of how much I’ve written at the end of every day. I'm also making better use of my project and story list. First keeping better track of it and second re-prioritizing things as needed.

In the end though I know that I need to plant myself in my chair and just write.

Here’s to a better new year. 

The Feynman Notebook Method

“Study hard what interests you the most in the most irreverent and original manner possible.”  - Richard Feynman

I recently read about something called The Feynman Notebook Method, also called the Feynman Technique. It was developed by Richard Feynman as a learning and study technique.

Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was an American theoretical physicist. He worked on the Manhattan Project, won the Nobel Prize in 1965 (along with Julian Schwinger and Shinichiro Tominaga), and helped to discover the cause of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. He was also known as the “Great Explainer” because he could explain complex concepts in simple and understandable ways.

After his second year of graduate school he started using a notebook dedicated to learning a new concept. On the title page he wrote, Notebook of Things I Don’t Know About. He used the notebook to disassemble what he was studying and reorganize his knowledge. He took a difficult concept and wrote notes and diagrams that made it easier for him to understand. As he filled the empty pages of his notebook his knowledge of the topic grew.

I found this interesting as I have been keeping a notebook dedicated to learning about writing for about two years. As I read books and articles on writing I highlight important passages. Once I finish I go back through and write notes and diagrams in my notebook. Going back later and reviewing what I have written has been helpful. 

So far when I’ve done this I’ve just written down things exactly as they were originally written. That has worked for most ideas but not all. I found myself copying down long passages because I didn't want to change what was originally written. That’s been fine for some ideas. I just broke down the long passages into smaller bite size chunks. But it hasn’t been helpful for a lot of other more complicated concepts.

I realize now that I should have been doing what Richard Feynman did. He didn’t just copy down quotes. He would simplify his notes and diagrams in order to be able to teach the concept to others. Then he would review his explanations and look for where he still didn’t understand something or where his explanations weren’t clear. Next he would go back to the source material and add or edit as needed, all the while simplifying as much as possible. I’m definitely going to start doing this with my notebook. 

When I read the article about this study method I thought Richard Feynman was completely new to me. After reading the article I looked up some more information about him. Some of what I read sounded familiar to what I’ve read on a Twitter account from what looks like a professor. The bio doesn’t explain who he is but the feed includes motivational quotes about learning. It turns out I’ve been following the Richard Feynman Twitter account for quite awhile. 

Three Favorite Authors

“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.” - Harlan Ellison 

I’ve really been into three particular authors recently, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison. I’ve gotten so into them that I’ve created checklists of each author’s work. I’m ticking things off as I add them to my collection and as I read them. I’ve also rearranged my bookshelves and grouped their books close together. Not only have I rearranged my physical bookshelves, I’ve also added author “shelves” for these authors to my Goodreads page. 

Neil Gaiman

I first discovered Neil Gaiman when I was in university. I read his Sandman comic around the time it was originally being published. I liked it but never finished reading it. After Sandman I didn’t read any of his work for quite a long time. I was always aware that he was writing short stories and novels over the years but I never got around to reading any of them. 

I rediscovered Neil Gaiman right after I started this blog. His book Art Matters had just been released and I picked it up. I liked it enough that I sought out more of his advice on writing. I liked what he had to say. I found his advice simple, straightforward, and motivating. It was just the right kind of advice that I needed to hear. Things like the importance of finishing things. That you don’t have to get it right at the beginning. By finishing things you start to learn. You learn more from finishing a failure than by beginning something that is fantastic that is left unfinished. 

He also uses examples from his work when giving advice. This intrigued me enough to seek out his fiction. So I read Coraline. I wasn’t expecting to like a dark fantasy children’s novella as much as I did. It was eerie and suspenseful and the main character was smart, resourceful and brave. Then I read The Graveyard Book. I never thought that a story of a young boy that lives in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts could be as moving as it was. I liked it even more than Coraline. Next was The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Neverwhere. So far The Graveyard Book and Neverwhere are my favorites. Most recently I’ve been reading his short stories and I’ve been enjoying them a lot. M is for Magic is a nice, quick overview of his short story work. I’ve just started the short story collection Smoke and Mirrors. He seems to have a genuine love for storytelling and it really comes through in his work. 

Ray Bradbury

I first read Ray Bradbury in high school. I came across his work in the science fiction short story collections that I read from my high school library. I remember liking them a lot but didn’t read any further. When he passed away in 2012 I picked up a collection of his short stories but I didn’t read it. The years went by.

I also rediscovered Ray Bradbury right before I started this blog. I have mentioned before that  I watched a video of a speech he gave at a writer’s symposium in 2001. In the speech he gives lots of advice for aspiring writers. His speech was one of the things that motivated me to write more and to start a blog. I still didn’t get back into reading his work though. Until a few months ago. I found a beat up copy of Bradbury’s R is for Rocket in a used bookstore recently. I picked it up and read it. Good stuff. I recognized some of the stories. I may have read this collection in high school. Next I read The October Country, a collection of science-fiction and horror stories and The Halloween Tree, a short novel about the origins of Halloween. I loved them both. I also read Zen and the Art of Writing. He mentions some of the advice from the book in his speech.

There’s something lyrical and poetic about his writing. I’ve added a few more Bradbury books to my shelf and I’m looking forward to reading them. 

Harlan Ellison 

I first discovered Harlan Ellison when I was in high school through his interviews, reviews, and essays in Starlog and Future Life magazines. I soon learned that he wrote my favorite Star Trek episode, “City on the Edge of Forever.” What’s on the screen may be different from his original script but his voice is still there. It’s not perfect but it’s a powerful episode. It doesn’t offer up easy answers to the problems the characters face and it doesn't end with the characters laughing and smiling on the bridge.

I can’t remember exactly when I started reading his fiction. I do remember buying his books at one of my favorite book stores in Atlanta, The Science Fiction and Mystery Bookshop. It moved twice but like a lot of bookstores it eventually went out of business. It’s been closed for years but man, I still miss that place. In any case, I bought a number of his books, both fiction and non-fiction. 

I had all my Ellison books packed away and stored at my parents house for the longest time. I dug some of them out a few years ago and started reading his fiction again. I also started filling in the holes in my collection. Within the last year I’ve picked up a hardcover, a trade, and a number of books on Kindle. Just recently I found some more boxes of his books that I forgot that I had. 

It turns out that I have way more Ellison hardcovers and paperbacks that I thought. At present I have nine hardcovers and twelve paperbacks. Some of them are signed. I thought I only had two signed books but it turns out that I have more. I haven’t seen these books in over twenty years. Finding them was like finding a time capsule filled with treasure. 

It’s been driving me crazy that I can’t remember which convention I met Ellison and got my books signed at. I thought it was at a Dragon Con but I can’t find any documentation of him attending prior to 1992, which is when I moved to Japan. It’s also driving me crazy that I don’t have any photographs. I used to always take pictures at the conventions that I attended. 

I just finished reading one of his early collections of short stories, Paingod and Other Delusions,  and I finally read Dangerous Visions, which he edited. Ellison was not without controversy and I don’t like every single thing he has written. But there are so many gems. I still find his writing, especially his fiction to be raw, powerful, and moving. 

In Summary 

While I have some other favorite authors, and I’m always discovering someone else to read, I keep coming back to these three. They have some similarities but they’re not exactly alike. Bradbury and Gaiman seem the most similar, but Ellison is different. He can come across as louder, angrier, and more in your face. That’s just one side to his writing, especially his non-fiction. He can also demonstrate that lyrical, poetic poetic quality I find in Bradbury, and he also comes across as having a genuine love for telling stories that both Bradbury and Gaiman have. 

They reached deep into themselves, put in the time to put words onto paper, and told stories that go beyond what’s just on the written page.