Monday, February 04, 2013

Stuck, help me Susan Orlean


I’m stuck.

As I find myself in the process of writing another career story (when I say career, I don’t mean kinareer, in the vernacularthat I worked extra, double hard on somethingbut rather, that the bosses are paying more attention to this piece than any other celebrity piece I’ve written before), and at this moment, I am stuck. Grasping for straws, so the idiom goes, but thankfully I still have a few hours until I’m supposed to turn it over. In moments like this, when I’m stuck and need rhythm, I turn to writers that I like. One of those is Susan Orlean, probably one of the living writers I have most respect for. Why do I love her? She knows how to launch a kicker, charm you with unique turns-of-phrase, and install milestones to launch spurts of dopamine to keep you reading from paragraph to paragraph.



I have three books of her that I refer to all the time:
My Kind of Place
The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup
and Saturday Night







I also have a copy of The Orchid Thief but for the life of me, I can’t seem to finish it.





















Times like these, I distract myself by walking around to find that elusive lead, one that will lead me from beginning to end. I hope I find you soon.

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