Lion-izing

A few days (weeks?) ago, the wonderful and ever-generous Glamourpuss nominated me for the "Roar for Powerful Words" award. The people who get this award are required to list three things that they consider vital for good writing. They then must pass the award on to five others.

So, here we go. First off, here are three things that I consider vital for good writing:

1. Thought: Not to get too florid about this, but every art begins with raw materials, to which it applies tools. In the case of writing, particularly blogging, I think the raw materials are day-to-day life events, and the key tool is thought. Everyone has things happen to them, but good writers apply thought to those events. They look for connections, seek significance, and draw conclusions. In short, they turn the quotidian happenings of life into something transcendent and meaningful.*

Or, at least, they try to do so.

2. Humor: Another thing to consider is the fact that most of the events of daily life are not all that happy. Most of life is a struggle, and we often have to look hard to find moments of beauty, happiness, or humor. Good writers, though, are willing to go through that struggle. They work hard to find ways to laugh at themselves and the world around them. Sometimes the humor is light, and sometimes it is black as a cat's ass in an unlighted mine, but it's always there if we've got the energy to look for it.

3. Editing: Okay, as somone who tends to ramble, I should probably just keep my mouth shut, but I really appreciate writers who carefully edit their work. By doing so, they tend to add structure and energy to their writing and, generally, keep me from getting bored.

I clearly need to work on this.

And here are five writers who really impress the hell out of me:

1. Hearts in San Francisco is not only an outstanding writer, but she also demonstrates the three things I mentioned above. Her energetic, thoughtful writing often finds humor in the most unlikely places. Sometimes it's heart-wrenching, but it's always amazing.

2. In his blog, Mystic Wing records his daily struggles with finding balance in his life, coming to terms with his own weaknesses, and generally striving to uncover meaning. He seems inclined to view himself as an oldster, but I think that his struggle to learn keeps his mind pretty young.

3. I've only recently started regularly reading Echomouse, but I've already found her to be a thoughtful and energetic read. Her ability to honestly and bravely examine her emotions really blows me away.

4. Lex at On Second Thought has also been exploring a lot of things that most people take for granted. Sometimes painful, sometimes funny, always honest, her blog shows me how the online space can really become a little extra area for us to deal with our internal realities.

5. CEO of The Morning Meeting has had a pretty tough year, what with the deaths of friends and pets, not to mention health problems and construction issues. Through it all, he's taken the time to throw out a lot of support for his fellow bloggers. He's also tried to use his words to work through his pain, which, I think is the whole point.

*I really, really wanted to use the word "quotidian." My day feels complete now.

Be the Blog

Recently, My Reflecting Pool nominated me for the "Be the Blog" award. I was honored, but also really surprised. When I started blogging, I saw it as a way of emptying out some of the ideas buzzing around my head. Rather than have all these random thoughts taking up a lot of my time, I thought, why not write them down somewhere. I could come back to them later on; in the meantime, they would be available for people to look at, laugh at, critique, yell at, etc...

As I started getting more into blogging, I began using this space to document aspects of my life. This has been particularly helpful lately, as my life has been changing a lot, and it's given me a place to think about who I am, what I'm becoming, and how my world is changing.

All that having been said, being the blog is something that I've aspired to, but not necessarily something that I've reached. However, I know a few people who have done just that. Here they are:

Claudia, of La Vida Claudia, has been working on becoming a photographer. In the meantime, she's had all sorts of daily struggles, moments of artistic confusion, and family troubles. She has moved from place to place, and has used the experience to explore how she feels about the concept of home. In other words, Claudia has grown in the time that I've read her, and she's been bold enough to put that growth out on the internet for everyone to see.

Slaghammer hasn't posted much recently, but his blog has always been one of my favorite stops. In addition to the fact that he writes beautifully, Slaghammer is also in the middle of many changes, and has used his blog to document his physical pains, his slow coming-to-terms with his past, and his own artistic struggles.

Mystic Wing is also exploring his own potential. He's documented his struggles with finding inner peace, his occasional moral struggles, and his difficulty in dealing with a body that isn't always as young as his soul. Through it all, he's embraced change and shared that change with his readers.

Call him Monty, call him David, call him CEO...regardless of his name, the proprietor of The Morning Meeting is as interesting as they come. In the time I have been reading him, he has lost a few beloved friends, had health problems, survived said health problems, and gotten a job. Along the way, he's documented his life with humor and humility, and has taken the time to encourage a lot of other bloggers on their own explorations.

Lex, of On Second Thought doesn't seem to take anything for granted. She explores her struggles with religion, race, work, body issues, cooking...you name it, she's thinking it through. My favorite thing about Lex is that she constantly encourages me to reconsider my own assumptions and have the bravery to address my own issues.

As a blogger, I try to use my little space to entertain people and share my ideas; most of all, though, I try to use it as a place to be myself, but more so. It's an area for me to document the changes in my life even as I think them over and consider how I will respond to them. These authors, and several others, have shown me how to do that with grace and artistry.