Soaring in body and spirit

Flying

The sky’s so perfectly clear

As over the world we fly.

We can see both far and near

While creatures of the sky.

We can look down on rivers and streams

Carving through the land;

Watching the water flow along

Until stopped by a man-made dam.

We can see the roads and the houses,

The farmlands and the towns,

The lights of the city, sparkling like jewels

Along the contours of the ground.

Then approaching the runway,

stepping foot again on the land,

We leave the world of the gods

And return to the world of man.

I wrote this poem years ago, combining my love of flying and poetry.

The above poem was dedicated to my father, Joseph Farinholt, who flew small airplanes (I even remember a cloth-covered one) from Westminster airport and took me up. Years later he and my Uncle Oliver Farinholt cleared property for a runway and started Clearview Airport.

When my uncle died, my aunt Martha wanted to keep the airport running and even had a small restaurant in the terminal Building. I went over some weekends to help flip burgers. If some of these men can learn to fly an airplane, so can I.

You might ask, except for the inspiration for a poem, what does this have to do with writing. Just be patient, there is more and I will keep it brief.

My lessons began in a Cessna 150 with instructor Billy Joe Mathis. After receiving my license, I also flew a Cessna 172 and a Cherokee 140, taking several of my friends for their first airplane ride. Exciting and frightening, this was just a challenge to me. I hadn’t thought of aviation as a career, but to prove to myself that I could do it. My aunt also took lessons and received her license. Maryland Cup Corporation, where we worked, ran my picture and a short article in the company newsletter about the flying Farinholts.

Because of my experience flying and hanging around airports, I was able to land a freelance job writing for an aviation magazine, Pilot’s Preflight, unfortunately now out of print. (I still have my old copies). I wrote some features (such as Bill Kennedy and Fly-in Ski resorts), plus a monthly regional column, Baltimore North, writing what I knew and learning more.

It was a wonderful time, flying to different airports, meeting all types of pilots and getting free rides in a wide variety of aircraft. Plus I was getting paid for it and now I have plenty of material for my memoirs. Although I don’t fly by myself anymore, whenever I hear an airplane my eyes go heavenward. I still have my log book and other mementoes of that exciting time.

I found the following quote and poem on www.skygod.com/quotes/poetry, that express some of how I felt as I traveled through the heavens.

Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air. Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away. — Carl Sandburg, 'Poetry Considered.'

Impressions of a Pilot

Flight is freedom in its purest form,
To dance with the clouds which follow a storm;
To roll and glide, to wheel and spin,
To feel the joy that swells within;
To leave the earth with its troubles and fly,
And know the warmth of a clear spring sky;
Then back to earth at the end of a day,
Released from the tensions which melted away.
Should my end come while I am in flight,
Whether brightest day or darkest night;
Spare me your pity and shrug off the pain,
Secure in the knowledge that I'd do it again;
For each of us is created to die,
And within me I know,
I was born to fly.

— Gary Claud Stokor

Writing Structure

Telling a great story was the topic of a workshop given recently by writer/instructor Julie  Castillo. For new writers the workshop covered some of the basics of structure. For writers already familiar with these concepts, it was a good refresher. I actually made notes to check different portions in some of my current works to see if they were meeting some of the criteria discussed.

When asking new writers if they have a clear idea of their main character, most raise their hands, she said. The same with their setting and dialogue, but when asked about structure, few hands go up. Having been a fourteen-year veteran of the publishing and film industries, Castillo loves to talk about structure and she made the presentation fun.

She began with the three-act structure is the most basic. Act I is life as normal with the set up to a problem that leads to a crisis and a call to action. Act II is transitional. It focuses on attempt to solve the problem with complications and conflict. This is a learning curve leading up to the main character finally realizing what is necessary to solve the problem. In Act III (the resolution) the main character takes action, solves the problem and usually is changed. Life returns to normal, or at least a new normal.

“All good stories have conflict,” she said. Two important questions: What does your main character want? What is in the way? The answers to these create tension and suspense. 

Discussing the 12 steps of Joseph Campbell’s the Heroes Journey, she added that “All great stories have a mythical feel to them.” She gave examples of these various structures in books and movies such as Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games and Harry Potter.

Castillo is a co-writer of two novels and thirteen nonfiction books—including two New York Times bestsellers, biographer for Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and chronicler of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!  She has taught creative writing and publishing  classes at local community colleges since 2007. Currently Carroll Community, Hagerstown Community and Montgomery colleges have classes scheduled.

She can be reached at JMWriterslife@aol.com and is on Facebook and Twitter as "Julie Castillo."

 

The Carroll County Chapter of the Maryland Writers’ Association sponsored this workshop. For more information about the state organization check out www.marylandwriters.org or for the Carroll County branch, you can contact Jack Downs, (443) 413-3688, email jackbdowns@gmail.com or check out www.carrollcountymwa.org.

Is a writing group for you?

Do you belong to a writing group or are you thinking about joining one? Have you considered the pros and cons of belonging to such a group and what type of group might best suit you?

There are various types of writing groups. Some are primarily social. Writing can be a lonely business and it’s good to meet occasionally with others who may have a similar thought process. Personally, I love meeting with other writers and am happy if we critique each others' writing or just talk about writing in general.

Some groups meet in person and some work online. Make sure that at least some people in your group write in the same genre as you. There are groups whose members read their works at the meeting and offer suggestions. If someone else reads the work, the author can listen for pauses or  indications that a portion of the writing may need to be changed. Others groups ask that pieces ready for critique be emailed ahead of time so there is time to read and think about the submitted writing.

Members often read and discuss short stories and poems at the meeting. Novels may be critiqued better online or printed, and critiqued chapter by chapter. Members should offer constructive criticism. A critique should be more than just one person’s opinion (I like this, I don’t like that) or grammatical corrections. It should consider character, setting plot, etc.

In most writers’ groups, members support from fellow writers, sharing information about contests and jobs, learning from each other and from occasional speakers, as well as critiquing each others' works.

If you already belong to a writing group, is your group thriving? A lack of attendance may indicate a problem.  Attendance may vary up and down but you should have you small core of regulars. Are members prepared? Some people seldom bring or send any writing, but enjoy reading the works of others and offering advice. However, writers should be writing.

If meetings are ending early or seem boring, it might help to vary the routine? Some groups propose writing topics or prompts to encourage members to try something new. Some even take time to write during the meeting.

Remember an important part of writer's group is the camaraderie. The group you choose should meet your needs and you should be able to fit into the group. Otherwise, you might want to look for another group

Unthink

Unthink, rediscover your creative genius, by erik wahl (writer, entrepreneur, speaker, graffiti artist) is a book for everyone.

Wahl’s life changed with the burst of the dot.com bubble and he began to examine his life and his artistic needs, questioning if anything was truly reliable. He began to paint and then to speak publicly challenging corporations to consider both “business intellect and artistic intuition, corporate sense and creative sensibility.”

Throughout the book, wahl (yes, he likes to use lowercase) gives examples of people who took time to think and made a difference in business, politics and art. Mystery, imagination and passion are key themes, as is the necessity to use both the left and right sides of our brains.

If we don’t know what is causing that itch or dissatisfaction in our life, we need to keep exploring. We need to rethink what we were taught about fitting in and just doing what is expected. Mystery makes everything more interesting and drives creativity.

While some people don’t change until forced to do so, “artists don’t wait to be rattled only from the outside. They provoke themselves first and then the people around them, in order to constantly imagine new possibilities.”

He gives examples of leaders such as Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King Jr., William Wilberforce, Mahatma Gandhi, writing that “all were artists of the highest form. Their brushes and paints were the words and actions that pointed to the better way and the higher standard.”

Just as writers are encouraged to raise the stakes, people in all fields should strive to find the spark of creativity. “Those who live in a constant state of creativity are the game changes,” he writes.

“Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That, and surprise, he quotes artist/writer Julia Cameron.

Todays successful artist, he stresses “is the one who knows when to embrace the childlike creativity of the right brain and when to embrace the logical strategy of the left brain.” Great progress never occurs through strategy alone.” 

He encourages everyone to remember their dreams and follow their passions. As writers, these ideas are even more important to us. We generally already have good imaginations and a passion to communicate, but if we let out internal editor interfere too much with what we are writing, we need to unthink. This book gives us much to think about.