Barack Obama, the writer, the son...Dreams from My Father...Obama gives insight into writing his memoir.

Hello there!

Writers come from all walks of life. It's not odd that many famous people choose to write/ghostwrite a memoir after they retire, but it's unusual for a very famous person to write one before he becomes famous.

I'm talking about Barack Obama, out-going US President. Dreams from My Father, first published in 1995, then re-published in 2004, makes riveting reading in my opinion. According to the blurb, "...it is a 'lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir [about] the son of a black African father and a white American mother [who] searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American."


If you haven't read it, you can probably guess what lies between the pages. Sure it's provocative, as Obama describes the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to neither, but I'm posting about the writer, Barack Obama, here today.

I'm a sucker for Prefaces/Acknowledgements and so on, and I found the Preface to the memoir intriguing when Obama talks about writing this memoir.

"Like most first-time authors, I was filled with hope and despair upon the book's publication--hope that the book might succeed beyond my youthful dreams, despair that I had failed to say anything worth saying. The reality fell somewhere in between. The reviews were mildly favourable. People actually showed up at the readings my publisher arranged. The sales were underwhelming. And, after a few months, I went on with the business of my life, certain that my career as an author would be short-lived, but glad to have survived the process with my dignity more or less intact."

There was a spate of publicity following Obama's election to the Democratic US senate seat for Illinois. His publisher was prompted to re-publish the book. Obama said:

"For the first time in many years, I've pulled out a copy and read a few chapters to see how much my voice may have changed over time. I confess to wincing every so often at a poorly chosen word, a mangled sentence, an expression of emotion that seems indulgent or overly practiced. I have the urge to cut the book by fifty pages or so, possessed as I am with a keener appreciation for brevity. I cannot honestly say, however, that the voice in this book is not mine--that I would tell the story much differently today than I did ten years ago, even if certain passages have proven to be inconvenient politically, the grist for pundit commentary and opposition research."

"And then, on September 11, 2001, the world fractured. 

It's beyond my skill as a writer to capture that day, and the days that would follow--the planes, like specters, vanishing into steel and glass, the slow-motion cascade of the towers crumbling into themselves, the ash-covered figures wandering the streets; the anguish and the fear. Nor do I begin to understand the stark nihilism that drove the terrorists that day and that drives their brethren still. My powers of empathy, my ability to reach into another's heart, cannot penetrate the blank stares of those who would murder innocents with abstract, serene satisfaction."

I think he captured the day and the aftermath exceedingly well.

Then there's the bond he shares with his mother:

"She traveled the world, working in the distant villages of Asia and Africa, helping women buy a sewing machine or a milk cow or an education that might give them a foothold in the world's economy...We saw each other frequently, our bond unbroken. During the writing of this book, she would read the drafts, correcting stories that I had misunderstood, careful not to comment on my characterization of her but quick to explain or defend the less flattering aspects of my father's character.
...she was the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known, and that what is best in me I owe to her."

I think Barack Obama shares many of our insecurities about writing. I felt inspired to know someone of his ilk struggled with his subject matter and syntax. How many times have you asked yourself as a writer, 'Why does the world need a book by me?'

Farewell, President Barack Obama, much loved here in Australia, and I suspect, in many countries around the world.

 Thanks for reading.

Is the pen mightier than the keyboard? Thoughts anyone?

Hello there!

What do you think? Is letter writing dead? Do you think those days are gone when buying stationary was a beautiful fetish? Where giving/receiving a gift set of notes and envelopes was actually quite nice? Oh, and some smelled pretty too! How about a leather writing compendium complete with expensive pen? A yearly agenda planner and a not-so-expensive pen?


Our Australia Post has recently practically declared bankruptcy as no one sends letters anymore. So their response was to double the cost of a stamp. Well, that'll stamp it out altogether.

So by all evidence letter writing seems to be yet another dying art, along with 'proper' English, landlines, taking phone calls instead of messages, regular SLR cameras etc.

So, what's the cause of this demise? That's easy, isn't it? Email's the go (although it's already old hat according to my Face-timing, Snapchatting students). Twitter and texting and facebooking are quicker and easier, so why write a boring old letter say you?


But the death of the letter really kills me.

A person born in the last 20 years may never have sent or read a handwritten letter. Wow! Really! The thought of picking up a pen and writing a personal message to someone seems foreign to the young and now many of the not-so-young. But don't handwritten letters offer a unique and personal touch that can never be replicated in our 'new' ways of communicating?

Are our mailboxes just for bills? Ugh!

Is a major literary era on its last legs? Double ugh!

The written word is undeniably the most dynamic discovery of human history that sets us apart from the animal world and personal letters have traditionally been an important literary medium.

JK Rowling is a prolific modern day letter writer. But if we want to, we can also read the letter collections of writers such as Beatrix Potter, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Graham Green as well as some of the famous political leaders of the 19th or 20th centuries. And who could forget Anne Frank's handwritten diary?

A couple of precious pages from Anne's diary I snapped at
Anne Frank Haus, Amsterdam

Handwritten letters create a connection that modern, impersonal forms of communication will never approach. No doubt there are writers whose emails are worth collecting, but if they're locked behind passwords they're inaccessible.

Old French postcards written during war time

Collections of handwritten letters cover a vast array of topics. Queen Victoria was a prolific letter writer. She wrote about 3700 letters to her confidante alone! And isn't it romantic when a stash of love letters are discovered, especially those bound by satin ribbons. In war time letters are written to those at home. Very poignant they are too. So important that many of them are housed in War Memorials and Museums. They provide invaluable eye-witness evidence of the horrors of war. Will emails from a tour of duty in Afghanistan hold up against the letters from the trenches in WW1?

Did you have a pen pal when growing up? I had several. How I enjoyed receiving those light airmail letters replete with the daily doings of a life in Japan, or Canada, or Alaska. Had far more appeal than a Facebook post or two hundred.

I recently read an article that claimed that highest-level communiques should be hand written in an effort to thwart spying. So maybe it's back to the future in some areas!

 US President Barack Obama said in 2012: 'In my life, writing has been an important exercise to clarify what I believe, what I see, what I care about, what my deepest values are.' 

That man does have a way with words.

• Do you still write personal letters?
• Does the demise of personal letters worry you or are you all for technological ways of communicating?
• Do you ever hand write your stories? 

Hello Barack Obama, US/Aussie history, then a Plot and Structure exercise.

Howdy my friends! How's everyone doing? 


Today Australia welcomes Barack Obama to our shores for the first time. I hope he enjoys his sneak peek of our beautiful country but he's not here to sightsee, of course, he's here to announce another joint military effort between our countries - a naval base in Darwin, our pretty much unprotected Deep North entry point. 


For those who might wonder why there is such an official bond between our countries it is because the only time Australia was ever threatened in a war (WW11) when the Japanese forces bombed Darwin and their submarines were cruising Sydney Harbour, nearly all of our army was fighting overseas. Other allies told the Japanese they could take Australia from Brisbane (((shudder))) north, but the Americans came to our rescue and did the Sir Galahad and today all of Australia remains Australia, not a Japanese colony, but has quite a lot of American military activity as a result of the 'rescue package'. Very useful for them to keep an eyespy on this part of the world. And of course we feel beholden to go fight the never-ending War on Terror.  


So, there you have a little insight into why we have such a strong tie with who we fondly refer to as the Yanks (their wartime nickname).


Well, now that I've mentioned the War... on Terror...

Thanks to PK Hrezco for sharing James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure. Here's a little exercise from the book for my NaNo story, A Peculiar Grace.


1. My lead is a drop out from Western society who joined the Hippie Trail and never returned home. Her objective is to subdue her demons by helping the unfortunate yet inspirational women of Kabul, Afghanistan.


2. She is confronted by dangerous political forces who oppose her because firstly, she is a woman, and secondly, she is an American whose armed forces have wreaked havoc on one regime after another.


3. The ending will be a knockout because many threads will be drawn together for a climax that will blow your sox off! 

• Any opinions on my plot exercise? Have you done similar for your latest WIP? Tell me about it...
• Anything else you feel to share, go right ahead...I think I'm trying a new comment system, so you'll be helping me see if I should delete it AGAIN or stay with it!

You Deserve A Star Award - and some writing tips

Thank you to L Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick Tips for the You Deserve A Star Award. Now is a good time to pass it on before #flashfriday hits. When the Spunk passed it on she wrote an interesting post about how the stars needed to be aligned in a special way before she could write (my pun, sorry.) I loved the post as did many others judging by the comments. If you didn't get to read it, go here.  Spunk's blog is for handing out excellent writing tips, amongst all the other things she does, and to me and many others she's certainly a star and well deserving of this award.

Lately I've been too busy writing to write much about writing, so I'm going to pass this award onto some of my most recent commenters who support me in what I do. They deserve a star for reading my flash fiction, blogfest entries etc. and leaving kind, helpful comments. But I want you, my little or not so little, stars, to let me know your answer to the question the Spunk posed - What Are Your Writing Habits? I'm going to list 6 of mine, so perhaps you'd like to use the same format. Please link back here so I can read your words of wisdom or leave a comment so I can go chase up these hot tips of yours.

I'd also love everybody who reads this to leave comments about their writing habits.

I'd like to hand this award on to so many stars, but here are six recent and at times prolific commenters and followers who I think deserve a star for at times making me feel like a star, however undeserved: Please spread the star dust around to however many of your stars, er, blogger friends, as you wish.

Talei at Musings of an aspiring scribe
Francine at Romancing the Blog
Rainy Day Wanderer and word's crafter extraordinaire
Ashley Ashbee that Loveable Homebody
Pamela Jo at There's Just Life
Aubrie at Flutey Words

Okay, here's my answers to the question...
What Are Your Writing Habits? 

1. My favourite spot to write is: in my little office when there's no one else within cooee.
2. My favourite treat when writing: is not actually chocolate (which is surprising) but I like to have endless cups of tea tottering dangerously near my keyboard.
3. For white noise I like: 24-hour news channel very low. Never know, I might learn something. Right now I hear Barack Obama  telling the pesky Israelis and the Palestinians to behave themselves or else. Yes, they are there, right behind him, I checked, with pained smiles. I can catch it all later on twitter. Ooh, there's a distraction! Don't get me started!
4. Water is very important whilst (doncha love that word? It's nearly obsolete or is it already?) writing because: It keeps the brain charged. It really does. Google 'reflexology.' Maybe dehydration leads to dehydrated prose.
5. When there's too many people around I: nick off to the library to write, taking my little netbook. Oh, boy, in November, I'm going to take my air mattress and hide under a table when NaNo's on. Reminds me, gotta get some ideas for a new novel...
6. When I lack inspiration I: make yet another cup of tea and raid the cupboards, drawers, behind the washing machine, or in the filing cabinet for my stash of chocolate. Suddenly it's all good!

Does this sound anything llike your writing habits?

C'mon, I'll bet yours are a lot more interesting than mine. Share with Denise. Everyone loves to write...in their own way...You might also like to pop over to Lenny's World where he's put his writing tips.

And for a bit of extra fun, don't miss the writing tips in my sidebar. They crack me up.