I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Kilgore Trout Was Here, So It Goes

"The only proof of God we need is music."

Kurt Vonnegut has passed.

"The truth can be a powerful thing, especially when it isn't expected."

Play the fife lowly, bang the drum slowly, boys.

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward."

For such a small man he cast such a large shadow.

"Life happens too fast for you ever to think about it. If you could just persuade people of this, but they insist on amassing information."

Whenever I read Mark Twain I heard Kurt, whenever I read Kurt I heard Mark Twain.

"I think that novels that leave out technology misrepresent life as badly as Victorians misrepresented life by leaving out sex."

The world is more for his being here.

So it goes.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi I am an attempted writer as well but I've got ... not exactly writer's block ... I'm really having trouble dragging out a theme, outline, characters, fleshed-out world for this novel I AM going to write ... maybe you could advise me??

Fascinating blog you've got here. I found you by accident, pressing that next blog button at the top.

I do a blog too: it's pretty different to yours, more my secret diary online. So you must come there, read my most intimate confessions. I promise they will entertain your head off!

Also, you might be able to assist my with my giant wasps problem ... or maybe not!!

See ya there.
All the best to you
from
Gledwood
(Gledwood Vol 2)
(http://gledwood2.blogspot.com)

Steve Buchheit said...

Gledwood, glad you found me then.

This sounds trite, but it actually works. The best way to write is to write. There are classes, conferences, seminars, etc that all claim to help, and if you need some basics they can be of service (as long as it isn't all, "how do I get an agent" kind of materials). Nothing, though, beats butt in chair time. For me the characters are the most important thing. Interesting characters in interesting situations with unique solutions and problems, coupled with "good writing" (ie. it makes sense, I don't have to spelunk through dense prose) always will produce good stories.

As for giant wasps, professionals are usually called for.

Scary Monster said...

Me didn't write anything about KV's passing except to comment on those who did.
Yours be one of the few that had any praise for the man. I think that because he used sci-fi as a background to many of his stories; many people missed the wit and irony that he continually displayed. Hi Ho.

STOMP.

Steve Buchheit said...

Scary Monster, goo to see ya here. Always like your comments on LBB's site.

Yeah, I really like KV. Even when I disagreed with him, I loved the way he worded his opinion. That he moved inbetween SF and mainstream is also appealing, and a tribute to his wit and skills. Many in SF claim he didn't write SF, and I think even he said he wrote what he wrote and left the classification up to other people.

I read KV books (Monkey House) before I discovered Douglas Adams. I think the two of them affected my humor more than any other writers. I love Ray Bradbury and his midwestern outlook, but I wish I could include the wit of KV and DNA more in my writing. I do them verbally, and some of my story bones I write out for myself include their humor, it rarely lasts into the stories. I need to figure out why that happens.