Jeremy David’s Variety Blog

What books do people like to read? I received an interesting comment and it made me think about the list of books I have chosen to read from. Do I want to write for the writing community, or the reading community? I think I should learn from books that a large number of people enjoy. But what list is the best?

I found three “100 best” lists created from the input of readers: the Random House Modern Library 100 Readers List; the BBC’s Big Read; and a list created from the input of 75,000 Australians.

My methodology in merging the lists was relatively simple. I inverted the scores (#1 is worth 100, #100 is worth 1), and added the scores of books that were on two or more lists. The number in the parentheses is the score. The last five books are ones I took from Wikipedia’s best selling books. Here we go:

1. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien, (295)
2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee, (287)
3. 1984 by George Orwell, (263)
4. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell, (239)
5. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller, (230)
6. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger, (229)
7. THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams, (224)
8. HARRY POTTER J. K. Rowling, (196)
9. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Jane Austen, (196)
10. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald, (185)
11. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell, (178)
12. DUNE by Frank Herbert, (173)
13. WUTHERING HEIGHTS Emily Bronte, (165)
14. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck, (163)
15. THE HOBBIT J.R.R. Tolkien, (159)
16. JANE EYRE Charlotte Bronte, (158)
17. THE STAND by Stephen King, (153)
18. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute, (148)
19. LITTLE WOMEN Louisa May Alcott, (148)
20. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving, (146)
21. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA Arthur Golden, (133)
22. THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH Ken Follett, (126)
23. GREAT EXPECTATIONS Charles Dickens, (119)
24. ULYSSES by James Joyce, (113)
25. EMMA Jane Austen, (111)
26. CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN Louis de Bernieres, (108)
27. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley, (107)
28. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding, (107)
29. IT by Stephen King, (105)
30. MAGICIAN Raymond E. Feist, (104)
31. WAR AND PEACE Leo Tolstoy, (102)
32. PERFUME Patrick Suskind, (100)
33. THE THORN BIRDS Colleen McCullough, (86)
34. THE ALCHEMIST Paulo Coelho, (85)
35. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS Arundhati Roy, (84)
36. WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams, (81)
37. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac, (70)
38. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh, (69)
39. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy, (66)
40. THE MAGUS by John Fowles, (64)
41. THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR Jean M. Auel, (62)
42. SUITABLE BOY Vikram Seth, (57)
43. THE GODFATHER Mario Puzo, (51)
44. THE SECRET HISTORY Donna Tartt, (30)
45. KANE AND ABEL Jeffrey Archer, (18)

1. The Bible (6.7 billion)
2. Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (900 million)
3. Qur’an (800 million)
4. And Then There Were None (100 million)
5. The Da Vinci Code(65 million)

In this lesson we will learn the five basic sentence types:

1. Subject – Verb

The dog barks.

This is the most basic English sentence. Dog is the subject, and barks is the verb.

2. Subject – Verb – Direct Object

The architect desired the building.

A direct object is a noun or pronoun that answers the question “whom” or “what” after the verb. A verb that carries an action onto an object is called a transitive verb. In the example sentence the architect is the subject, designed is the transitive verb, and the building is the direct object. An intransitive verb does not carry onto a verb. In the previous example barks is an intransitive verb.

3. Subject – Verb – Direct Object – Object Complement

We called the store owner incompetent.

With some verbs – like made, name, believe, and judge – the direct object may be proceeded by another word that describes the direct object. This is an object compliment. In the preceding sentence, the subject is we, the verb is called, the store owner is the direct object, and incompetent is the object complement.

4. Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Direct Object

My brother stole his friend a car.

In some sentences with action verbs, an indirect object identifies who or what receives direct object.

My brother is the subject, stole is the verb, his friend is the indirect object, and a car is the direct object.

5. Subject – Linking Verb – Subject Compliment.

The computer was broken.
My professor is a senator.

This type of sentence requires a linking verb such as be (is, are, was, were, has been, etc.), seem, appear, grow, and many others. These verbs are followed by a subject compliment, which is either a predicate noun or a predicate adjective. A predicate noun renames the subject, and a predicate adjective changes the subject.

In the first example, broken is a predicate adjective. In the second example a senator is a predicate noun.

Those are the five basic sentence structures. Before you move on to the next lesson, make sure you understand them and their components.

This weeks grammar lesson starts with the basics: sentence structure.

There are four types of sentences: declarative, exclamatory, imperative, and interrogative.

A declarative sentence describes facts or information:
We should do the dishes.

An exclamatory sentence focuses on emotions:
Washing the plates was frustrating.

Imperative sentences issue instructions:
Do the dishes, please!

Interrogative sentences ask questions or request information:
Should we do the dishes?

A sentence is made up of two parts, a subject and a predicate. The subject is something (a person, thing, concept, etc.) that the sentence is about - usually what is described or performs an action. The predicate makes a statement, comment, or asks a question about the subject or an action initiated by it.

In this example, “dog” is the subject, and “barked loudly” is the predicate:

The dog barked loudly.

The central components of the subject and predicate are the simple subject and the simple predicate. In the previous example, “dog” is the simple subject, and “barked” is the simple predicate.

Compound subjects and predicates contain connecting works like “and, but, or or.”

A child and his parents got lost in the park.
The sailor put on his cap and untied his boat from the dock.

Predicates always contain a verb (a state of being, an assertion about the subject, or an indication of action). In the following sentence, the verb is ate:

Jeremy ate.

A verb can be preceded by an auxiliary which conveys a specific meaning (am, be, been, can, are, was, has, must…).

They are eating chocolate.
They have been eating chocolate.

Typically, the subject of a sentence is a noun. Nouns name or classify activities, places, things, concepts, and people. Carpet is a noun.

The carpet is red.

A pronoun can substitute a noun, and the noun it substitutes is called its antecedent.

It is red.

“It” is a pronoun, substituting for the antecedent “carpet”. Indefinite pronouns, such as anybody, everybody, and somebody, require no antecedents. Personal pronouns include I, he, she, they, we, and the pronoun who.

That’s enough for grammar for now. Make sure you can answer the following questions:

1. What are the four types of sentences?
2. What is a predicate?
3. What is a verb?
4. What is a noun?
5. What is a pronoun?
6. What are auxiliaries?

I was not anticipating a terribly sad ending when I finished A Farewell to Arms, but I think the fact this novel was not designed to end happily is one of the reasons it is so powerful.

The primary lesson I assimilated from this book is the power of varied sentence lengths. I am very confident the 100 books are going to drastically improve my writing. Unfortunately, at this pace, it’s going to take over two years to finish them.

I’ve moved onto book number two: Ulysses. I can understand why it was rated number one: the writing is brilliant. If I can manage to tackle these 600 pages, I’ll celebrate… with another book. Hopefully I can acquire some of Joyce’s descriptive techniques. He describes things beautifully.

I purchased the the Writer’s Harbrace Handbook: First Canadian Edition from a used bookstore yesterday: best $15.00 I’ve ever spent. I also took a nice walk down to Starbucks and read for a few hours. It was fantastic, and I am 1/3 done the book (not the grammar book - Farewell To Arms). My goal over the next few weeks is to improve my core writing skills. This weekend I will prepare some grammar lessons because the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.

Happy writing!
Jeremy

One cool thing about the writing challenge I launched is that I’ve learned an incredible amount in a very short about of time. Kristen King from Inkthinker wrote me a very long and helpful post that, in conjunction with everything else, has helped me grow. Here is my response:

I like your comparison to Legally Blond: it’s a great metaphor. I have always wanted to write well, and I did wake up one day and arbitrarily decide that “yes, today I am actually going to do this.” I probably should have put a bit more thought into how everything might seem before I initiated it, but I did not, and I do recognize that I did come off sounding like an asshole. I think deep down I did have an altruistic goal of helping people along the way, but it wasn’t obvious. I said “… here I am, creating a blog about writing. Actually, to be more specific, this blog will be writing. Eventually I hope to be proficient enough to help other people learn to write, but for the time being this will be an exercise in improving myself.” I think the idea I had of eventually helping people was overshadowed by my constant reference to myself. I’m not going to lie. I did seem rather narcissistic and egocentric. But where can I go from here?

Incidentally, the reason you’re having a hard time finding a step-by-step guide to writing better is multifaceted.

1. Different genres of writing require different skill sets. I do a lot of oncology editing. I can tell those authors how to write clinical study articles better, but that same information probably isn’t going to help you unless you’re also writing clinical study articles. The principles (clarity, focusing on the audience, writing tight) are all the same, but the execution varies widely.

2. What I like about writing and what you like about writing are probably not the same. I can give you general principles to writing better, but the only step-by-step guide you’re really going to find is “How to Write Like [Person Who Wrote This Book].” Seriously, it’s an individual art. The principles and tips on implementing them can guide you in the right direction, but you’re the one who has to take them and develop your own style.

3. What you see as a step-by-step guide and what I see as a step-by-step guide are probably very different. I have about a dozen “step-by-step guides” to being a better writer, but each of them does something different, and my guess is that even if you’ve found them, you don’t consider them to be what you’re looking for (even though 50,000 other people may). And the reason I have so many is that they’re all step-by-step guides for slightly different techniques and styles. You can’t be all things to all people, dude. It’s never as good as when you specialize. Never. (This is going to come back to bite me, considering that I’m a freelance generalist, but I’ll deal with that sad reality another time.) I hope there never is a single cut-and-dried guide to writing that supersedes all the others. That will be a sad day in my eyes.

I could not agree with you more regarding the three points you highlighted in your post. How can I learn to write if I do not even know what I want to write? Yesterday I spent a considerable amount of time hunting down books on writing and investigating what is in the public sphere. Developing my writing style is going to have to be something I lead myself, and I think I just answered my first question. People cannot be taught style – they have to teach themselves. There is room for guidance along the way, but ultimately it is the writer that has to learn (and teach himself or herself) the writing.

In terms of developing a mutually beneficial arrangement, at this point in my life I probably do not have anything to offer anyone in return for their services other than my sincere appreciation. I am not well known, and if someone had decided to help me solely because they wanted some sort of recognition and fame it would be terrible to disappoint them if everything did not work out. I thought my post was clearly a little tongue in cheek, but I probably should have tried to make it a bit more obvious. Maybe after I travel the world, have a successful “Choose My Adventure” experience, and people are compelled to come to my blog and actively participate in my travels there would be more of a compelling reason for someone to get involved if their motivation was publicity. But is this writing blog going to attract hundreds of thousands of people? Probably not. Putting on my business cap (top hat?), I would have to say from “the helper’s” end this would be a risky investment. Realistically, what are the chances some random guy on the Internet is going to be able to develop to a point where the “the helper’s” time and energy is sufficiently rewarded? I am confident in my potential, but I agree that it is a very hard “sell”.

Colleen Sullivan’s Denial to Acceptance:

1. Denial

I did this with pure altruistic intentions… how dare someone make such harsh accusations.

2.Anger/Resentment

Why is everyone being mean to me? Heeelllllloooo? Haven’t you heard of “Community”?!?!?!?

3. Bargaining

I promise that I am going to become a prolific writer, and your participation will make you look amazing! It will help you, me, and everyone else. Just give me a chance.

4. Depression

Wow. Everyone must think I’m so selfish. They must hate me. I could sit in the library all day and prove them wrong. But why even bother?

5. Acceptance.

Did I honestly expect someone to say “Howdy stranger! Here’s 50 hours of my time!” I hope not. I should have put more thought into this before I jumped in. But all is said and done. I have to move on from here.

Consider this a polite retraction of my original request.

Ironically, launching the Great Writing Challenge was a very educational process in itself. The stark yet honest comments I received clearly established that this is an adventure I am going to have to embark on my own. Blankly soliciting assistance from random people without engaging them first (or putting much thought into it beforehand) was silly. I completely agree that it would be unreasonable to expect someone to hold my hand through the entire process, and upon further reflection, I do not think it would be nearly as effective. You’ve already taught me a lot. Be clear, be honest, and stick with it. Being wishy washy accomplishes nothing, and makes me look like a fool.

Am I going to give up on my goal to become a more talented writer? Absolutely not. I am even more committed to this project than I was when I whimsically challenged the blogosphere to “spoon feed me the answers.” I am smiling right now because I had a tiny epiphany, and I think my challenge worked. I know I am going to become a better writer. I have a considerable amount of work ahead of me, and I am happy to do it. And I sincerely thank everyone – even those who called me selfish and delusional – for their comments. I think it was necessary to come to this realization through this process. I am on the right track now, and excited about it.

Dear Kristen,

I hope to talk to you soon,
Jeremy

Here’s a little project I worked on this weekend. This is still in “beta” form… but it’s pretty fun nonetheless. I need to find a place to host it because it is bandwidth intensive (the JavaScript is temporarily hosted on a free site). In a nutshell, I designed a name generator that uses census information to give you a random name from a pool of 1000 female names, 750 male names, and 1000 last names. Each name’s probability is weighted by its occurrence in the US (ex: SMITH will come up more than JONES). I also used that same strategy for age. There is a pool of over 500 character traits to draw upon, and the character descriptions are just for fun for the time being.

Click here to have some fun making characters.

Yesterday was beautiful. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was sitting at a table in the Library - with six hours worth of books and a pad of legal paper - trying to answer the question “how does someone learn to write well?” Gorham Munson, in his book The Written Word, has an answer. Writing can only be self taught, and good writers are self made. He says anyone can become a skilled writer, but not everyone will. Those whose desire falters and give up will not.

There is hope for all of us looking to improve. We just need to work at it. Naturally, I wondered how do I teach myself to write well? This blog is going answer that question.

Over the next sixteen weeks I will identify resources and put together writing exercises. Everything will be posted here and organized in a way that permits visitors to follow along and participate. The reason I have set a 16 week time frame is that on August 20th I am hoping on a plane and going traveling for a year. Ideally I want to develop enough core writing skills and vocabulary to carry my learning and exploration of writing into my adventures. My long term goal is that this blog evolves into a free online publication showcasing the work of talented, unpublished writers. Until then, let the learning begin.

Munson said that “talented writers read with an eye alert for secrets of technique.” Dostoevsky and Dickens may have been born with impressive skills, but most authors work at it. To write, one must read. I am prescribing myself 2 hours per day – starting now with A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

Would someone with some writing experience mind looking at this list of the 100 best novels and tell me if they agree with the selection? Many thanks… and happy writing!

I decided to make a tool for writers: a contribution to the writing community (in exchange for putting up with my antics, he he). Last night I spent a considerable amount of time typing away at my very first JavaScript program, and when it is done I am sure you are going to enjoy it. Especially all of you fiction writers out there.

No more clues though. You are going to have to wait until Monday.

Thank you all again for your comments and ideas. This weekend I will put everything together and, with Monday’s surprise, the real “learning to write well” blog will be launched.

Quick poll: Do you prefer “learning to write well” or “learning to write better”? Comments please!

Happy writing everyone,
Jeremy David

I am very excited about this writing endeavor. There are people all over the world who are looking to improve their writing and I am confident this exercise will prove helpful to them. Before I go on to writing about what I have learned so far I will highlight a few comments I received and provide a resposne:

From: Lori
Well, you didn’t tag me (and I think that’s a good thing), but I want to respond anyway. I can teach you to write. My fee is $125/hr.

While your post is somewhat cute, it’s just another ploy for freebies from working writers. Your career will only be as successful as the time you put into it; you won’t gain a thing by expecting others to do the growing for you.

Don’t worry; this is not a sinister, narcissistic ploy for freebies from working writers. I see blogs as a provider of two important functions. First, they are a fantastic mechanism to help individuals build relationships; community is a fundamental theme in the blogging world. Second, blogging is a fantastic medium with which to engage people. From unfiltered and raw dialogue to a refined educational tool, blogs can be anything. Some blogs have the sole purpose of helping people grow.

Steve Pavilna has as fantastic personal development blog. He doesn’t charge people $125 per hour for his services. He enables people all over the world to grow for free. Obviously not everyone in the world can make a living from this model, but I think it is an important one to follow. I would never expect anyone to volunteer their services for free. But when someone is willing to help out, I welcome their participation with open arms.

The purpose of this blog expands beyond me as an individual person. If I was soliciting requests for one person to educate me, I would not have selected a public medium to do so. The purpose of this blog is to help people all over the world become better writers. The lessons I learn through this project will be immortalized on the Internet, and I sincerely hope hundreds – if not thousands – are able to benefit from this experience.

Nathania, you are absolutely correct. Thank you so much for providing links to those screenplay writers. I am certainly going to thoroughly explore them. Every single medium of communication is different, and screenplays just happen to be my favorite. I think I will start this project by exploring fundamental and core elements of all writing, dabble in a few mediums, and then pick the one I love most.

Carson, your post is brilliant. Thank you so much for writing it.

Everyone else, I’m going to write about my learnings so far in “Lesson 1”.

Cheers,
Jeremy David

UPDATE!!!

I was wondering where that comment came from. I found the source. Here’s my response:

Ahh, a challenge of my own. I was wondering who inspired that snarky (and valid) little comment on my website. I honestly appreciate your… wanting clarification… before you continue.

1. Who the heck am I, and why should you spend your time helping me?

My name is Jeremy David Peters. I’m a student slash politician at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia. It’s funny that the first characteristic I thought of was that I am involved in student politics. It’s a vicious and thankless realm of impossibility. But alas, I am entrenched in that world and eagerly anticipate April 30th when my term is complete. In terms of school, I’m technically a business student – but I’m not one of the cliché suit toting cliquey commerce students that typically come to mind when the word it uttered. Or thought. I am passionate about the environment. I have a bad feeling about where the world is going and I fear it is too late. Zombies. It’s going to happen. Trust me.

I doubt that I am the only person in the world who wants to be able to write eloquent and compelling literature. Heck, that’s why they offer English courses, right? Unfortunately, my formal education didn’t revolve around those classes. I was too busy doing my silly commerce stuff. So now I am here, close to graduation, regretting my inability to write.

I love blogging, I think it is a powerful medium of communication. I frequently change what I blog about, and now my targets are focused on helping people write better. Believe me or not, I sincerely want to help people who are in my position learn to write better. Yes, there are probably many resources – you highlighted some of them yourself – that can teach someone to write. But they are not cut and dry. There is no definitive step by step guide that teaches someone to write better. That’s what I want to do, and help people succeed.

Why not do my own work? Why do people write research papers? Why have books? Why record anything for that matter. If everyone had to start from scratch anytime they did anything, what would be the point of doing it first. That didn’t really make any sense, but I’m trying to say that I was hoping to start my writing quest by learning from what accomplished people, like yourself, have done before. Then, when all is done, I would refine everything into a simple and effective resource to help people in my position.

What will you get out of this? Credit for being a participant, and the satisfaction of helping people write better. I agree, my little challenge thing was a bit sassy and INFOMERCIALesque. But it worked. Here we are, talking about writing. Would you have responded if I sent you a little email asking for help? I’m not sure. I’ve already learned one thing I didn’t know before: writing forums are a great way to learn to write better. Tip number one assimilated. Celebration.
Before I continue, I’m going to look at your analysis of the great writing challenge:

Step 1: Pick 10 or so people who know what they’re doing

Check.

Step 2: Issue a double-dog dare aimed at making them climb all over each other to help you be a better writer for no compensation other than “bragging rights — if you win.”

X. There are more benefits than bragging rights. I didn’t want to dangle the glowing carrot of altruism in front of your face, but it’s there. Trust me.

Step 3: Sit back and watch your blog traffic skyrocket as people talk about your guts/brilliance/foolishness.

I think I’ve had 30 new visitors today? Ha ha, maybe the ball just has to start rolling. And if it does, well, that would be awesome. All those Google ads I have on my page might earn… Oh wait a second. I don’t have Google ads on my website anymore. But it would be really cool if I did, and I managed to make like $4.

2. What’s in it for you?

That’s a really good question. First of all, you got to write a really sarcastic post about some random kid (am I still a kid? Whatever). Don’t worry though. I love it. I can handle it. I’m involved in Student Politics remember. I thrive on this kind of stuff. Seriously though. You have valid questions and I am having fun answering them.

When I was saying bragging rights I was jokingly implying that when I win an academy award I’ll go on stage and thank you personally for making me the writer I am today. All your friends, while you’re sitting around the television in your fancy dresses, would be so jealous. I wish I could italicize that so. That would be so cool.

Let’s briefly talk about opportunity costs. Obviously if you had a paying client calling you asking why their copy isn’t done, you wouldn’t say “Sorry, bud, I’m helping this random person for free. Wait in line”. But if it’s raining, and the power’s out. And it’s cold, and your cell phone isn’t working. And it’s dark. And you’re really bored, and you have nothing to do. Not even board games or DVDs. Just nothing. That would be a good time. “If I give my services away for free people will not pay for them!” No. I do not have any money.

What would you actually get out of this? Recognition for your work. When people check out the blog they’ll see all of your contributions and think “Wow! This person is really smart. Maybe I’ll pay for some consulting!” No, I’m not talking about myself. I’m talking about you. Also the readers of your blog would get the benefit of anything you provide because I’d hope you would provide the information to them too. Basically, the reward is helping many people learn to write, and getting some free advertising along the way.

3. And what’s this “if you win” crap?

I’m the only winner? Nope. Everyone’s a winner. You, me, and the people who participate. Even the people in four years who stumble upon these posts. I believe in free information. I’m not about to close up shop and start charging people for what you teach me. No one would listen to me. Why would they hire me when they can hire you? This is about helping everyone. The process I go through to learn how to write will be available for everyone. I’m just the example. A tangible experience people can follow. I could figure it out myself. I’m sure that’s what you did, and thousands of people all over the world. But times are changing. Information is fast and accessible. Communication is easy.

I agree with you 100%. There is no easy way to improve. If there was everyone and their chimpanzee would be a writer. A good writer too. Then, actually, it would be the bad writers that are famous… because everyone else is good. But that’s a philosophical debate I wouldn’t be able to eloquently defend. So I shant. I love that word. Even though it’s not real. Wait, aren’t “shants” short pants? I think they are. So I shall not.

Becoming a better writer is going to take years. It’s going to involve reading many books. It’s going to involve writing a lot. And I think that’s cool. I do not have hundreds and hundreds of dollars to pay people to teach me to write, so I came up with an idea: a blog that is going to help many people learn to write, and diffuses the task of teaching across many different people.

So there we go. Hugs and ponies. I heart you. I shall begin the archive retrieval process immediately. Or tonight. Certainly before the bell tolls one.