Lend Me Your Ears ... No Give Me the Evil Eye Instead

This is a follow up post, to my last posting on the Art of Writing. As I noted, in my last post, becoming successful in the art of writing, one must be willing to stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone, as well as the comfort zone of some people who lecture on the rules of proscribed writing standards. 

One trick that has worked well for me, and for almost anyone who has tried it, is the heavy use of APPROPRIATE metaphors in writing. From where I'm sitting, one can never use too many metaphors in the appropriate setting. (i.e., Metaphors may not be appropriate in certain government documents.)

That said, go back and read (and listen to where possible) the speeches of great speakers like Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, JFK's Inaugural Address and President Lincoln. They're speeches are swarming with metaphors (swarming with metaphors is a metaphor). Also listen to Barbara Jordan's speech on Nixon's impeachment.

These three individuals (JFK, King, Jordan) as well as FDR are considered to have given the greatest speeches in the 20th Century.

Metaphors are important in writing because they help you visualize ideas that are otherwise hard to understand. To drive the point home, I recently gave a speech called "Lend Me Your Ears ... No, Give Me the Evil Eye Instead."

The Washington Post once had an article with this metaphor-laden headline: "Clinton Sees Arafat as Key." More recently, The New York Times had an article with the following headline: "Soup Without Fins?: Some Californians Stewing." I LOVED IT!

What are your favorite usages of metaphors?

The Art of Writing

Just like painting, film and theater, writing is an art. Over the past 20 years I’ve learned a few things about the art of writing. I love books like Strunk and White’s Elements of Style and the Turabian’s Manual for Writers’ of Research Papers. Being a former journalist, I’ve become particularly fond of the Associated Press Style Guide.

That said, these manuals tend to be pretty rigid in their style recommendations … That’s okay, but we’re all unique individuals and it’s our individuality that makes us unique in social interactions.  Writing is another type of social interaction. You should be yourself and feel comfortable being you on paper. It was Dr. Benjamin Spock who wrote: “Trust yourself, you know more than you think you do.”  Spock was talking about raising babies.”

Writing a speech, article blog or anything else that is important to you, is not much different. Learn the rules of writing style, yes.  But learn to trust yourself as a writer. After all, writing is a creative endeavor. Good painters, filmmakers and theater players all take advice from their colleagues, but learn to trust themselves first.

Here’s one that I’ve trusted myself about no matter how much people tell me otherwise. Most style guides teach us not to start sentences with the words “AND,” “BUT,” or “OR.”

I, on the other hand, have grown to love starting sentences with those very words. The words BUT and AND, in particular are great ways to show stark contrasts between two choices, how two items complement/contrast with each other, or irony. The word BUT is great when you want to show drama. I use BUT often when I write/deliver speeches.

What unusual writing techniques do you use, that are not sanctioned by official writing guides?

I Crashed a Wedding Party!!!

Overpriced Elegance?

Party crashing is an art of its own. I confess I didn't really put much thought into it when my friend Pot-au-fue (Yes that's her REAL NAME) invited me to a Wedding Open House at Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, Va. In no time the wedding planners, who offered us all sorts of sweets for free, inquired about our plans, so Pot-au-fue said we were getting married soon. So I put my arm around her. After all, Pot-au-feu was my fiancee for the day, wasn't she?

It all made wonder why people waste thousands of dollars on weddings that have a 50% chance of going down the tubes anyway.  (^;     

In fact, in a recent relationship with one "Ms. Cheerful" (as Carrie Bradshaw would call her) we toyed with the idea of nixing plans for a formal wedding. In the end, I instead decided to nix the relationship with Ms. Cheerful, who had a few control issues.  It also reminded me that most of my closest friends were still single.  What would Carrie Bradshaw say?

Put your life savings into www.UpDosForIDos.com!

Probably something like this: "As Pot-au-fue enjoyed yet another glass of wine at another free event in Washington, D.C.; Hai nursed a two-week-old cold; and Sarita watched yet another Antonio Banderas film. Not far way, Ms. Cheerful learned to channel her control issues towards the small businesses she regulated from her office outside of DC proper. Meanwhile I sat at home on a Saturday night mulling the concept: 'What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,' coined by Napoleon Hill, father of the self-improvement industry.

I silently wondered whether Napoleon was talking about all those eager young brides-to-be and their tar-heeled fathers who who unload their IRAs to finance their daughters' weddings ...Why do people spend so much money on their weddings???


"What if anyone could be an artist?"

Website: www.artomaticvoyage.com
blog: http://artomaticvoyage.blogspot.com/

I Can't Remember My Own Name!

Just like painting a fine oil pastel painting, remembering names is an art ... and a tough one at that. Research shows that most people forget the names of people they meet within 10 seconds. There's nothing worse than having to ask someone 10 times what their name is in a first meeting then having to ask that person in each subsequent meet ... "What was your name again? I forgot!"

As I'm learning in a Dale Carnegie course, remembering a person's name can be relatively easy if you use the right tools -- adding action, association and colors, for example to a person's name. So if you wanted to remember my name (Jay Krasnow) ... Think of Jay Leno driving in a car with snow on it. For extra measure, make Jay Leno's hair red, because the name Krasnow means red in Russian.  Now don't ever forget my name!

What could people do to remember your name?


"What if anyone could be an artist?"

Website: www.artomaticvoyage.com
blog: http://artomaticvoyage.blogspot.com/

The Art of Survival (with Men)

I love karaoke! It gives people who have no business singing the license to pretend that they have talent like Britney Spears or Katy Perry.  Last night a few of my friends decided to "I Will Survive" (Gloria Gaynor. Normally this song is for women to sing because it's a GIRL song ... but as you can see, some men joined in. (I just watched.) Should men be allowed to sing this girly, girl song? What should the punishment be for a man singing this song in public?

"What if anyone could be an artist?" 
Website: www.artomaticvoyage.com
blog: http://artomaticvoyage.blogspot.com/

"Flo-A-Day" Instead of Holiday

Being a federal employ I always notice when there's no federal holiday in a given week, or month. For example, there are holidays in August, the month of my birthday. None this week either.

On the other hand, Flo Anito, one of the artists whose music appears in Journey to the Center of Artomatic, has been nominated for two WAMMIES, including one for music video of the year.


If you're a WAMA member -- TODAY IS FLO-A-DAY -- time to give your vote in support of Flo Anito for music video of the year (by clicking on this link)!

"What if anyone could be an artist?"
Website: www.artomaticvoyage.com
blog: http://artomaticvoyage.blogspot.com/

The Fine Art of Wearable Art...

"I like using this scarf as a head band when I watch kung

 fu films"

This email, which came to me from Travel Smith, aims to instruct us in the fine art of wearable art. Didn't I say that everyone should wear art on their faces?  Wearing an artistic scarf isn't that much different. She should wear it as a headband though. Don't you agree?

"What if anyone could be an artist?"

Website: www.artomaticvoyage.com
blog: http://artomaticvoyage.blogspot.com/