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Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Art » Page 2

Art

Write Like Jazz

By Bob Hostetleron August 2, 2017
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Years ago, I was helping a friend brainstorm and outline a book, and at some point in the course of our conversation about writing, I said, “Writing is like jazz.”

Both of us were jazz aficionados, so the phrase was apt, and it stuck. He has reminded me of it repeatedly ever since.

What did I mean? Three things, basically:

Craft

Duke Ellington was raised by pianist parents, started piano lessons at age 7, and learned from numerous teachers during his formative years. Trumpeter Miles Davis took music lessons from Elwood Buchanan and attended Julliard School of Music before joining Charlie Parker’s quintet. Nina Simone studied under Carl Friedberg at Julliard and took private piano lessons with Vladimir Sokoloff before recording her debut album, Little Girl Blue. These and many jazz musicians acquired the rudiments of their craft. They learned the rules and gained experience in working within those rules.

Similarly, writers who wish to be published—and read—must learn the basics: spelling, grammar, composition, structure, etc. They must know the difference between “its” and “it’s,” and between “your” and “you’re.” They do well to read The Elements of Style. They should write a lot (not alot), like a musician learning theory and practicing scales.

This also comes into play with every new thing a writer begins. Whether it is a novel, nonfiction book, essay, review, or poem, good writing starts not only with good materials but also with good structure. The foundation must be firm before the walls go up and windows are installed. Good writers, whether they’re “planners” or “pantsers,” begin with an outline, synopsis, or some kind of framework in mind.

Creativity

The 2016 film, Genius, portrayed the relationship between New York editor Maxwell Perkins and novelist Thomas Wolfe. A memorable scene in the movie occurs in a Harlem jazz club. Wolfe takes his staid editor there to try to convey through jazz how Wolfe’s writing mind works. The musicians begin with a familiar tune, playing it straight, as it would have been written on a page of sheet music. Soon, however, they begin to improvise and embellish, not only playing the music but playing with the music and playing off of each other, turning one work of art into something new, fresh, and lively.

A writer who has learned the rules and mastered the tools of language and persuasion can successfully bend or even break the rules, experimenting and improvising, and sometimes turn a simple sentence or scene into a work of art. Such a writer doesn’t ignore spelling, grammar, structure, and so on, but may transcend those things, playing with the music of thoughts and words, creating something new, fresh, and lively.

Clean-up

When a jazz musician—a good one, anyway—discovers a new groove or improvises a new riff, the musicianship doesn’t end there. She may sing or play it a hundred times, sharpening and smoothing it more and more. He may record the tune, transpose it into a different key, or hear how it sounds on a different instrument or in a different voice.

That resembles the writer’s tasks of rewrite and revision. No matter how engrained the skills are and how inspired the writing was, plenty of clean-up always remains to be done: cutting, fitting, rearranging, shaping, sharpening, polishing, and more. Speaking for myself, even after thirty years as a professional writer, I don’t even show my wife my first drafts. And I seldom show anyone my second drafts.

I often tell people in writing seminars, “If you’re not sick of your article, story, or book by the time you submit it for publication, you probably haven’t reviewed, rewritten, revised, and edited it enough.”

Writing, like jazz, is a lot of work…and loads of fun. When it is done well, it is almost like being in love.

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Category: Art, Creativity, Inspiration

Real Life is Edgy

By Dan Balowon October 18, 2016
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A major topic of discussion among writers of all types of Christian books is the issue of how far is too far when showing someone’s life before they surrendered to Christ, and how real you show their journey of sanctification once they exit the broad road. It’s called the “edge.” A lot of writers want to write with an edge, with real language and situations to make it more like real life. After …

Read moreReal Life is Edgy
Category: Art, Book Business, Book Proposals, Get Published, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Edgy, The Publishing Life

Lyrics as Literature

By Steve Laubeon October 17, 2016
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I normally steer away from controversial topics in this blog but the announcement that Bob Dylan, the popular musician, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature gave me pause. My first thought was “What?” To place Dylan alongside previous Nobel laureates like Solzhenitsyn, Steinbeck, Kipling, Hemingway, Camus, Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and Churchill? I wondered that if, upon hearing the …

Read moreLyrics as Literature
Category: ArtTag: Art, Nobel Prize, Song Lyrics

The Work of a Cover Designer

By Steve Laubeon September 12, 2016
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We have all heard the phrase “a book is judged by its cover.” And it is true. We all do it. Even when the cover is as small as a postage stamp in an online bookstore. It is the first impression of what’s inside. Rarely will you buy the book after you’ve read it. Instead you make the purchase before reading. What you are buying is the promise of the cover, and the title, and …

Read moreThe Work of a Cover Designer
Category: Art, Branding, MarketingTag: Book Covers, Branding, Marketing

Five Dollar Words

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 28, 2016
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“Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.” – Mark Twain One of my daughters is an Arts and Visual Technology major, so of course she has to read articles about art. Here are a few sentences from an eight-page article, “Modernist Painting” by Clement Greenburg. The footnotes inform us that this article was both published and broadcast on the radio. I identify Modernism …

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Category: Art, Craft, Creativity, Writing CraftTag: Craft, words, Writing Craft

Dear World, We Have What You Want

By Dan Balowon June 14, 2016
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Dear World, Those of us involved in Christian publishing can’t help but notice you are hurting. While our work is to write and publish books, one or more times each week we gather to worship and pray to the Creator God, considering ways we can ease your pain. I hope you know we care. There are dozens of new books with Christian themes coming out every week. They contain information and inspiration …

Read moreDear World, We Have What You Want
Category: Art, Book Business, Career, Christian, Theology, TrendsTag: Christian, readers, Theology

There is Power in Possibility

By Steve Laubeon May 9, 2016
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The publishing industry can be a challenge for someone with artistic sensibilities. The psyche can be worn down by disappointment, bad reviews, poor sales, and rejection by agents and editors. To be resilient in the face of such disillusion is a quality to be desired. I found this quote from Søren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher and theologian 1813-1855) in his book Either/Or: “If I were to wish …

Read moreThere is Power in Possibility
Category: Art, Craft, CreativityTag: Art, Craft, Creativity, Possibility

Tossed by the Ocean of Emotion

By Steve Laubeon January 25, 2016
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It is hard to be a writer or to work in the publishing industry. Everyone defines success differently and we strive to meet those expectations at every turn. Often we let “success” define us, especially when a writer is told “You are only as good as the sales of your last book.” Or an agent is told, “You are only worth the value of your last contract.” Henri Nouwen, in his book The Return of the …

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Category: Art, Career, Get Published, RejectionTag: Career, Get Published, Rejection

Not All Words Are Created Equal

By Karen Ballon July 29, 2015
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Twice in the last few weeks something happened that got me thinking about how very careful we need to be when revising, either our own work or someone else’s. First, during a worship team practice, the leader changed the words of a song from “You give and take away,” referring to God, to “You give me all I need.” When I asked why she’d changed the words, she …

Read moreNot All Words Are Created Equal
Category: Art, Language, TheologyTag: Editing, Language, Theology, words

One Thing

By Dan Balowon July 21, 2015
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Most successful authors are known for one thing, not a variety of things. Even if they publish many books, their name is identified with one thing. The one thing isn’t necessarily one book, but it might be. Catherine Marshall, author of the classic novel Christy, actually published over two-dozen books. But she is remembered by most for one thing. Stephen King, author of many bestsellers has an …

Read moreOne Thing
Category: Art, Book Business, Branding, Career, MarketingTag: Branding, Career
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