The cursor is blinking, daring me to keep up, if I can, and allow it to lead the way to interesting prose or snappy dialogue.
I think I can ... I think I can ... I think I can ...
But, the little beggar can be so intimidating. Oh, yes, I’ve implored it to be my friend, many times; to be an ally and not a nemesis. Still, it insists on winking its dare to chase it across the screen, knowing full-well I’ll never catch it or control it.
So, there it sits, the visual representation of a primal chant or war drums beating in time to motivation as old as man himself to join the fray or suffer the consequences of non-action—to starve and wither.
To kick-start a writing session, I sometime find it necessary to just start typing. I think it’s called “free-writing”. That’s exactly what this blog is. I’ve just never shared stuff on this site that my fingers typed but my brain had very little to do with. There have been several occasions that this "free-writing" has turned out much longer and became short stories or articles. Today, though, it was just another quick excercise to get the juices flowing. I thought I'd share a little of the process this time.
I think I’m okay now. I have a chapter to write.
Have a great day, y’all.
Author of
"Six Years' Worth"/Father's Press/mainstream/print & ebook
"Paradise Flawed"/Dream Books LLC/action-adventure/print & ebook
"Where Are You, Anne Bonny?"/Rogue Phoenix Press/ historical drama/ ebook only
“Trouble”, short story/CrossTIME Science Fiction Anthology, Vol. IX/print only
“Dancing Away”/ short story/romance/Untreed Reads/ebook only
NEW AVAILABLE NOW
“Annie’s World: Jake’s Legacy”/ATTM Press/soft science fiction/print & ebook
“Helping Hand For Ethan/Rogue Phoenix Press/young adult/print & ebook
RELEASES COMING
“Phobia”/Booktrope/2012/suspense-thriller/print & ebook
“Defining Family”/Whiskey Creek Press/July 2012/young adult/print & ebook
“The Last Radiant Heart” (re-release)/Sage Words Publishing/science fiction/2012
COMING SOON
“Hackberry Corners, Texas 1934”
“Life, Love, and Lubbock”
Search Daniel Lance Wright on Amazon.com
Novelist
Daniel (Danny) Lance Wright, Author
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
A Problem Big As The Pyramids
It has been some time since my last blog entry here. I apologize for that. But, I’ve never been the type to speak when I have nothing of interest to say, or so I would have you believe.
Yesterday, my young grandson, Corbin, and I had an abbreviated conversation on the origin of the Egyptian pyramids. Many questions persist on the subject and, to me, a fascinating subject. He didn’t seem interested and asked, “Why do you care?”
“Because,” I said, “to question is a fascinating road to discovery, one of life’s joys and greatest responsibilities. Never stop questioning and never close your mind to possibilities.”
He didn’t actually yawn but the look was equivalent. “Why? Life is so much easier if you don’t.”
Okay, this was enough to spin my head around like Linda Blair in the “Exorcist”. What? I thought very, very loud—to the point of echoing between my ears.
After a moment, questions of my own began chasing one another and they all led back to our current educational system in this country. Has this obsession with passing tests to garner status and funding within schools created a generation of Pavlov’s Dogs?
What I mean by this is that, maybe, we’re not educating kids anymore. What if we’re simply training them to accomplish specific tasks, like passing those tests to raise schools’ rankings for better funding? If so, I can’t blame teachers or administrators for steering the kids that way. For heaven’s sake, their livelihoods are at stake. It’s the entire way the system is structured.
I’ve heard and read numerous articles about the flight from publicly funded education to private schools. Is it because of this lack of teaching our children to think? Are we, as a nation, training them only to react to chosen stimuli? I think maybe.
Look, for example, at our current state of government. There are no forward thinking decisions being made by either party, only reacting to crises as they occur. Our nation is in a holding pattern waiting for that bell to ring signaling some action needs to be taken. Even this seems to lend credibility to this Pavlov’s Dogs application.
We must never forget that cults and dictators flourish in such an environment.
Let’s make sure our kids go beyond just memorizing accepted answers according to textbooks. Question and discuss why the answer is considered correct. There’s always a chance the answer is totally incorrect or that better answers exist.
Sure, life is simpler if we don’t ask questions. And, those who want to control and manipulate our thinking already know this and would encourage us not to ask questions.
Maybe the origin of the pyramids has no relevance in today’s world. But, how would I know if I never ask the questions? Even in this case, a belief system has been handed to us and we are expected to accept it as fact, which it may be, but I choose to explore it and come to that conclusion on my own.
Author of
"Six Years' Worth"/Father's Press/mainstream/print & ebook
"Paradise Flawed"/Dream Books LLC/action-adventure/print & ebook
"Where Are You, Anne Bonny?"/Rogue Phoenix Press/ historical drama/ ebook only
“Trouble”, short story/CrossTIME Science Fiction Anthology, Vol. IX/print only
“Dancing Away”/ short story/romance/Untreed Reads/ebook only
NEW AVAILABLE NOW
“Annie’s World: Jake’s Legacy”/ATTM Press/soft science fiction/print & ebook
“Helping Hand For Ethan/Rogue Phoenix Press/young adult/print & ebook
RELEASES COMING
“Phobia”/Booktrope/2012/suspense-thriller/print & ebook
“Defining Family”/Whiskey Creek Press/July 2012/young adult/print & ebook
“The Last Radiant Heart” (re-release)/Sagewords Publishing/science fiction/2012
COMING SOON
“Hackberry Corners, Texas 1934”
“Life, Love, and Lubbock”
Search Daniel Lance Wright on Amazon.com
Yesterday, my young grandson, Corbin, and I had an abbreviated conversation on the origin of the Egyptian pyramids. Many questions persist on the subject and, to me, a fascinating subject. He didn’t seem interested and asked, “Why do you care?”
“Because,” I said, “to question is a fascinating road to discovery, one of life’s joys and greatest responsibilities. Never stop questioning and never close your mind to possibilities.”
He didn’t actually yawn but the look was equivalent. “Why? Life is so much easier if you don’t.”
Okay, this was enough to spin my head around like Linda Blair in the “Exorcist”. What? I thought very, very loud—to the point of echoing between my ears.
After a moment, questions of my own began chasing one another and they all led back to our current educational system in this country. Has this obsession with passing tests to garner status and funding within schools created a generation of Pavlov’s Dogs?
What I mean by this is that, maybe, we’re not educating kids anymore. What if we’re simply training them to accomplish specific tasks, like passing those tests to raise schools’ rankings for better funding? If so, I can’t blame teachers or administrators for steering the kids that way. For heaven’s sake, their livelihoods are at stake. It’s the entire way the system is structured.
I’ve heard and read numerous articles about the flight from publicly funded education to private schools. Is it because of this lack of teaching our children to think? Are we, as a nation, training them only to react to chosen stimuli? I think maybe.
Look, for example, at our current state of government. There are no forward thinking decisions being made by either party, only reacting to crises as they occur. Our nation is in a holding pattern waiting for that bell to ring signaling some action needs to be taken. Even this seems to lend credibility to this Pavlov’s Dogs application.
We must never forget that cults and dictators flourish in such an environment.
Let’s make sure our kids go beyond just memorizing accepted answers according to textbooks. Question and discuss why the answer is considered correct. There’s always a chance the answer is totally incorrect or that better answers exist.
Sure, life is simpler if we don’t ask questions. And, those who want to control and manipulate our thinking already know this and would encourage us not to ask questions.
Maybe the origin of the pyramids has no relevance in today’s world. But, how would I know if I never ask the questions? Even in this case, a belief system has been handed to us and we are expected to accept it as fact, which it may be, but I choose to explore it and come to that conclusion on my own.
Author of
"Six Years' Worth"/Father's Press/mainstream/print & ebook
"Paradise Flawed"/Dream Books LLC/action-adventure/print & ebook
"Where Are You, Anne Bonny?"/Rogue Phoenix Press/ historical drama/ ebook only
“Trouble”, short story/CrossTIME Science Fiction Anthology, Vol. IX/print only
“Dancing Away”/ short story/romance/Untreed Reads/ebook only
NEW AVAILABLE NOW
“Annie’s World: Jake’s Legacy”/ATTM Press/soft science fiction/print & ebook
“Helping Hand For Ethan/Rogue Phoenix Press/young adult/print & ebook
RELEASES COMING
“Phobia”/Booktrope/2012/suspense-thriller/print & ebook
“Defining Family”/Whiskey Creek Press/July 2012/young adult/print & ebook
“The Last Radiant Heart” (re-release)/Sagewords Publishing/science fiction/2012
COMING SOON
“Hackberry Corners, Texas 1934”
“Life, Love, and Lubbock”
Search Daniel Lance Wright on Amazon.com
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