-
We Simplify Our Journey To Make It Understandable
As I sit here this January, I can’t help but think about the past ten years. It’s incredible to consider how much time has passed and how far I’ve come. Ten years, a whole decade, feels like a lifetime in human years. It’s long enough to transform completely, to shed skins and emerge anew. But it’s also just enough time to realize how quickly moments can blend into one another, how easily the days can slip through our fingers like grains of sand. Ten years ago, I was a very different person. I was at the south end of my career, feeling stagnated and unfulfilled. Professionally, I had hit a…
-
A Tribute to Charles Kuralt: The First Person to Predict My Success
Charles Kuralt was an American journalist who died in 1997 at the age of 64. He had received a Pulitzer Prize and many other prestigious awards during his illustrious career, but he will always be remembered by me as the first person to predict that I would one day become a successful writer. When I was just seven years old, Kuralt talked to my father about his aspirations for me. In doing so, he unknowingly predicted all the things I would accomplish later in life – including, of course, this article about him! Kuralt was an American broadcast journalist, author, and news anchor who is best known for his on-air…
-
The Beat Goes On: How Allen Ginsberg Inspired Me As A Writer
Allen Ginsberg, one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, was also a dedicated mentor and advocate of emerging writers, including me. My experience as Ginsberg’s protégé taught me valuable lessons that I apply to my own careers in freelance writing today. So, I’d like to share some insights into what it was like to work with this legendary writer and learn from his legacy while he was still alive. Before meeting Ginsberg, I thought the most important component of writing was tight structure and coherent thoughts. I wrote in third person, avoiding first-person to keep things impersonal and consistent. The old adage “show, don’t tell” had been…
-
The Man Who Wrote The Lyrics That Defined My Generation
Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M., has given us the soundtrack to our lives. He’s given us songs like Losing My Religion, Imitation of Life, and Everybody Hurts that define our emotions and experience as we grow up in a chaotic world where anything can happen at any time, and often does. R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe has been one of rock music’s most prolific lyricists over his decades-long career. He’s won Grammys for writing songs and been included in many lists of top lyricists, including Rolling Stone’s list of greatest songwriters ever and VH1’s Top Musical Muses. Writing lyrics is not only an art but also a science; as is true…
-
Fame Itself Is A Cancer And Ego Its Seed
No matter what I do, it seems that it seldom works out. On the rare occasion when it does, my triumph and success results in the jealousy of others who then seek to undermine and destroy that which I have accomplished. When I was a child, I was told that being different in some ways was a gift; I however, was different in every single way. I had my own unique way of doing things, especially when it came to writing. I was influenced by Allen Ginsberg, who mentored me, and inspired me to write in such a way that combined poetry and prose. Decades later, this is how I…
-
Lyrics That Influenced A Generation
Much of my writing was influenced by the song lyrics I grew up listening to as a child. The music artists from the 1990’s era were especially influential, such as Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Toad The Wet Sprocket, Counting Crows, and Sarah McLachlan. They are lyrics that influenced a generation, and those which inspired me creatively. While a handful of the individual song titles eventually became titles for my writing and photography, creativity in and of itself is nothing more than a mashup of the experiences in ones life. It is the culmination of thoughts, experiences, conversations, and ideas. Recently, Amelia and I were discussing the band R.E.M., and how it…
-
It’s Been Awhile Since I’ve Dreamed This Much
Today the sun came up, painted the landscape golden, and brought with it the brilliant light of morning. I woke up, got out of bed, and opened the window shades. Outside was another typical ordinary morning. I haven’t been sleeping much these past few days, yet it has been a while since I have dreamed this much. Summoned by abstract dreams and sirens calling with empty promises, I realized that one must never lock up something that they wished to see thrive. As I looked out the window a finch landed on the windowsill edge. He was truly something to observe, so small and fragile; innocently hopping around, going about…
-
Belong
Minutes of daylight, as the minutes turn into hours, is the parlance of our time. Everytime I look in the mirror, I see myself staring right back at me; a fleeting glimpse of myself going round and round on a carousel cusp of why. I will never understand why my parents moved me around a lot. I was around eight years old when my parents moved me out of my birth place of New York City, and I had to change schools for the first time; I was in third grade. After grade seven, my parents moved me to a different school where I completed eighth grade. Grades nine through…
-
Thomas Slatin, On Writing
Many people have asked me about my writing, specifically my process and craft, at long last the truth finally being revealed. So here are my views, Thomas Slatin, on Writing. Titles The majority of my titles come from specific moments or keyframes in my mind. Others are obscure references to pop culture, a hidden high five or nod, so obscure that it is overlooked and perceived as mundane. Modern education has taught us to overlook the titles and to under emphasize their importance, ignoring completely their purpose and critical influence in all that we create. Titles, a summary of our creations, and a unique identifier, the title is as important…
-
Unexpected Denouement
I was originally planning on updating my About Page, but thought wisely and published this in the form of an aside. It might be considered to some to be an unexpected denouement, or a sudden and unplanned change in what is often referred to as regular programming. This is me. This is what I do. I am a writer.Before my father passed away, he told me that by the time I was walking and talking, I was writing. It started when I was around age 6 as scribbles, riddles, and rhymes. Random, obscure, and often without punctuation words would be scribbled on little bits of paper. My parents would often…
