Visiting Writer 3/8/07

In the grand tradition begun with Chris Offut (who was so list worthy it was unreal), with each visiting author, I make a list of the things that I learn, as well as a list of books to read. I will now continue this tradition on my blog.

Things I learned from Josip:

1. It's a little odd that you can become a trained killer with the United States Army at the age of 18, but you can't drink away the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome for another three years.
2. War & Lust (from the title of his book) is a play on War & Peace.
3. Josip struggles with titling his work, too.
4. The way to do it is just to write stories and then every so often, publish a collection and get paid for them.
5. You must be very smart to write and publish an essay (especially if you're not quoting Derrida)
6. Josip seems to really like St. Patrick's day, but it's probably just because of all the green tea.
7. When you've written something subtle in which not much happens, you've written a poem
8. Write what you can, be prepared to work at it, especially when you don't want to-- your mood will seep into your words .
9. Write in different locations, the unique obstacles and distractions of each place can be very good for your writing (feel like you're writing in a factory)
10. When you hit people with chunks of rusted metal, they will stop picking on you; especially if they have to go to the hospital.
11. you can write stories based on themes.
12. War complicates and dramatizes everything which makes for better stories.
13. What would Jesus do in this story? (Don't do that)
14. Be careful of writing addictions (like setting stories in war-torn Yugoslavia)
15. We all want cute lives. (but Tolstoy will make it terrifying)
16. Credit any sentences you borrow so you don't get accused of plagiarism.
17. Rob the Cradle. Rob the Grave. (use your childhood and your ancestry)
18. You can cull a story out of several instances and ideas.
19. Men are very simple and easy to understand. Women are not.
20. Go against the cliche, look for the unusual person-- a sensitive, poetic mass murderer.
21. Poets can be very dangerous.
22. Medical School exams can be an exercise in public humiliation.
23. "Linguistic seduction"
24. The legal age of consumption shouldn't be 18, if it were, more students wouldn't pass college.
25. Writing is an athletic discipline and requires great perseverance.
26. 3rd person narrative will force you to imagine and transcend the experience.
27. to defamiliarize the familiar, take it out of yourself with 3rd person.
28. If it's really foreign and weird, use 1st person to make it more familiar.
29. Plan a story, but leave enough room for you and your imagination.
30. The game of Chess revolves around the idea of threat.
31. There must be some sort of threat in your story.
32. Stories have chemistry and it doesn't always work.
33. you should edit a story more than twice-- Josip edits 10-15 drafts.
34. "You write about your people and I'll write about mine"
35. We are always at least a little absent minded and thinking about other things.
36. You're doing good if your deterioration is slow.
37. If you cut the first half of your story, the second half usually implies the second.
38. "All those guys in the army wanting to jump on each other"
39. Nebraskans are patient ("you patient Nebraskans")
40. It is better to give elephants than kittens.