Ah, revisions, revisions . . . music to our ears, yes?
Maybe, but today we’re going to talk about a different kind of revision. Not the kind that produces blood, sweat, and tears. Not the kind that makes us want to throw our notebooks and laptops against the nearest tree and go for a long walk.
What, then?
Which path do I follow now?
All of life on earth is just one big revision. And for some of us, there came a time when we read something that changed us forever, sent us down a new path, or brought the next step we needed to take into clear focus.
Here’s the question for us to ponder, and hopefully share today:
Tell us about a book or story that changed your life, revised your thinking, maybe sent you down a new path you hadn’t considered before, or thought you could never negotiate.
(Mine will be in the comments.)
Go Ask Alice had a profound effect on my young, impressionable mind, but the novel that intrigued me most was Silence of the Lambs. For the first time, the villain (Hannibal) had endearing qualities, and pushed to create my own fleshed out killer.
Good morning, Sue!
Hannibal is certainly a delicious villain (no pun intended . . .). 🙂 Villains who are painted as all evil all the time aren’t realistic, plus, they’re boring. Because everyone ever born into the world has the potential for living a good life built into them, and if we dig deep enough into a real person’s life, or a fictional character’s life, we will see that.
BTW, I learned all of the above here, at TKZ over the years from all of you.
Hope you’re staying cool!
Seeing Moonstruck with my wife in 1988 took me completely by surprise. I came out of the theater wanting to make people feel the way I was feeling. It made me want to try to be a writer again.
So true. I just referenced that movie in my WIP.
Hi Jane!
Thanks for adding to the discussion today. I guess I’d better add Shadowside to my list, since two of y’all mention it.
Have a great weekend.
Wow, Jim. That right there is a nugget of encouragement for me.
I want to make people feel, too. Good, (en)couraged, hopeful, brave, determined to persevere-all of that.
I’ve never seen Moonstruck. I guess I’d better add it to my TBW pile.
Happy Friday & stay cool this weekend, my friend.
Shawshank Redemption always reminds me that life is not fair, but we choose whether we want to live or die.
Casablanca reminds me you have to let go of past loves and move forward.
Hi Warren!
Shawshank, yes! That was my choice also.
It made me realize that if I let hope die, that’s when I die. Maybe not physically, but in every other way-and that’s way worse. A big part of my thinking these days is that no matter what comes my way, whether good or ill, it is my choice how I respond. And how I respond does not just affect others. It has the potential to stop me in my tracks or it could help me move forward. Andy Dufresne’s response to injustice delivered him from prison. That was my takeaway. (I think it’s time to watch it again…)
Thanks for weighing in this morning!
Shadowside by Linda Castillo showed me there was another facet of romance, romantic suspense, and that those “conventions” were ones I could accept. To that point, I, like so many others, assumed “romance” referred to Harlequin category romance.
Hi Terry!
I guess I still think sometimes, when someone mentions “romance”, of the Harlequin variety. Not my cup of tea. But I have read some romantic suspense, and if it’s lightly brushed in, I love it! Since Shadowside opened your eyes to that, I think I must read it.
Thanks for stepping on in today, and stay cool!
School Story by Andrew Clements, read in fourth grade, is about a girl writing and publishing a story. First time I considered writing anything, though I dismissed the publishing part out of hand.
The Avengers (2012), or more precisely, Thor (2011), showed me insanely complex characters and amazing actors. Made me start leveling up my storytelling.
Good morning, AZAli.
Fourth grade . . . what is that, about 10 years old? It’s wonderful that you got to get your toes wet at that age. I read a lot when I was that age, too, but it never translated in my mind that I could write. That came much later. The only thing I wrote back in my childhood was in my diary. As I recall, I did try to be as eloquent as I could. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by this hot Friday, and hope you have a good one.
Joshua by Joseph Girzone changed the way I think toward simple spirituality and living as a a follower of Jesus.
Good morning, Gene. I might have to take a peek at that one.
I’m reading (slowly) some works for research into an idea for a novel I’d like to write. The author is John Pollock, and the book I’m getting started on (recommended by Swindoll) is titled The Apostle. So far it’s fantastic, written almost like a novel, but not.
Thanks for dropping in!
I was very impressed how the Shack handled the difficult subjects of Christianity and the murder of a child. Yet at the end, I feel hope, love and kindness.
Another great example, Warren. I’m gonna bet we could fill a whole afternoon drinking coffee and comparing notes on this subject.
Another book that comes to my mind as a catalyst for me is The Hiding Place. I’ve read it at least 6 or 7 times, and it never gets old.
Thanks for this suggestion, my friend!
Typo above. Extra a. I hate leaving typos on a post about writing! Aargh!
🙂 🙂
None of us have ever done that, Gene!
(Not!)
Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” showed me an epic story of good vs evil that featured ordinary people among its cast of heroes, most notably the hobbits. It made a huge impression on 16-year old me. Years later in “Tolkien in the Great War,” I learned about his own experiences an officer in the British Army in WWI and participating in the horrendous fighting on the Somme alongside so many Tommies who had been shop clerks and various sorts of workers.
Reading Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories in my late 20s introduced me to the power of compelling detective stories.
Good morning, Dale!
LOTR is a great example. I think of it as the movie and books that taught me there IS a line I must draw in my own life, one I must determine not to cross. And one I won’t allow anyone else to cross to get at me. I think I’ve mentioned here that the best scene in the movie, IMHO, is where Gandalf pounds his spear into the ground and shouts at the monster, You shall not pass! He was willing to give his life, and at some point, maybe some of us might have to be that brave.
Thanks for mentioning that one…I highly concur!
I love the written Sherlock Holmes. A few years ago, there was a travelling exhibit of Doyle/Holmes in St. Louis. I was in heaven.
Mornin’ Alan! I always wondered where heaven was… 🙂 🙂
I haven’t read Doyle-probably a serious Vitamin D deficiency-ha! But I’ve watched Doyle’s stories, and never failed to be amazed at his talent for world/story building.
Maybe there’s a LOTR convention somewhere-I’d love to go to one!
Have a great (cool) day…
Most effect on me would be “The Great Influenza” about the 1919 Spanish Flu. That was before I got to live it live with COVID. A few things stand out from it. The Chinese word for Influenza translates literally as 100 day cough. St. Louis cancelled their victory parade. Philidelphia did not. That parade killed thousands. Alexander Flemming was working in a virus lab for a cure for Spanish Flu. One of the petri dishes he prepped for the next day had a strange bacteria and a stranger response to that bacteria. He was looking for a virus cure. The dish was worthless, so he put it on a shelf. After the pandemic subsided, he took a look at it again. Today we call that strange growth Penicillin.
Fascinating, Alan!
I did not know the part about penicillin. Nor this: The Chinese word for Influenza translates literally as 100 day cough. St. Louis cancelled their victory parade. Philadelphia did not. That parade killed thousands.
Sounds like a great read.
Great question, Deb.
The book Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl changed my life. I often wondered why bad things happened to people who were trying to live good lives. After reading that book I came to realize it’s not my job to question what life throws at me, but rather to answer life when it questions me. Here’s one of the quotes highlighted in my dog-eared copy:
“Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”
I was humbled to read those words by a man who spent years in a Nazi concentration camp.
Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct…
Wow, Kay! What a mouthful of humility and wisdom that is. I think we need a Victor Frankl in the world today. Another deficiency in my TBR pile, I fear…
Thanks for sharing this morning.
I have three. In the third grade, THE SECRET HORSE by Marion Holland woke me to the pleasure of reading, and I’ve been a bookaholic ever since.
THE SCARLET LETTER by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I read this book with my English class in high school and was electrified by the period and the possibilities of Romantic fiction. Also, for the first time, I understood the book better than my extremely bright classmates! This book pointed me in the direction of my college studies. I was an English major, and I specialized in Hawthorne’s Romantic period all the way through graduate schools. His use of imagery has always informed my own writing.
A romance novel whose title I no longer remember. I needed to write a love scene for a paranormal suspense novel I was writing so I picked up a romance novel even though I had a very dim view of the genre. The writing was intelligent, the writer was well-read, and I saw the possibilities of the genre. I went on to write them and published a few.
Good morning, Marilyn!
Fantastic examples! My reading of Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, and Ken Follett whet my appetite for reading when I was a tadpole.
Thanks for popping up in the halls this morning.
Love this post and the comments! Freefall by Kristen Heitzman changed how I looked at Christian fiction and set me on the path to writing it.
Hi Patricia!
And you’ve given me another addition to my towering TBR pile. 🤡
Have a great weekend! 👍
I used to read The Three Investigators by Alfred Hitchcock and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books. Linda Howard really wrote some great mysteries like “Dying to Please,” and “Killing Time.” Agatha Christie was high up on that list too. I also loved Mary Higgins Clark and Robin Cook. So many good ones.
Some great reads there, Traci! I completely concur. Some of my favorite word weavers there for sure.
Thanks for dropping in. 🙃
“Waking the Dead” and “All Things New”, both by John Eldredge. The first changed my thinking about what the Christian life can be. The second opened my eyes to the possibilities in Heaven.
Hey, Michelle! Good Saturday morning to you.
I’ve read some of Eldredge, but not these two works. They sound intriguing for sure.
Thanks for dropping in, and have a great weekend!