April 24, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A
Symposium explores the elusive writing process
Storytelling from Page 1A
Brooks thanked her for her
honesty, told her that it meant
a lot to him, and said he prob-
ably hears such things more
often than he has a right to.
“It was so nice,” she said. “He
was such a nice guy.”
Later that day, Romo
listened as Nancy Pearl, a
librarian and author of the
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ries, delivered the “Get Lit”
keynote speech.
Pearl described her own
hard childhood in Detroit
and the refuge she found the
books at the Parkman Branch
Library, whose librarians gave
her “the greatest gift that you
can give anyone, which is the
gift of books and reading.”
Brooks and Pearl, along
with the novelists Karen Joy
Fowler, Jim Lynch and Gail
Tsukiyama made up the liter-
ary all-star team at the fourth
annual “Get Lit” event, held
April 10 through 12 and
sponsored by the Tolovana
Arts Colony.
“Get Lit” began with an
author’s reception at the Com-
munity Hall on Friday; con-
tinued with author talks, book
signings, and Pearl’s keynote
speech (all at the Surfsand
Resort) on Saturday; and con-
cluded with a Q-and-A panel
at the Coaster Theatre Play-
house on Sunday.
Throughout the weekend,
Romo, an aspiring fantasist,
excitedly took notes as the
guest authors revealed why
they chose writing as a pro-
fession — and why just about
anyone would be wise to
choose a different one.
Writing process
During the Q-and-A,
Fowler recalled when Bruce
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writer and futurist, once fan-
tasized about a “Hell for Dis-
carded Characters,” where
the inhabitants are forced to
hold up signs of shame that
bespeak their shortcomings:
“I was two-dimensional,” “I
did not advance the plot,” etc.
Alas, these condemned
creations, unable to justify
their existence on the page,
were casualties of the writ-
to “feel like I had a productive
day. I get to go out and talk to
people and interact with hu-
manity.”
“See, I hate that,” Brooks
said, later adding, “This is why
I write about elves, for crying
out loud.”
“Very inaccurately, I must
say,” Fowler quipped.
“These are my elves,”
Brooks said. “They’re exactly
the way I say they are.”
Go anywhere, do anything
ERICK BENGEL PHOTO
The five guest authors of this year’s “Get Lit at the Beach” event gather for a photo onstage at the Coaster Theatre Play-
house after Sunday’s Q-and-A. From left: Jim Lynch, Gail Tsukiyama, Nancy Pearl, Karen Joy Fowler and Terry Brooks.
ing process, when ideas are
abandoned, plot threads are
severed and once promising
FKDUDFWHUV ¿QG WKHPVHOYHV
consigned to the narrative sc-
rapheap.
The process is brutal, but
the collateral damage ulti-
mately serves a greater good:
the art of effective storytell-
ing, which dictates that dead-
end characters should be
eliminated altogether before
they do any damage in print.
“Sometimes I feel like
characters walk into my book
and they’re auditioning to try
to keep space in the book, and
I have to boot them off be-
cause they either don’t come
alive on the page, or they
don’t do what I want them to
do,” said Lynch, the author of
three novels, including “The
Highest Tide” (2005).
Whether disposing of
characters or introducing bet-
ter ones, the writer must be
prepared to depart from his
or her outline, which should
be viewed as a guide, not a
commitment, according to
Brooks, the author of more
than 30 novels.
Writing must be an organ-
ic process, he said.
“You never want to let
good ideas get tossed aside
simply because you’re fol-
lowing a structured form,”
he said. “That’s a bad, bad
thing.”
Bad habits
Of course, all of this as-
sumes that the writing even
gets done.
“The central mystery of
my professional life is that
these two things are true: I
love to write; it gives me great
joy and great pleasure — not
every day, but very, very of-
ten,” said Fowler, the author
of several novels, includ-
ing “The Jane Austen Book
Club” (2007). “No. 2: I will
do anything on a given morn-
ing to avoid writing.”
For Fowler, a typical writ-
ing day involves waking up,
going for a walk, reading her
emails, attending to things
that require her immediate at-
tention and checking out her
favorite political websites to
assure herself that, “Yes, the
world is worse today than it
ERICK BENGEL PHOTO
Gail Tsukiyama, left, and Karen Joy Fowler, two award-win-
ning writers, warm up the crowd during Sunday’s author
panel, which was moderated by Terry Brooks, a Cannon
Beach author.
was when I went to bed.”
“It it tragically possible for
me to spend an entire work-
ing day circling from my
email to my political web-
sites, and, at about 3 p.m., I’m
exhausted,” she said. “And I
think, ‘Damn, I really wanted
to write today.’”
Tsukiyama, the author
of such acclaimed novels
as “The Samurai’s Garden”
(1996), admitted that her
worst habit is procrastination.
This, combined with perfec-
tionism, is the death knell for
a writer, said Pearl, quoting
American author Peter Mat-
thiessen.
Lynch, an accomplished
journalist, said that, for him,
researching a book is much
easier than writing it.
“Writing can be great, in
bursts,” he said, but, when do-
ing research, he is more likely
M U N I C I PA L M E M O
April 2015
Is published monthly by the City of Cannon Beach
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MEETINGS
MAY 2015
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2015
• Adopted Proclamation 15-01; for the purpose of
designating the month of April, 2015 as Sexual
Assault Awareness Month in the City of Cannon
Beach;
• Adopted Resolution
15-02; for the purpose
of declaring the City
Manager as the Budget
Officer for the City of
Cannon Beach;
• Adopted Resolution
15-03; for the purpose of
authorizing the City of
Cannon Beach to apply
for a Transportation
Growth Management
Plan (TGMP) from the
Oregon Department of
Transportation for the
preparation and adoption
of a local Transportation
System Plan (TSP) and
delegating authority to the
City Manager to sign the
application;
• Discussed the street
standards update and
directed staff to add some
language and return;
• Authorized the City
Manager to award
the 2015 pavement
preservation contract;
• Appointed Carolyn
Propst to the Budget
Committee and Gregory
Bell to the Tourism & Arts
Commission;
• Approved the City Manager 6 month evaluation
form and process;
• Approved the 2015 revisions to the Council Rules
and Procedures.
%+6;%170%+.914-5'55+10#RTKN
2015
• Discussed the Ecola Creek Forest Reserve
stewardship plan update with staff;
• Discussed the wording and content for a new
derelict building ordinance;
• Discussed the wording and content of a new slope-
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density ordinance;
• Public Works Director informed Council of
an upcoming tree removal project in Haystack
Heights;
• Discussed vacation rentals and how to ensure
rentals are conforming to the ordinances;
•
Discussed the
possibility of closing
certain downtown streets
occasionally for a pedestrian
mall.
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•
Budget Committee
meetings are scheduled for
April 22, April 29, May 6 and
if necessary, May 13, 2015
to be held in the Council
Chambers beginning at
5:30pm each night;
•
Public comment
will be taken at the second
Budget Committee meeting,
April 29th;
•
IT Director interviews
were held April 16th and
17th.
•
Congratulations to
Susan Glarum on receiving
the Gaylord Nelson Award
presented at the 12 Days of
Earth Day potluck Friday
evening April 17th.
•
Special thanks to Jeff
Womack of Copies and Fax
who was able to provide
the Gaylord Nelson Award
plaque on very short notice.
Thanks Jeff!
&'5+)04'8+'9$1#4& - the April 16, 2015
meeting was cancelled.
2.#00+0)%1//+55+10
At their March 26, 2015 meeting, the Planning
Commission discussed:
54, Request by Dr. Roof Inc. on Behalf
of the owner, Mark Fisher, for a Front yard Setback
Reduction to Enclose an Existing Deck at 656 Ecola
Park Road. Approved
Scheduled to meet April 23, 2015 at 6:00 pm.
016+%'1(8#%#0%+'5
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The City of Cannon Beach is seeking
applications for the following vacancies:
'/'4)'0%;24'2#4'&0'55
%1//+66'' ONE (1) vacancy to fill a
four-year term.
The primary responsibility of the
Emergency Preparedness Committee is to
plan emergency response on a city-wide
basis and make recommendations to the
City Council. The Emergency Preparedness
Committee holds its regular meetings on the
last Friday of each month at 10:00 a.m. and
schedules work sessions as needed; usually
twice per month.
2#4-5%1//70+6;5'48+%'5
ONE (1) vacancy to fill a four-year term.
The primary responsibility of the Parks
& Community Services Committee is to
review and evaluate existing programs,
identify needs, and develop plans for and
recommend programs related to the City’s
parks and community services. The Parks
& Community Services Committee holds
its regular meeting on the third Thursday of
each month at 9:00 a.m. and may schedule
work sessions as needed.
6174+5/#0Ǒ%1//+55+10
6#% ONE (1) vacancy to a fill four-year
term.
The seven-member Tourism and Arts
Commission develops grant guidelines and
procedures and distributes and accounts
for the monies in the “Tourism and Arts
Fund” which are to be used by local
nonprofit groups to promote tourism and
the arts in Cannon Beach. Each member
shall have experience in one or more of the
following areas: public relations, marketing,
advertising, tourism, lodging, promotions,
events promotion, art, and/or publicity. The
Tourism and Arts Commission holds its
meetings as needed.
To be eligible to serve on a City committee,
applicants must have resided within the city
or its urban growth boundary during the one
year immediately preceding appointment; or
at the time of appointment, shall have owned
real property located within the city or its
urban growth boundary for at least one year
immediately preceding appointment.
0QVG Tourism and Arts Commission
applicants are not required to reside in
Cannon Beach and are eligible if he or she
has worked, at least part-time, within the
In her keynote speech,
Pearl — the only librarian im-
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— emphasized the importance
of public libraries in her life.
Long ago, when Pearl
told a colleague that she often
dreams about her childhood
library, she was told to “get a
life.”
She wanted to tell him:
“In this world, we are given
one life to lead, one life to
live, but it’s through books
and reading that we can have
any number of lives. We can
go anywhere, and we can
do anything, and we can be
anyone,” she said. “I knew
when I was 10 years old that
that was the case, and I cer-
tainly know it now.”
Even books that critics
widely consider inartistic
twaddle can have undeniable
value as escapist entertain-
ment, allowing readers to live
vicariously through the char-
acters’ exploits. Otherwise,
there would be no room in the
culture for volumes like E.L.
James’ BDSM-laced romance
“50 Shades of Grey” (2011).
Brooks, at the Q-and-A,
offered his theory about “this
whole ‘50 Shades of Grey’
thing.”
“This is a repressed society.
It’s a Puritan society. A lot of
that has carried over through the
years. And sex is something that
many are denied but all desire,”
he said.
But, “even if what you’re
saying is very true, it’s so
poorly written, how could
you get through it?” Tsukiya-
ma asked.
To which Lynch respond-
ed, after a thoughtful pause,
“How do you know it’s so
poorly written?”
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City of Cannon Beach for at least one year
immediately preceding appointment.
Applications are available at City Hall, 163
E. Gower Street, Cannon Beach, by email
addressed to riggs@ci.cannon-beach.or.us
or on-line at www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us.
Applications should be returned to Colleen
Riggs, City Recorder, Cannon Beach City
Hall, and P.O. Box 368, Cannon Beach, OR
97110. For more information, please contact
Colleen Riggs by email or phone at (503)
436-8052.
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2TQITCO
*4#2JCUDGGPopening
eyes to the natural world for 30 years!
Please join us on the beach and at events
as we celebrate the past and set course for the
future.
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Spring Volunteer Training
Learn about wildlife and volunteering at
Haystack Rock
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(163 E. Gower St)
The wildlife at Haystack Rock need your
help! Sign-up to volunteer by contacting
Samantha Ferber hrap@ci.cannon-beach.
or.us; Phone: 503-436-8060; TTY: 503-436-
8097).
To view our Beach Program schedule,
please visit our website: www.ci.cannon-
beach.or.us
%1//70+6;)4#065
Community Grants Applications are
available at Cannon Beach City Hall or
online at www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us.
Community Grants are available for Non-
profit organizations providing programs/
projects in arts, educational, recreational,
environmental, community, or social services
in Cannon Beach. All applications must be
received at City Hall by 2:00 pm, Wednesday
April 22, 2015.
6174+5/#465(70&)4#065
Tourism and Arts Fund Grant
Applications are available at Cannon Beach
City Hall or online at www.ci.cannon-beach.
or.us. Non-profit organizations providing
programs/projects that further tourism and
the arts in Cannon Beach are invited to apply.
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2015.
