As a writer I’ve learned –sometimes the hard way–that spelling is important. The gifted students I teach often don’t think spelling is important in the picture of creation, and maybe they’re right on that. Yet, I do try to stress the importance of spelling correctly, especially in the editing process.

As a writer, misspelled words come back to haunt you. I met one writer, whose first book had a major misspelling in the first sentence on the first page. It was an embarassment to be sure. I appreciate my friends who read my work–some of them are real spelling Nazis. If it’s misspelled, they will catch it.  Most of my spelling errors are committed because of haste, others occur because I have learned a word incorrectly initially.

 As an editor of beginning novelists and book writers, a huge portion of my editing time is spent in catching their spelling errors. That means I must refer to the dictionary often, for though I have a more than adequate vocabulary, I have not memorized the spellings of the million plus words in the English language. As a writer, I have also learned to not rely much at all on spell check.

I just read an article on the American Partisan site about the importance of spelling. You can find that article here: http://www.americanpartisan.com/desk/style_guide/spelling/1.htm  The writer points out that bad spelling reflects badly on writer and publisher alike.  There are many sites devoted to spelling. One is http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html which lists the top hundred misspelled words.

I’m testing my students on spelling this week. I gave them the test first, we graded it, then they study the words they missed (or guessed at). A couple of days later, we have the same test for real. Those students who attack the task of learning spelling through repetition (I encourage writing a word 10 more times) and through memorization seem to do better than those who rely on phonics. Mnemonics are also helpful to the diligent student determined to improve his or her spelling.

If you want to think more of this matter, go to http://www.zaner-bloser.com/html/SPsupport1.html which is entitled “Five Questions Teachers Ask About Spelling.”

I’ve been thinking of writing horror a good bit. More than once, when I’ve talked to students about writing horror, the topic of their fear of clowns arises. The technical word for this phobia is coulrophobia. The word, as well as many articles on the topic of “why” we are frightened of clowns is all over the net. I found one really good article on the topic of coulrophobia at this link:  http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-col2.htm 

Go there and learn why we fear the funny face.  Writers in the genre of horror must understand why we fear the clown.

It’s turned cold and has been raining steadily since early morning. My parents, who live in Kemp, Oklahoma, are iced in. The rain is not scheduled to cease until tomorrow morning. We teachers were given Martin Luther King Day off, and I’m grateful, but I’d enjoy it better if the weather weren’t so wretched. It also doesn’t help to know that I’m returning to a school building that hasn’t had heat in a week, and tomorrow it’s supposed to be REALLY cold. If we’re lucky, the ice storm will skirt north of us. Depressing weather.

On the other hand, cold rain always sets a certain other kind of mood. Right now it makes me want to write horror stories. I’ve mentioned in this blog before that one of my favorite books on writing is Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association. In one chapter, Nancy Holder says, “The horror writer’s basic weapon is primal fear, which we either discover or develop in childhood–of the dark, of the bogeyman, of being alone, being hurt, being killed. People spend lifetimes hiding these fears, and hiding from these fears . . . .”

It requires personal courage and honesty to be an effective writer of horror. Holder quotes Clive Barker: “Horror writers are the ones who venture into the caves and dark places and return to tell the rest of the tribe what they saw.”

I guess it’s time for me to quit complaining about the rain and get to writing this horror story. Let me see if I can creep myself and my best friend (E. B., my reader) out.

Last year, I’ve enjoyed the HBO series, Rome. I am looking forward to seeing the new year’s series begin tonight. It is such a powerful presentation, I’m surprised that my sophomore students have not even mentioned the series, and when I mention it, they don’t know what I’m talking about. Personally, I don’t watch much TV, in fact I hate it, but I love movies, and I love series like Rome. I know my students watch too much TV, but evidently their choice of programs doesn’t include what I watch. In our curriculum, we TRY to teach Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to our sophomores, but usually it is an exercise in futility. Even many of my religious students know very little about Rome, the empire in power during the days of Christ. Their lack of knowledge–and worse, their lack of interest–indicates they really can’t understand the Bible they claim they want to follow. If you are unaware of the setting of any story, you cannot understand it. However, if my students only knew of this program and thoughtfully watched it, it would make Shakespeare’s play come alive for them. If you want to know more about the HBO series and the cast, Rome, go to this site: http://www.hbo.com/rome/cast/

I have found this series intellectually stimulating, the cast well chosen, the women beautiful, and the general plot accurate and true to history. I’ve been fascinated by the Roman Empire as long as I can remember. I constructed Roman swords and shields as a young boy and acted out in my play the ancient battles I read about. I have always watched every movie and series I could about Rome, including I, Claudius; Ben Hur; The Robe; Gladiator; Spartacus; Cleopatra; the very naughty, Caligula, and Titus Adronicus (film version of Shakespeare’s play). I’m sure there may be others, but these come to mind, and I hope the list shows you I have not missed many of the films related to ancient Rome. As an adult, my fascination with Rome has seeped into my writng. I’ve constructed some fictional pieces set in Roman, and especially Celtic-Roman times. I’ve also collected several good books relating to the Roman Empire.

Watching the Rome series reminds me of how much work I have to do and how much there is yet left to learn.

This weekend, I’ve been busy with the Scottish Society. Friday night, we hosted a Scotch tasting. Afterwards we went to our only Irish pub here. Saturday night, (last night) we held our annual Mid-winter Burns Night, in memory of Robert Burns, the National Bard of Scotland. Due to the hard work and vision of the Scottish Society’s president, Tom McCandlish, the event was a smashing success. Over 150 people were present and the Scottish Society received great publicity. This is the fourth year I’ve attended a Burns supper, and it was the best I’ve ever been too. Smithfield Fair, a Scottish band from Baton Rouge, performed Burns songs. You can check out this band at this site: http://www.smithfieldfair.com/

My band, Angus Duhbghall, also performed one song, “Flower of Scotland.” My part in the ritual and program was to read “To a Louse,” by Burns. This was the first poem of Burns I ever read in college, and the poem forever changed the way I view a church service. As I have a Gaelic speech impediment, I found a more Standard English rendering that I used.

Burns Night is an enriching experience and many in the audience were visibly moved by the music and by the speech of Allen McCandlish who came all the way from Scotland to deliver the Immortal Memory speech. I hope to post a copy of that speech on this blog soon. From the Parade of the Haggis to the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” the night was a spectacular tribute, both in visual scenery and in content, to Robert Burns, the beloved poet of Scotland.

Many times I feel the material taught to students is a waste because they don’t get it or they don’t retain it. After my introductory lesson on Confucius yesterday, I had my students read Canto XIII by Ezra Pound. I then told them to use their notes and identify the teachings of Confucius in the various lines of the poem, and they were to write about a page on this topic. Most did so successfully. Once again, I am reminded why I continue to teach Canto XIII.

Some fights broke out today. This is a common problem in high school I suppose, but I was still surprised. I wonder how kids who are so apathetic about education and improvement and their future have anything inside them they feel passionate enough to fight about. I wish they would be so aggressive in areas of life that would be of benefit.

This poem reminds me of the many student lives which seem to be lived in confusion and disorganization. I thought about Pound’s line in Canto XIII: “If a man have not order within him / He can not spread order about him.” I guess they’ll survive these high school days somehow, but some days I wonder if I will. 

Every year, I require my students to enter writing contests. Mine have entered three so far this year. In every contest, I’ll have at least one or two students who will win money and receive recognition for their writing ability. This year, the’ve entered a writing contest sponsored by Coca-Cola, by Wellspring (a community-family organization), Northeast Louisiana’s Young Author Contest.  I have at least three more ahead of us. I require them to enter every category: nonfiction (essay) fiction, and poetry.  Sometimes they really surprise me, and I’ve found that placing in a contest inspires them to focus on their writing even more.

One upcoming contest allows flash-fiction (short-short) entries. I found this page on the Net that will help you as a teacher to teach them this technique. Go here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/flashfiction.html

In addition to raising their confidence, administrators and parents seem impressed at the students’ sucesses as well.  Winning contests also looks good on a student’s resume and college application. Maybe these contests will help make the brutal work of writing more enjoyable to my young scholars.

I discovered Confucianism a few years ago, studying the background of one of my favorite poems by Ezra Pound, Canto XIII. (I would love to have a year to just study all of the Cantos). I was raised a conservative Christian, became more conservative, then ran to the other side as fast as I could go. Though not what you’d call religious in the conservative sense of my past, I’m sure I teach more Bible through literature (the many allusions, etc) than most modern preachers do. I think that because all my kids are pretty much churchgoing, but none of them know the Bible.

I hope to see Qufu, his homeplace someday.

Though I also classify myself as an existentialist, I guess I live by the teachings of Confucius more than I do anything else. I had heard Confucian doctrines criticized all my life, and it was presented as a false religion. It is not a religion, but a code of conduct, a philosophy, a system of ethics. And I like what I’ve found in it. Here is a summary of what I see as its basic points.  I found this information in a a National Geographic and a couple of other sources (which I have lost) years ago, synthesized it, and have used it ever since.

1. Devotion to family and friends

2. Love and benevolence for humanity

3. Reverence and respect for ancestors. (This is described negatively by Westerners as “Ancestor Worship.” I hope to have a whole entry in the future on each of these points.)

4. Education, cultivation, and discipline of the mind.

5. Government should be the servant not the master of the people.

6. Men should think for themselves and stand up for what is right.

7. The elderly should be treated with honor and respect.

8. Men should be gentlemen, civilized, and demonstrate integrity.

I think my students in this apathetic age need these qualities. I can see why emperors after him and the Communists feared and  forbade his teachings and tried to erase his memory. As long as the censors don’t take Ezra Pound away, I can teach them.

I’ve long placed any movie connected to Mel Gibson on my “must see” list. I can hardly wait to see this one. I’ve wondered myself for many years, “What happened to the Maya?” I just thought it was another example of my eccentric and ecletic interests surfacing, but now I see that I am not alone in my interests. We have a smaller version of the Maya Vanishing story in Northeast Louisiana at a place called Poverty Point. I love to go out there. All those mound builders just vanishing. Must be a story in that for me.

Other movies of Gibson’s I’ve especially enjoyed were Mad Max, We Were Soldiers, The Patriot, and Braveheart. I have not yet seen the Passion of Christ, perhaps because I’ve been haunted by religion for too many years of my life already and don’t need any more trauma in that area.  I’ll let you know my thoughts about Apocalypto after I see it.

I just finished the reading of my first novel of the year, Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides. The novel was a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2003 (Pulitzers are always a good choice of a read I think). My best friend in the whole world gave it to me for a Christmas present, and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. It was a long read, some 529 pages, but I learned so much. As usual, I marked, underlined and commented on words, wonderfully crafted phrases, and historical items for future study. It is one of those novels you will never forget. If you want to gain some insights into the Greek culture or the Greek Orthodox religion, this is a fine book. Eugenides also wrote the Virgin Suicides, which I am now determined to read as well. I love the discovery of a good author.

As for other news, I’ve been very busy writing poetry, working on marketing my Stories of the Confederate South and the very soon to be published children’s book with Pelican, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House. As usual, too much to do, and not enough time to do it.

Happy New Year, E. B.