© Bridget Whelan
If you want to use any of this material contact me and there is a very good chance I will say YES.
However, if you just cut and paste into your own blog or whatever and pass it off as your own then there's a very good chance I will find out. Don't fall into the trap of thinking the internet is so vast and expanding so fast (note the fancy internal rhyme)] that no one will know.
Good to keep in mind re Carver’s ‘not needing tricks’ advice – I have a note on my writing desk to ‘always be truthful’. It is easy, especially if one is deep in the long work of writing a novel, to be lured by the trap of ‘trying to be clever’. I have learned to recognise the warning signs – I get ‘fidgety in my head’, the writing is becoming pedestrian etc etc. Rather than ‘try too hard’ I go for a run/walk the dog/bake cakes – anything which takes me away from the work so that I can return refreshed and attempt, without ‘trying-for-cleverness’, to say simply, uniquely, heartfully.
Great advice on how to avoid that tricksy-cleverness that Carver (and most readers) hate so much…
Raymond Carver is one of my favorite writers. His writing is crisp and lean.
I really like this line of his: At the risk of appearing foolish, a writer sometimes needs to be able to just stand and gape at this or that thing- a sunset or an old shoe- in absolute and simple amazement.
We all like to be amazed and I guess what we’re asking of a story is: amaze me.
I share your feelings about Raymond Carver. I know his writing doesn’t appeal to everyone but I think tight writing is good writing – and he never wasted a word