 For Authors: August 19, 2020 Issue [#10328] |
This week: Humuhumunukunu....whaaaa? Edited by: Fyn  
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Writing in public gives you that access to a junkyard of details all around you.~~ Chuck Palahniuk
The seaman tells stories of winds, the plowman of bulls; the soldier details his wounds, the shepherd his sheep. ~~Laurence J. Peter
A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching. ~~Swami Sivananda
To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization. ~~Harriet Beecher Stowe
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I have ever been the one to espouse writers being observant of the world around them and using details to bring life to their writing. This may be especially important when you use a real setting in fiction. Whether or not you use (for example) a real town or a 'made-up' town that is an amalgamation of perhaps three small towns, using details from the real ones will add dimension. Of course, one should be careful when using real place names if a negative event (like a murder) were to (fictionally) happen there. People could get a bit cranky about that! When in doubt, one can always ask permission!
Yet when writing about certain places, one can and should take advantage of the regional sayings, cultures, happenings, and stories. Seriously contemplating a book set on the island of Maui, I've been researching the island, its people and history because it is important to get it right, to be true to the places I am writing about. Windward or leeward, kona or koʻolau. That was a new one to me as it might well be for anyone who has ever had 'Kona' coffee. Yes, Kona is a place but it also means the leeward side of the island - ie; the sunny side verses the wet or tropical side! In an article by Beth Thoma Robinson*, she talks about the importance of (in her case, Hawai'i) local words and phrases having a real meaning beyond the surface meanings. "They have meaning in a living language and provide context and story to that place. And that context and story might matter to you in a practical way." This is especially true when writing about a real place that many might not be familiar with or perhaps only think they are!
This can be really useful when people meet people and they 'talk story' which, means learning and asking questions about someone you've met. Learning the stories that make them who they are. As we do all the time, we just use different phraseology for doing so. Equally important for the writer is asking the right questions when writing about an area that is not your own. Why write about Maui or Tibet or Ashville, NC without learning all you can about what makes that locale its own individual place and not Oshkosh, Paris, or NYC. More, it is important for places to keep that individuality alive - whether it be the language (and its history) or its culture or the mythology of its people.
Caroline “C.C.” Greenwell makes an extremely important point. While she is specifically referring to the islands of Hawai'i, it follows that it would be true regardless of where one might be writing about. “I believe that our history and culture are carried on through our place names and that we have a responsibility to, in the best of our ability, be as accurate as possible with the proper use of those names. This is especially true when you are in a public forum and perhaps are in a position to educate or influence others. If we don’t adhere to the proper place names it’s possible that they will be lost and with them the history of the area.”
This underscores the importance, in our writing, to adhere to being vigilant in how we write about a place. Additionally, by doing so, we are able to bring the 'real' to our readers. More than writing a story, we are doing our utmost to make that place a real, living, and breathing(!) character, every bit as much as those who inhabit that space.
Sure, one could happen to say that a triggerfish is the state fish of Hawai'i, but in truth, it is a humuhumunukunukuapua'a. (And yes, I've learned to say it!) In fact, I've learned how to pronounce pretty much every Hawai'ian word I've come across. More than just being a repeat visitor to the islands, I've found that knowing the words, learning the meanings (and stories) behind them has added exponentially to my appreciation of the whole experience! The digging has netted pure language gold!
*Beth Thoma Robinson's article can be found at: https://www.hawaiilife.com/blog/whats-in-a-name-lets-start-with-kona/
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| |  | Manaoio (E)
Manaoio means "faith" in Hawaiian. And that's what Verona struggles with in this story....
#2190228 by Foxflame  |
| | Haole (18+)
What it means to be a white minority in the islands
#1968683 by Emily  |
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Lilli 🧿 ☕  writes: Oh, Fyn! This newsletter made me laugh because it was so relatable! You do seem to be more constrained than me, as I would have let that lady "have it" when she violated my personal space!
CaptainMidnightSingforPhoebe  says: Loved the shopping story. I replaced all of my living room furniture coming out of the lockdown (after being back at work for about a month.)
And both trips to the furniture store, I had the privilege of being the only customer, treated with kids gloves and offered deals galore.
Lately reading far more than writing (which is usually the case - I'm a librarian.)
Currently wandering through the works of Shelby Steele and Thomas Sowell - and a fabulous book about the history of Washington's Dunbar high school (which I only found out about from one of Sowell's books.)
Still very impatiently waiting for professor Glenn Loury's promised memoirs, and a phantom hint from Eric Schlosser - about a look into America's penal system. Coming from his literary sensibility that will be a treat - although if it's anything like his Command and Control (the brief history of all the near misses and averted accidents in our nuclear stockpile - the ones we don't know about!) it will be a nervous read.
Schlosser made his mark with the legendary Fast Food Nation, and in my considered opinion, possesses one of the more fabulous authorial speaking voices in existence. I should know. I'm a performance artist myself, though quasi-retired from the business.
I'm sorely tempted to put Abigail Shrier's Irreversible Damage on my summer reading list, but that glorious impulsive devilry hasn't quite bitten yet. We'll see. Literature can be such a mine field. Thrills and chills. This summer I needed to read one of the MIB (Men in Black) books just to calm down. A fast read on a slow work week.
Wow! Thanks!
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