Sunday, February 13, 2005

The File: The Writer's Journey

Shamans have been called "the wounded healers". Like writers, they are special people set apart from the rest by their dreams, visions, or unique experiences. Shamans, like many writers, are prepared for their work by enduring terrible ordeals. They may have a dangerous illness or fall from a cliff and have nearly every bone broken. They are chewed by a lion or mauled by a bear. They are taken apart and put back together again in a new way. In a sense they have died and been reborn, and this experience gives them special powers. Many writers come to their craft only after they have been shattered by life in some way.
-- Christopher Vogler, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

10:49:17 PM    comment []

The File: Nelson's Navy

Someone with good connections in the service (as most midshipmen had) could have his name borne on the books of a ship for several years, though the young man himself was still at school, or even in the nursery.... In 1801, a lieutenant was convicted of drawing the pay of his son, aged one, registered as an able seaman.
-- Brian Lavery, Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organisation 1793 - 1815

10:45:10 PM    comment []