I've had my fair share of failed blogs, the last of which I called "Twentysomething." These were blogs that encompassed my life as a whole. When I made the New Year's resolution that led to this blog, I wanted it to be solidly about my writing (even though I incorporate plenty about my life).
The blog title came from Hemingway. That's one of the best places to get a blog title, I think.
As you probably know, Hemingway (or I could be pretentious and call him 'Papa') moved to Paris in 1921 and shortly thereafter met Gertrude Stein.
The advice actually comes from The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, which was Stein's self-portrait. In it, she wrote [addressing Hemingway]:
'There is a great deal of description in this,' she said, 'and not particularly good description. Begin over again and concentrate,' she said.
I'm no Hemingway, but I could use some of that concentration, and I'm sure you can too.
So thanks, Gertie. You were a weird one, but I like you nonetheless.
PS: You can argue that the blog title actually comes from Stein, but I'm going to go ahead and say it's Hemingway. He's my Papa, after all...
PPS: If you want a good example of too much bad description, check out my new pages! I just figured out how to do them. :-)
20 comments:
Hah! That's awesome. Thanks for sharing Summer.
Today's guest blogger is Tahereh AKA TH Mafi!
Good story! Too much detail, huh? Hmmm, I better concentrate.
Well at least you didn;t call it Papa's page or something like that! :-)
but seriously - what a great story behind your blog title- and we could all do well by Ms Stein's advice!
Sorry, I'm a bit dim - where are these pages?
Take care
x
Don't you love it when Blogger gives you new stuff to play with. I added pages too.
Great story, Thanks for sharing!
hahaha, I loves it! I wish I had a clever name but alas, no.
Imma check out your pages right...NOW!
I think it's a great title for a blog!
I love knowing where the interesting blog titles come from! Thanks for sharing Summer... it's a great blog title and I'm glad this one took off!
i always really liked your blog title. to me it made perfect sense in relating to writing. off to check out your pages
That's an awesome way to come up with a title; something that has meaning. I'm kinda envious, I wish I'd done the same thing, hehe.
Hahaha, that's so cool! Mine was just because I happened to be eating Jam and Toast when I made it.
Checking out the pages now!
:)
I need concentration. Thanks for sharing. I want to check out the pages but...I will hold off for now;)
Have a great weekend!
Anything inspired by Hemingway is awesome. Well, most things, anyway. Okay, just some things. A few things. A couple.
Your blog title is awesomer now I know where it came from, though. WOOT! FTW! Hot diggity! (And other similar exclamations [you have no idea how close I came to writing "ejaculations" there].)
And I think Hem would let you call him Papa. Yes.
Love this!
When I get back from vacation, I am calling you and you're gonna help me set up pages...k? (there's supposed to be a pretty please in there :)
Love,
me
Thanks for sharing, it was lovely to read this. most refreshing.
Yvonne.
That's an interesting place to get a title from, cool. I love The Old Man and the Sea!
The title is something I have to do every time I sit down to write. I'm soooo easily distracted. :)
Or you could say your quote was a "Steien-Way." Ouch. Don't you hate piano puns? Roland
I love how we're posting about random celeb pics and over here you've got ruminations on Hemingway....Classic!
Hope your weekend is ab fab! (Hemingway would just LOVE that line, no?)
Yes...I have always wondered. But not anymore. Even without knowing the background I always thought your blog title conveyed a great message.
:)
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