As a writer, I love words. I think it's a requirement for the job. I love what they mean and what they can do when you string them together in interesting ways, but I also just love them for themselves. Some words are simply so beautiful they can stand alone. I like the feel of them in my mouth; I like rolling them around there like ripe grapes.
Of course, words have power in hundreds of ways. For one thing, talking with words is infinitely better than fighting with bullets. So it seemed an interesting juxtaposition to use a bullet to house some of my favorite, most beautiful words. The words in this book are not linked into anything sensible; they really have no meaning on their own. They are chosen simply for the beauty of the sound, for that wonderful feeling when they roll off your tongue. They are words like zebra,
unctuous,
alchemical,
Scheherazade,
onomatopoeia,
song...
Words that are not here because they less beautiful in and of themselves:
shotgun,
hate
kill.
So here's a 12 gauge book of beautiful words.
I'm Donna Meyer and this is a Daily Journal of a Challenge: to make a book a day for a year, to stretch my imagination, creativity, skills and discipline. Inspired by Noah Scalin's Skull-a-Day. Why books? A book can be made of almost anything, and I can stretch its definition. Some will be fancy, skilled and take time. Others will be quick-&-dirty, maybe just images, or ephemeral, disappearing books. Follow along. We'll discover together how to create a book a day for 365 days.
A Book a Day? What's Up With That?
Hi, and welcome to this year-long project. So what's this all about and how did it happen, you might ask. In mid 2007, artist Noah Scalin decided to make a skull out of anything he could find, every day for a year. It stretched him in ways he never imagined, as an artist, a writer and a person. His experience turned into a blog that went viral, and then a book.
Others have picked up on the idea: 365 Hearts, 365 Masks, 365 Bears drawn on a cellphone, 365 paper napkin mustaches.
I wanted to play, too, and I chose books. I love books, I know a bit about making books (thanks to my talented book-maker sister, Marilyn Worrix), and they're broad enough in definition to give me a lot of creative leeway.
The whole point is not really the books. The idea is to stretch myself in many ways as an artist and a person, to set up a discipline, stick with it and see what that teaches me.
I hope you'll join with me and follow along on the journey chronicled here, and let me know what you think.
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Amazing! To think that I've been putting off making some cakebox books for months!! I am so inspired (and impressed) that I'm going home right now to make a book. No excuses.
ReplyDeleteYou truly are an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteJust found a disguarded shotgun cartridge too and was wondering how to use it..brillent ideaxx love your work and l am glad l have found your sitexlynda
ReplyDeletehttp://tryingtocreatearteveryday.blogspot.com