"It was a dark and stormy night" is the first line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel "Paul Clifford." While "A Wrinkle in Time" and "A History of New York" both use that as an opening sentence, those authors were intentionally quoting and possibly mocking Bulwer-Lytton (although I never thought of Madelaine l"Engle as someone who would mock the less talented). The sentence is the inspiration for the Bulwar-Lytton Fiction Contest that has searched for the worst opening liine of a potential novel since 1983.
I think fear of failure is the ultimate motivation killer. Of course, what do we usually get right the first time we try? Nothing. Many children try to walk several times before they do. Failure is part of life and is a great thing. It teaches. Success can teach as well, but not nearly as well as failure does. Even Wayne Gretzky didn't win the cup his first year. He would go on to win four, but he needed time and some failure to get there. Failure is just a part of the process. The worst thing a person can do is not try. That kills the soul quicker than anything. I like how you talk about emotional responses and how they are used to manipulate. This is so true. Again, there's nothing wrong with getting emotional. We all do. But a calm mind after the emotions have raged, makes for better decision making. There's an episode of Breaking Bad where Walt tries to get Jesse back into cooking meth with him, but Jesse is in a bad emotional state and unleashes on Walt with a huge tirade. However, later on in the episode, Jesse calls Walt up and he is very calm, and he accepts his offer. I don't expect people to never freak out. I freak out as well. I think we need that moment when something hits us, as life does. But give it some time and a few hours or days of rational thought and then make decisions. Great post, Charles.
"It was a dark and stormy night" is the first line of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel "Paul Clifford." While "A Wrinkle in Time" and "A History of New York" both use that as an opening sentence, those authors were intentionally quoting and possibly mocking Bulwer-Lytton (although I never thought of Madelaine l"Engle as someone who would mock the less talented). The sentence is the inspiration for the Bulwar-Lytton Fiction Contest that has searched for the worst opening liine of a potential novel since 1983.
Thank you for the expansion. I never considered it a bad opening line but have been very much aware of its being made fun of.
Thanks again
I have entered - and lost - both the Bulwar-Lytton and the imitation Hemingway contests. Sticking to Substack for now!
I think fear of failure is the ultimate motivation killer. Of course, what do we usually get right the first time we try? Nothing. Many children try to walk several times before they do. Failure is part of life and is a great thing. It teaches. Success can teach as well, but not nearly as well as failure does. Even Wayne Gretzky didn't win the cup his first year. He would go on to win four, but he needed time and some failure to get there. Failure is just a part of the process. The worst thing a person can do is not try. That kills the soul quicker than anything. I like how you talk about emotional responses and how they are used to manipulate. This is so true. Again, there's nothing wrong with getting emotional. We all do. But a calm mind after the emotions have raged, makes for better decision making. There's an episode of Breaking Bad where Walt tries to get Jesse back into cooking meth with him, but Jesse is in a bad emotional state and unleashes on Walt with a huge tirade. However, later on in the episode, Jesse calls Walt up and he is very calm, and he accepts his offer. I don't expect people to never freak out. I freak out as well. I think we need that moment when something hits us, as life does. But give it some time and a few hours or days of rational thought and then make decisions. Great post, Charles.