"The Creative Process of Writing is a Liberating and Therapeutic Experience"
www.virtualwritingcoach.com
July, 2008
In This Issue:
1. Preview
2. Publisher's Note
3. John Adams by David McCullough
4. Helpful Hints
1. Preview
The Writer's Connection explores the creative process of writing and the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and actions.
We are an interactive community of authors and readers who share ideas to enhance our knowledge, skills, and experiences in
writing fiction in any genre, but our emphasis remains mystery and suspense thrillers.
Published monthly, the Newsletter offers writing tips for authors, coaching suggestions, editing, and marketing information.
Topics are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and represent only his ideas on producing your first manuscript,
and are provided to the general public. Because we are an interactive community of writers, other viewpoints are welcomed and may be
printed in future monthly newsletters with permission from Keith Barton.
2. Publisher's Note
July, 2008
Dear Writer's Connection Subscriber,
This month's newsletter features:
John Adams by David McCullough
3. John Adams by David McCullough
HBO Films has a 3 DVD-set on the popular book by David McCullough on
John Adams,
our second President and grand orator of the First Continental Congress. After his successful
Truman biography, McCullough carefully threads his story of John and his wife, Abigail, using
the original text of their letters to each other during their many separations while John was
a delegate from Massachusetts in Philadelphi -- when our founding fathers from thirteen colonies
were preparing to separate from King George III to form our nation -- where "rights and truths are
self-evident."
The Declaration of Independence was carefully crafted by a committee of three:
Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin in anticipation of the July 2, 1776 vote in Philadelphia. Only
New York abstained in a 12-0 vote because General Howe was on the Hudson with his warships
pointed on Manhattan Island.
McCullough's carefully crafted book intricately weaves the founding of our nation in the strong,
intimate relationship between Abigail and John who parented four children (a fifth was stillborn
and a sixth, Susanna, lived only two years) during the small pox epidemic that hit Boston in the
1780s. Little did King George know that religious freedom would lead to a body politic embracing
the concept that "all men are created equal, with inalienable rights..."
But Adam's popularity was never "self-evident" in the beginning of his legal career when he defended
a Tory army who fired upon rebel rousers and mobsters who taunted the Redcoats with rocks and sticks
(aka, the Boston Massacre). Five dead bodies later, the people of Boston wanted to hang the King's Men
for this apparent atrocity. Using reason and the law, Adams convinced a jury to acquit the Brits despite
the unpopularity of his position and the resultant degradation of his law practice. Adams oratory
matched Jefferson's quiet intellect and was moderated by Franklin's pomposity and position of elder
statesman.
Adams and Franklin would later be commissioned to travel to France to enlist the support of King Louis
XVI against the British naval power. The colonies did not have a navy and Washington inherited 4000
troops without food, munitions, and supplies to fight against the world's most powerful nation.
The
reader feels like an interloper in the Adam's bedroom, assembly rooms, and battlefields of New York
and Massachusetts in descriptive narratives that transports the reader in a time machine much as
Edward R. Morrow's "You Are There" TV show of the 50s.
Psychological and character flaws are
meticulously enumerated especially the running rift between Adams and Franklin while in France.
Apparently Franklin's slovenly and impudent behaviors while pandering to the French court were not
to Adam's liking who preferred a work ethic and grew easily bored with European diplomacy while our
boys were fighting for our country back home.
From humble beginnings in Braintree, Massachusetts, to becoming the first American President to occupy
the White House, the Adams Epic captures raw human emotion at a time when reason and principles
prevailed. Adams began his political career as Washington's Vice President. Adams, ever the legalist
and educator, was at his best on his feet lecturing to his countrymen about the "moral and political
equality of rights and duties," knowing full well the inequalities of slavery and aristocracy existing
during the late eighteenth century.
He borrowed from Cicero and Greek history and was perhaps the most
intellectually astute of all American Presidents. Until McCullough's candid portrayal of our second
President, his accomplishments were overshadowed by Washington and Jefferson. With the addition of
Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, Adams assumed the Oath of Office over sixteen states, having never
in his public life holding an administrative position, never serving in the military, or campaigning
for a single vote.
Both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, fifty years to the day after the Declaration of
Independence. It is also not coincidental that both epitaphs were humble in spirit and inscription:
Jefferson's "Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence,
of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia." Not to be
outdone, Adams also had his epitaph inscribed before his death which read: "This stone and several
others have been placed in this yard by a great, great, grandson from a veneration of the piety,
humility, simplicity, prudence, frugality, industry, and perseverance of his ancestors in hopes of
recommending an affirmation of their virtues to their posterity."
Both men chose to mention nothing of their own attainments but to place themselves as part of a
continuum to evoke virtue and character at a time when public accolades were the order of the time.
The "Great Orator" and "Penman" departed their earthly lives without fanfare, which is what they
would have wanted.
Helpful Hints:
- Read McCullough's book before you rent or buy the DVD set of John Adams. Absent in the
HBO rendition is the intimacy between John and Abigail Adams and the many letters they
shared on their united vision for our nation.
- Look at today's political commentary and compare the language with that almost three
hundred years ago. The sound bites of today pale in comparison to the richness of the English
language and oratory of yesterday.
- Pick up a recent biography of a past President from FDR to Clinton and compare with
John Adams. What do you see as similarities and dissimilarities?
Subscription
The Writer's Connection
SM is a free publication. If you want to continue to receive this Newsletter, you can
SUBSCRIBE by clicking here or by sending
a blank email message to
keith_barton@att.net
with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
To UNSUBSCRIBE click here or send a message to
keith_barton@att.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
Be assured your name and email address are confidential. We do not sell, rent or share our mailing list with anyone.
Contact Information
Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281-583-5005
Fax:281-583-5008
Web: >
http://www.virtualwritingcoach.com
E-Mail:
keith_barton@att.net
(c) Copyright 2008 A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
All rights reserved.
Distribution Rights
The Writer's Connection
SMis copyrighted, but you may retransmit or distribute it to
whomever you wish as long as not a single word is changed, added, or deleted, including the contact
information. However, you may not copy it to a web site.
Republication of The Writer's Connection
SM in paper media is encouraged and permitted by
individuals, organizations and associations, as long as the issue is reprinted in its entirety,
without change, and includes the contact information.
With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue to fit your space requirements. Republication
also is encouraged under other circumstances. However, the advance permission of A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
must be obtained in the event that changes in the text are desired.
The Writer's Connection SMMission:
The Writer's Connection
SMis dedicated to helping first-time authors create their first
manuscript for publication and to offer an exchange of ideas and opinions from our readers who might be
interested in becoming authors.
The Writer's Connection is a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton, Ph.D. and a
registered trademark.
We would like The Writer's Connection
SM to be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback,
comments, topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional resources to benefit us all, please email
us at any time. Send your e-mail to
keith_barton@att.net.
Please forward this issue to anyone you think would find The Writer's Connection
SMinteresting and beneficial. Your
recommendation helps us keep growing, and ensures an excellent exchange of information and techniques.
Archives
You can read previous issues of The Writer's Connection
SMin our
archive section.
About Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist
for over thirty years. He is currently enrolled in MentorCoach and is accepting new clients.
He has been an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina,
consultant to Fortune 500 companies in executive development, founded
and managed Texas Community Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing
group home services to persons with mental retardation. Keith founded
and has been running a clinical practice in Northwest Houston since 1990.
He writes part-time with the goal of completing one novel a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate
interest in helping others become attuned to their creative powers of storytelling.
Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family therapy and health psychology. He has published articles, made
presentations and conducted workshops about:
Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self-esteem
Communication skills
Marital/relationship enrichment
Wellness issues
The relationship between psychology and spirituality
