Want to Read your Way to Better Writing?Become a Mindful Reader.

A lot of people say the best way to improve your writing is to write more. I have recommended that. It is usually a good idea. I think it becomes an excellent idea when you include a program of reading specifically designed to help improve your writing.

In designing your personal reading program, you should read the kind of writing you want to write. If you want to improve your online writing skills, read plenty of websites, especially award-winning websites. If you want to write a poem, read plenty of award-winning poems of all kinds. If you want to write a nonfiction article, become a voracious reader of nonfiction articles published in the most highly respected journals and magazines. If you want to write short stories, read the very best short stories. If you want to write romance novels, read lots of successful, widely read and award-winning romance novels. The same is true of advertising writing, historic fiction, literary fiction, sci fi or fantasy writing.

In order to read to become a better writer, do two things: 1) Always read the highest quality writing in whatever category you like, and 2) Always be a mindful reader.

A mindful reader is someone who not only enjoys a well-written piece of literature for its own sake, but who at the same time is continually keeping tabs on how the author is achieving those effects. What specific elements is the mindful reader keeping tabs on? Here are some:

• Plot
• Character development
• Descriptions and images
• Vocabulary
• Sentence structure
• Theme
• Writing style
• Metaphor, simile
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Dialogue
• Character movement from place A to place B

That last one stumps a lot of beginning writers. How do they get a character off the phone and out of his home and into a car? How do they get someone from the garage into the house? Every writer of every kind of novel has to deal with these issues. The easiest and fastest way to strengthen these skills is to see how highly experienced writers handle these challenges in their writing.

If a piece of writing makes readers cry at the end, a mindful reader asks, How did the author get me to cry? What were the combinations of all the elements mentioned above, and how did the author combine them to create the empathy with the character and plot that led to me shedding tears at the end?

Here are a few things you can do to develop a reading program designed to help you become a more mindful reader.

Based on either your own impressions or what other people who have critiqued your writing have said, decide which elements you most want or need to improve first. Then read works that are strong in that area and read to see how the author accomplished that end. And that becomes your reading program.

For example, say your goal is to write better short stories, but you notice your efforts lack organization or a clear theme, or perhaps it’s the opposite: Your stories have themes that hit readers over the head like a hammer.

You could turn to a best short story collection in your interest area (best mystery, best horror story, best murder mystery, etc.) and read those stories specifically looking for ways authors artfully blend theme with plot and overall style of writing so that the theme is clear and present but does not call too much attention to itself.

Many writers say they have a challenge writing convincing dialogue. Approach people who know your writing area of interest. Ask them: Which authors should I read whose writing has excellent dialogue?

I’ve always had a challenge writing character descriptions. But when I was recently reading Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, I found his descriptions to be so powerfully evocative, I felt as though Mr. Yates was personally teaching me a course in the subject.

The major point I’m making in this EWA: Mindful readers pay attention to what they are reading.

The next time you’re reading, pay attention to what elements or combination of elements you specifically need to improve in your writing. Notice how the best writers do it. And let your technique be influenced by the best.

Next month: Must-read books about writing.

Powerful Writing.

I believe we only rarely glimpse the potential power of words, and experience the difference they make in our lives.

Three examples:

1. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.

On the night of March seventh, 2013, I found myself in a near blizzard in downtown Boston where I was attending AWP, a writer's conference. I was on the Commons, looking up at a partly snow-covered statue of Edward Everett realizing (to my amazement) that I actually knew something about him.

William Everett was president of Harvard and a leader of the Greek Revival Movement in the 1860s, but, much more importantly, he was the principal speaker at Gettysburg, PA, on the same day that Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic Gettysburg Address.

That's right. Edward Everett was the principal speaker. Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, played a secondary role.

I happen to know this because I'd recently read parts of Garry Wills's Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America.

It is Wills's thesis that by delivering his 272-word address, Abraham Lincoln remade America. He focused the American people's spirit on creating a ''new birth of freedom.'' Lincoln set America on a new course that helped the nation accept the tremendous price it had already paid in lost lives from the Civil War.

(Lincoln's speech, delivered on November 19, 1863, dedicated a cemetery that was located on the site where The Battle of Gettysburg had been fought on July 1-3, 1863, about four months earlier.)

How did Lincoln change the course of history with a 272-word address? Wills writes that, ''In the crucible of the occasion, Lincoln distilled the meaning of the war, of the nation's purpose, of the remaining task, in a statement that is straightforward yet magical.''

The genius of Lincoln's rhetorical approach: He refused to describe the particulars of the battle. In fact, he never once calls it a battle; he calls it a ''struggle.'' Lincoln spoke in extremely general terms. For example, by never mentioning ''slavery'' or ''union'' or exactly what happened at The Battle of Gettysburg his words take on universal meaning. By never specifying exactly what is ''the great task remaining before us,'' the speech becomes a work of genius; it lets each person interpret it as he or she sees fit. One could call this democracy in rhetoric.

Gary Wills makes the point that Lincoln's speech captures the tone of funeral dirges by the Greek poet Pericles. When one reads Pericles' rhetoric (The author gives plenty of examples.) it becomes easy to appreciate the similarity in tone.

By the time we reach the climax of the speech (''…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…'') Lincoln's words invite each of us to bring his or her own understanding to define what ''a new birth of freedom'' means.

By contrast, Edward Everett's speech, delivered from the same podium on the same day was more than an hour long. It included a blow-by-blow description of the battle. Today no one quotes from Everett's speech. Lincoln's speech is routinely committed to memory by many students.

2. Nigerian author Chinua Achebe in his classic novel Things Fall Apart.

Chinua Achebe, famous for his 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, published when he was twenty-eight, passed away last Thursday at 82 years of age.

According to a New York Times article Achebe was a ''towering man of letters whose internationally acclaimed fiction helped to revive African literature and to rewrite the story of a continent.''

So here we have a mere 209-page novel whose accomplishments are nothing less than astounding. Achebe's little book changed the course of history. How did the author accomplish so much in so few words? He chose to write in a mythical style that allows readers plenty of room to fill in their own meanings.

The following passage gives deeper insight into Achebe's writing style. It appears on smoop.com: ''Although Achebe writes in English, he captures the cadence of the Ibo people (his Nigerian tribe), which is particularly noticeable in the book's dialogue. In the narration, Achebe keeps his language simple, direct, and centered on nature. His goal is to use language to depict how the Ibo people view their world. You will notice Ibo words and phrases popping up here and there. In addition to the cadence and content choices, Achebe also uses proverbs, which are indicative of the Ibo's oral tradition. Achebe uses many tiny stories shared by people and well known in certain villages to discuss events. These stories are the method people use to communicate with one another; they use them to explain acts of nature, traditions, history, and why people behave the way they do.

''Keeping all that in mind, let's take a look at an interaction that happens a few paragraphs into chapter twelve: Some of the women cooked the yams and the cassava, and the others prepared vegetable soup. 'Young men pounded the foo-foo or split firewood. The children made endless trips to the stream. […]


''The market in Umuike is a wonderful place,'' said the young man who had been sent by Obierika to buy the giant goat. 'There are so many people in it that if you throw up a grain of sand it would not find a way to fall to earth again.'

'It is the result of great medicine,' said Obierika. 'The people of Umuike wanted their market to grow and swallow up their market and their neighbors. So they made a powerful medicine […]



'And so everybody comes,' said another man, 'honest men and thieves. They can steal your cloth from off your waist in the market.'


''We've got sparse description, an Ibo word (foo-foo), some cadenced dialogue, a mini-story about medicine to explain why the Umuike market is so crowded; we've got men finishing each other's thoughts and explanations. Achebe does an amazing job of capturing the spirit of his native language in his second language, English.''

3. Prime Minister Winston Churchill's speeches during 1940-41.

The darkest days of the Battle of Britain came directly after Hitler and his German war machine forced the English to flee the European Continent at Dunkirk. Everyone believed that Germany could easily beat England. Everyone but Winston Churchill. When Churchill began rallying the British people with his stirring speeches, a miracle occurred. It was no less a miracle than when David slew Goliath. The English people stood up to Hitler. Notice Churchill's pugilistic writing style. Can't you just imagine him spitting out the words in his power-packed sentences:

''Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.

(Notice that Churchill sets out in plain terms for the British people what is at stake, their survival.)

''We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.'' (Speech on Dunkirk, House of Commons, October 8, 1940)

In one short paragraph he uses the word ''fight'' five times. He uses two sound-alike words (''flag and fail'') to point out what the British will NOT do. The energy, strength and determination in the Churchill's rhetoric ignited a public fervor to resist the Nazi war machine with every sinew of its being.

In much the same way as Achebe's style of writing helped to revive African literature, Churchill's speeches in the House of Commons and his radio addresses were widely credited with giving the British the will to fight Hitler. Churchill's rhetoric became Britain's rallying cry and its first line of defense.

I believe Churchill's writing style is nearly the opposite of Abraham Lincoln's; Churchill is in your face, painting clear pictures with short sentences. Punch. Punch. Punch. Fight. Fight. Fight. Lincoln is laid back with poetic lyricism that allows the listener to fill in his own meanings. For example, ''But in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.''

All three authors used their rhetoric to create new realities, write a new history. Each time we write, let's not forget the possibilities. Let's not forget what is at stake. Words when used properly can be just as powerful, or even more powerful, than our actions. To write a word, after all, is to take action.

Eight Values for Becoming a Better Writer

Good writing is not about following rules. It's not about breaking rules, either. It is about knowing the rules, being as aware as possible of the expectations of your readers, and following your own heart to find fresh ways to draw readers into a story and move them.

I think of writing craft as a sense of knowing what to write, and of knowing how to communicate a situation, a scene, a personality, a conflict or a story in a telling phrase or phrases. Simply put, writing craft is writing know-how. Developing writing craft is a journey of life-long learning. First you develop your values about what constitutes good writing. Then you practice them as you write. Of course, as you practice them, you refine them and develop new ones. As your talent grows, your aesthetic sensibilities grow.

Can you become a better writer just by adopting certain values? I say: yes, absolutely. Attitude is important in all aspects of life, and your attitudes about your writing have a great deal to do with the quality of your output.

In this essay I suggest a value-based approach to writing.

Following are are eight writing values that work for me. See if they work for you.

Value #1: The most important thing you owe your reader is plausibility.

To me writing is about communication. The act of connecting with an audience carries with it a responsibility, the responsibility of making sense to your readers. Whatever I am writing, whether it is website content or a short story, making sense is my first obligation. That does not mean you cannot journey to the farthest reaches of your imagination and take your readers with you. You can. But you must start out by making sense to your readers where they are when they read the first sentence.

Think of it this way: The value of any sentence is the sense it makes. That is the meaning of the word sentence, by the way. It comes from the Latin root for feel or sense. From the time you write the first word of a sentence you have only until the period at the end of the sentence to make sense. It is the job of the writer to make sense in as few words as possible.

Value #2: Kill the little ones.

I know it sounds cruel, but to be a good writer, you have to kill those pet ideas you cherish so dearly, the ones you cannot bear to give up. You know the ideas I am referring to: Perhaps it is a pun that is going to make people groan, or a term that is not quite on the mark (but you love it anyway), or a phrase you have to repeat often because it makes you want to stand up and cheer. Be stern with yourself and delete those pet ideas and phrases you fall in love with. They are little babies that cannot survive without your obsessive love. Machine gun them. Mow them down.

Value #3: Write it all the way through before you write it again.

I know of many writers who believe they must get the first sentence perfect before they write the second; or the first chapter perfect before they proceed to the second chapter. I think that is a mistake that leads to inefficiency, frustration, and the beginnings of books being better crafted than the endings.

I do not understand the use of the word perfect in reference to writing. Writing is by nature imperfect (just as we human beings who create it are imperfect). And, like the character of human beings, writing can be improved.

If you write it all the way through before you write it again, you get to participate in building the entire work as evenly and as quickly as possible. For example, you get to see the connections at the end of the story you might never have realized in chapter one. As you write the next draft you might decide to plant them in the opening chapters. These themes or motifs can now grow throughout the work, allowing you to harvest them, so to speak, in the final pages. This makes the work more unified, moving and successful.

When you write it all the way through before you rewrite, you will be amazed at how easy it is (as you rewrite) to differentiate the little ideas from the big ones and to kill off the little ones. You will amaze yourself: What seemed so important when you wrote the previous draft will now seem relatively unimportant and easy to drop.

Value #4: Do less better.

Do not overreach yourself. Do not try for glorious effects in your writing if they are not completely glorious. When writing a headline, do not make a pun unless it works completely. Do not crack a joke unless it is really funny and does not offend. It is far better to pack a headline with a startling fact than with a clever pun. It could be too clever for its own good. Be truthful with yourself.

Remember the first and last bastion of a writer: restraint. Perhaps you do not have to explain everything. Perhaps not explaining every last thing can be a sign of respect to the reader: You have given your readers the tools to figure it out, and you have complete confidence that they will figure it out. Or perhaps not explaining something can lend an air of mystery that can draw readers in. Perhaps leaving something out at the right point can have an appeal all its own.

Value #5: Treat your reader as you would a friend.

Take your reader by the hand; treat him like a friend, with kindness. Always be aware of your reader and, as much as is possible, what that very important person is thinking. What sense would it make to write in a way that causes readers to get lost? They might say back to you, Get lost, and close the book on your writing.

Value #6: Rules are made to be broken.

As I stated at the outset, rules are made to be broken. But you must know the rules before you develop a sense of when and how to break them. My advice: Break a rule, if you know what you are doing. And do not forget to be audacious!

Value #7: Show, do not tell. Tell, do not show.

Do not just tell a reader what you want her to know: show, demonstrate, paint a picture. As much as possible let your reader experience the story first hand.

You probably know how counterproductive it can be when you talk at people. You can also write at people. It's not a nice thing to do.

At the same time, I have discovered, as many other writers have, that there is a time for telling.

Telling can be very effective when used sparingly. It is sometimes necessary to advance a story.

May God grant me the ability to show in my writing what must be shown, and to tell what must be told, and the ability to know which is which.

Value #8: Forgive yourself.

Have patience. Often your writing is not going to work out the first time. If after you finish a draft you see nothing to change, ask a friend who will tell you the truth. Most often the brightness in writing comes from polishing.

Try these eight values on. Keep them in mind as you write and see the difference they make to your writing when you do.

The Power of Negative Writing

A recent article appearing in The Wall Street Journal entitled The Power of the Negative written by presidential historian Douglas L. Wilson (published January 17, 2013) made the point that our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was able to infuse power into his rhetoric by tapping into negative sentence constructs. As evidence, Mr. Wilson quoted excerpts from some of Lincoln's most memorable speeches:

With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.

The legal rights of the Southern people to reclaim their fugitives, I have constantly admitted. The legal right of Congress to interfere with their institutions in the states, I have constantly denied.

You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.

Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.

And by far Lincoln's two most famous negative sentences both come from the Gettysburg Address:

We cannot dedicate; we cannot consecrate; we cannot hallow this ground.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

By going negative in our writing we can lay claim to far more sweeping, visionary statements specifically because we are denying them. Oddly, the negative approach by taking in a larger vision gives voice to powerful, memorable phrases.

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,, the statement by Barry Goldwater when he accepted his party's nomination is an excellent example.

We often see the power of negative writing at work in persuasive communications.

How often have have you seen and heard television commercials that claim something akin to the following:

''No detergent cleans better.''

''No gasoline has been proven to burn cleaner.''

''No network in North America gives you better coverage.''

Although these statements may sound like superiority claims, in fact they are parity claims. What is a parity claim? For example, in the case of the first one, ''No detergent cleans better,'' that claim actually means that the detergent being advertised is no better or worse than another. Likewise for the other two examples: All gasolines burn equally as clean. All networks give just about the same coverage.

Would you buy a toothpaste that claimed to clean teeth just about as well as any other toothpaste? I bet you would not. I'll bet you would want to purchase a toothpaste that claimed, No other toothpaste cleans teeth better. Don't you agree?

I have used this negative approach in headlines I've written:

For example: High Blood Pressure: Ignore it and You Will Go Away.

You could never get the same power by going positive. If you tried it would sound a little lame: High Blood Pressure: Pay Attention to it and you might live. Not as impressive, wouldn't you agree?

So the next time you are at a community meeting and someone announces that ''No one has done more to for this town that so-and-so'' know that the person referred to did about as much as anyone else. The speaker is not claiming that the person did more, only that no one else did more, which really means the person did about as much as anyone else.

It's not claiming superiority. It's claiming only parity. Yet most people will read that sentence and infer superiority from it. Pretty sneaky, huh?

So take care when you choose to go negative. We cannot help but participate in the vast conspiracy of negativity manipulating our opinions. Or can we?

I'll be back next month with more about effective writing.

My Holiday Recipe for more Peace, Love, Time, Faith and Money.

Given what we have all been through this year, what could you use more of right now?

Peace?

Love?

Time?

Faith?

Money?

All of the above?

Stop for a moment. Think carefully about your answer. Visualize your answer.

I am serious. Before reading any further, think about it. If your answer is all of the above, take a moment. Visualize what you would do if you had more peace, love, time, faith and money. Exactly how would having more of these precious resources change your life? How would you use them to improve your life?

Now continue reading.

With the end of the year approaching, here is an approach to communicating that can help you augment the first three (peace, love and time), and possibly the last two (faith and money).

You can use this approach in written and spoken communications. You can apply it in the workplace with co-workers, at family gatherings, or at parties.

It also works in every area of communications including business writing and artistic writing.

All you have to do is notice people. Not judge them. Notice them. There is a big difference.

By noticing people, you can improve your relationship with them. And that, in turn, can yield rich rewards.

Everyone likes to be noticed. That is universal. If you notice people, they will like you more. Notice readers in your written communications and they will like your writing more.

From what I have written so far, you might assume I am suggesting that you go around telling people that you like their shoes, haircut, purse, nails or clothing. But I am not suggesting that at all. Quite the opposite.

Issuing compliments does not necessarily create rapport with others, especially when the compliments are not authentic.

The trouble with compliments is that they are ''I'' statements. I approve of your shoes. I approve of your nails, etc.

I know this runs counter to all the personal success pundits who say you should search for something that you like about another person and tell them that you like that single thing. Flattery can work in some cases I suppose. It can even get you everything you are looking for if what you want in exchange for the flattery happens to be what the other person wants to give. However, this approach does not always lead to a feeling of mutual trust. It can also quickly become boring and seem like a chore if it does not come from the heart.

What is the approach I am suggesting you take here? Beginning sentences with the words, ''I notice,'' or opening conversations with what you notice, and, in the process, skipping the ego statement. When you address someone by telling them something you notice about them, you create instant rapport.

By following this approach, you will be making ''you'' statements rather than ''I'' statements. And you will be making yourself more appealing.

Imagine you are standing in line beside a woman who has little cartoon characters painted on her nails. You may hate little cartoon characters painted on nails. You may despise them. I am NOT suggesting you say to her, ''I notice how much I hate your nails.'' I'm not even suggesting you say, ''I notice your nails.'' Instead, I am suggesting you go more general and positive with a comment that gives the other person more freedom, more room to move.

Say: Oh, your nails are so colorful. Or: Wow! Nails that tell a story! Notice you do not have to use the words, ''I notice.'' But you could if you like: I notice you pay a lot of attention to your appearance. Or: I notice you put a lot of effort into putting your look together. Or: I notice you like fashion. Or: I notice your nails. How do they do that? Adding the question ''How do they do that?'' gives her room to explain.

The moral: What you think of her nails is irrelevant. As a direct result of what you noticed and mentioned, you will have an interesting conversation with someone that helps you establish rapport. In my opinion establishing rapport and finding out what makes people tick makes life interesting.

You will start having conversations with people you would never have dreamed you would have.

By noticing people, you will be giving them more freedom to be themselves, to feel more comfortable being around you. It's likely they'll reciprocate. They'll notice you. You'll find common ground. You might strike up a friendship.

Noticing your readers. It's not necessary to address readers directly in your writing in order to notice them. In your business writing you can show your readers that you notice them by writing about subjects that address their concerns as well as using appealing styles. It's pretty standard stuff: Doing an audience analysis before you begin writing, and writing to that audience in a way they appreciate.

Noticing your characters when writing fiction. What author would neglect to notice his characters in a novel or a screenplay when the success of the work is dependent on the writer's insights into what makes his characters tick? Not a very good one. Writers are constantly noticing their characters' internal concerns and conflicts and how they affect their behavior. Yet their characters are often capable of teaching their authors new insights and understandings of what they are capable of as a story develops. That is one of the things that makes writing fiction so much fun.

How can noticing others lead to more peace, love and time in your life? Building rapport with others makes you a more effective person. That, in turn, can bring good things into your life.

If my holiday recipe brings improved interpersonal relationships (and I believe it will) your life will become far more interesting. I hope you'll notice you have more peace, love and the time to enjoy being with your loved ones. And if you improve those first three, can the last two (faith and money) be far behind?

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Flex your Verbs, not your Nouns.

Powerful writing comes from sentences that depend on active verbs to work. They are always more effective than sentences made from noun-forms of those verbs.

What do I mean by that?

Here is a list of verbs:

Specialize

Analyze

Explain

Recognize

Explain

Reconcile

Discuss

Limit

Eliminate

Save

Establish

Here is a list of nouns made out of those verbs:

Specialty

Analysis

Explanation

Recognition

Explanation

Reconciliation

Discussion

Limitation

Elimination

Savings

Establishment

The following sentence depends on a verb to work:

After studying many subjects, he specialized in one.

Here is one that depends on a noun to work:

He had many specialties before choosing one.

Which sentence (of the above two) seems to be written more professionally?

Here is a sentence that depends on nouns to make its point:

After a great deal of discussion, the committee decided on the elimination of expense accounts for overall department savings.

Here is one that depends on verbs to work:

The committee discussed the issue and decided to eliminate expense accounts to save money.

Of these two, which seems more succinct and professionally written to you?

Which sentence do you prefer?

The one dependent on nouns:The reconciliation between expenses and revenues was established.

Or the one dependent on verbs:The audit team reconciled expenses with revenues.

Which sentence gets to the point faster?

The establishment of the elimination of the deficit as its primary purpose dominated the discussion.

Or:

Ways to eliminate the deficit dominated the discussion.

Here's a second strategy: Zero in on clauses beginning with which or who. Zero in on sentences beginning with There were, There is as well as It is and It was. These sentences can usually be improved.

Which sentence do you prefer?

The Industrial Revolution, which was marked by the development of mass production methods, began with the invention of the cotton gin, which was invented by Eli Whitney in 1793.

Or:

The Industrial Revolution, marked by mass production, began with Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1793.

Which of the next two sentences sounds wordy?

Any person who works all the time to the detriment of his relationships and outside interests can actually be less effective than the person who takes off and enjoys weekends.

Or:

People who balance their work lives with their social lives often make better employees.

Which sounds more professional?

There are many reasons why people find mathematics difficult to master.

Or:

People find mathematics difficult to master for many reasons.

Which sentence to you like more?

It was in 1848 that America's westward expansion became manifest.

Or:

America's westward expansion became manifest in 1848.

To summarize: Strength in writing comes from focusing on the power of well-chosen verbs instead of using nouns made from those verbs. Avoid clauses that begin with which or who. Avoid sentences that begin with There is, There are, It is and It was. Those are all symptoms of wordy sentence constructions.

Adventures in Morocco and Spain

Last Sunday, Gina and I returned home from a two-week tour of Morocco and Spain. Allow me to share a few impressions of our trip while they are still fresh in my mind.

The Marrakesh Local

I had hoped to catch the Marrakesh Express but we had to satisfy ourselves with the local. With no seats available in the warmly air-conditioned compartments of the train, for the first three hours we stood beside our luggage in the long, narrow hallway of our car wiping sweat away with one hand and holding on with the other.

Outside our smudgy window the rugged, ruddy desert passed by. It resembled broken pottery.

And here’s a shocker: The train we were riding on was packed with Moroccans. Incredibly young. Very courteous and helpful. Smiling eyes. Thin, long faces. Dusty, tan skin.

Most of the women wore headscarves. Some wore hijabs; some, colorful silk robes; and some, black wool burkas. Most were dressed in fitted jeans with Tommy Hilfiger shirts or the equivalent. The men were uniformly thin and rather tall. They wore sprayed-on jeans with long-sleeve leather jackets despite the heat of the day. Our guide told us that Moroccan men are convinced leather actually cools them in hot weather. I rolled my eyes. Something had to be lost in translation, no? Perhaps they think they look cooler in tight leather. Ah, to be twenty again. (Everybody looked about that age.)

In my head I was humming along to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s Marrakesh Express.Listen to the song. Thinking, Ah to be twenty again when I first heard that song.

Arabic is their first language; French, their second. Morocco used to be a French colony. As you approach the northern area of the country, up by Tangier, they speak Spanish, too, because at one time Spain controlled that area.

Trying to Escape the Sweep of History

Everywhere we went we couldn’t escape the sweep of history, try as we might.

In the medina (the old Muslim quarter) of Fes with its narrow, winding passageways, donkeys are a common mode of transportation. Pictogram signs inform pedestrians to yield the right of way to passing donkeys. Once we stopped for one loaded down with iPhones and firewood. That qualifies for having two hooves in the twenty-first century, I suppose.

The city of Fes received a UNICEF grant that today allows craftsmen to continue making fine leather goods using the same process they’ve been using for eight hundred years. We visited a pottery factory where they use the sun to dry pottery before oven firing. How energy efficient is that? Our tour guide told us the hot summer days are not the best because the clay dries too quickly. This time of year, October, is perfect.

All the women bring their bread for baking to a central oven. Now that’s energy efficient, of course, but it also gives the women a place to gather and talk.

They reserve the longer time for women at the Turkish bath (In the late afternoon. They reserve the late morning for the men to gather and sweat). In the late afternoon: That’s when the women get to luxuriate and exchange news. They don’t get to luxuriate very long. They work, making crafts and taking care of their families while the men get to sit at cafes sipping mint tea. No women here! And that’s how they’ve been doing it for the last eight hundred years.

Seeing Jewish Ghosts

Everywhere we traveled in Morocco ghosts of the Jewish presence hovered over the land and we the living. Their presence in Morocco dates back to just after 70 C.E. when the Romans destroyed the ancient temple in Jerusalem, according to this Wikipedia article. Read the article. Today only about 7000 Jews live in Morocco.

All the guides we talked to (and we talked to quite a few) claimed that Moroccan Jews lived in harmony with Moroccan Muslims. Jews lived in separate quarters, of course, but in quarters that were side by side.

One guide told us that Jews fought alongside their Muslim brothers in wars against Spanish Christians. Another one said that when a baby boy was born, Jewish parents would call the Muslim “mohel” to do the brit milahor circumcision; and Muslim parents would call the rabbi to do the brit milah. It didn’t matter to them because the communities were that close; it was the same religious ritual, the same covenant the baby boys were being born into, after all.

Although Jews in Morocco are scarce today, Jewish symbols appear in pottery and in other crafts made there. The plate we purchased in Fes (which you will find on my Facebook page) displays a Star of David in the center, surrounded by a traditional Muslim design motif, meant to emphasize harmony of traditions over the centuries.

The sweep of history has both the Moors and the Sephardic Jews being swept out of Spain in 1492 and Portugal in 1493; then swept together into the dustbin of Morocco where they joined their brethren already there. As you can imagine, this caused a tremendous sense of loss and grief among all the displaced people.

Exploring Volubilis, a First Century Roman Settlement

Traveling through the scenic high country north of Fes on a small bus, we stopped and inspected the Roman ruins at Volubilis. It’s in the center of what once was a rich agricultural heartland.

On these lonely, windy outcroppings about two thousand years ago as many as 1,500 Romans lived, grew wheat and other crops, sending all the grain, olive oil, grapes and figs, the spoils of conquest, home to Rome. Our guide told us that Roman legions fought the Berbers for two hundred years before being allowed to settle in Volubilis. (I put a photo of what these ruins look like today on my Facebook page.)

That night we slept over in Moulay Indriss, a city built on a steep, rocky cliff that has its own rich history. The only way we could bring our luggage up to the hotel? By donkey. I had this strange feeling we were in Tibet, at the top of the world.

Visiting the “White and Blue City”

The next day we proceeded on to Chefchaouen, a city founded by displaced Jews and Moorish exiles from Spain who, in 1471, gathered up in the mountains to fight against the invading Portuguese who wanted to enslave them and take their land.

The Jews and Moors fought bravely and ran off their attackers. And they stayed where they were. The Jewish people began painting their homes blue while all the Muslims began painting their homes white. That’s what you see now, a town of stucco white and blue block homes.

Yet no Jews have lived there for a long, long time. It’s another case of the Jewish ghosts. So why do descendants of the Moors still paint certain homes blue (if no Jews live there)?

The guide told us that the people of Chefchaouen got it into their head that blue keeps “the evil eye” away. So why don’t they paint their entire city blue? No one knew the answer to that one except me: Over the centuries, the people of Chefchaouen came to identify with their “blue and white city” positioning. That’s how it’s known today, “the blue and white city.” It’s a good marketing ploy and makes for standout photos. (See one that I recently put up on my Facebook page.)

Everyone in the town, both women and men, pitch in and repaint every house in Chefchaouen once each year. The women paint the walls as high as they can reach without ladders. Then the men use the ladders to paint the rest.

Organized by Intrepid Tours

Our tour, produced by a company based in Australia known as Intrepid Tours, included one week in Morocco where we visited Marrakesh, Casablanca, Fes, Rabat, Moulay Indress and Tangier; and one week in Spain, visiting Seville, Granada, Madrid and Barcelona.

Barcelona is the Austin, Texas, of Spain

I could go on and on, but I won’t. Just one other thing: Like everyone else, Gina and I fell in love with Barcelona. I have a theory: Barcelona is the Austin of Spain. Culturally speaking (if you squint your eyes like a Travis County country singer who’s had a pretty rough life) the Catalon people resemble the varieties you find around Austin. They have their own language (Catalonia), music, wines, cheeses, meats and cuisine. They’re aggressive about sustaining their very distinct culture.

We attended a food festival in front of the main cathedral in the Gotic neighborhood of Barcelona. What a blast I had when one of the merchants showed me a map of part of Catalonia with all the country wineries marked off. Let’s rent a car and stock up on Catalan wine! They must have “visitor centers,” right?

There was a lot of talk in Catalonia about an election that’s coming up on November 25th: Catalonians may vote to declare their region economically autonomous from Spain. I’ve got news for you: All the people at that food festival were aggressively declaring their independence the same way they do it in Austin, by keeping it weird, in the case of Catalonia with wacky spellings and pronunciations of Spanish words. It's Catalon, to them a completely different language. It’s a hoot! Ya gotta go! Next thing you know: Austin and Catalonia unite!

(Historic fact: During the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Catalonia was a place where anarchists gathered. Maybe Catalonia a little bit too much like Austin for my blood.)