The Writer's Connection, SM
a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach SM


"The Creative Process of Writing is a Liberating and Therapeutic Experience"

www.virtualwritingcoach.com

July, 2010

In This Issue:

1. Preview
2. Publisher's Note
3. Overton Window by Glenn Beck: No 1984
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, 2010

Dear Writer's Connection Subscriber,

This month features Glenn Beck's newest thriller, Overton Window in comparison to Orwell's earlier classic, 1984.

3. Beck's Overton Window: No 1984

A thriller it is not. Beck is a superb entertainer and newsman who knows the constitution backwards and forwards. I’ve seen him perform in person in Houston and he dresses up like Thomas Paine and supports the right - wing rhetoric that is familiar to the tea party folks. While I agree with his political views for the most part, I would submit that his best writing is non - fiction. He has many NY Times Bestsellers including: Arguing with Idiots, Common Sense, An Inconvenient Book, and The Christmas Sweater (his best).

The protagonists: Noah and Molly play a cat and mouse game. Noah personifies the establishment; Molly, the proletariat. As Big Government sweeps down on the common man, which will make conspiracy theorists salivate, but the book falls short of true “page turner” interest. The plot is predictable and the characters are caricatures of many of Beck’s non - fiction themes.

For the reader who is totally oblivious to what’s going on in our country financially, politically, and socially, I suppose the book has some redeeming value, but a thriller it is not. Noah is portrayed as a 22 - year old ideologue who couldn’t make a decision without his father’s (Arthur) approval. The antagonist, Arthur Gardner personifies the military industrial complex who has inside plants in every conceivable governmental agency, the least of which include the Joint Terrorism Taskforce, Domestic Terror Working Group, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction Working Group. One would need a codebook just to follow the acronyms. I won’t give away the story but the climax is not up to par for thrillers; it leaves the reader doubting what follows as the Overton Window moves ever so slowly across a slippery slope from left to right on the constitutional freedom continuum.

For those of you who want to skip this read and focus on facts, Beck provides a factual accounting on where our country has been and the cyclical tension between the federalists (progressives) and the citizenry (republic) in his book, Common Sense. I’ve seen him use a chalk board and draw a single horizontal line to show where we’ve been since Teddy Roosevelt( our first progressive President), with the window left of center, to the Reagan years right of center, back to the left a little with Bush One and Two, and now so far left, we’re almost back to Teddy with Obama. The history lesson is instructive and for a more definitive read one should review Thomas Sowell’s Intellectuals and Society, which was reviewed in a prior newsletter.

By contrast, George Orwell’s 1984 is a masterful rendition (originally written in 1949) about what Big Brother will do to our lives, a great deal of which we are now experiencing under the Bush and Obama administrations. Noah Gardner is no Winston Smith and Noah’s encampment in a dormitory pales in comparison to Winston’s imprisonment. Orwell’s 1984 is an expression of mood and a warning of hopelessness and despair. Our current mood is not as dire, but be warned that we could easily slip into such a state if it were not for our “faith of our founding fathers” Messianic message of hope depends on our Christian heritage with its roots in Roman and Greek culture. Orwell was not a prophet of disaster, but rather a literary prophet of the loss of individualism and the price paid by each of us who are drawn to the Overton Window ever so slowly and imperceptibly.

Helpful Hints:

1. Compare Orwell’s 1984 with Beck’s Overton Window. Which is more damaging: nuclear proliferation and Groupthink or today’s media and pundits?

2. As a literary agent, why would you accept or not accept Beck’s book if you did not know he was the author? What are your main critique points?

3. Orwell’s book projected the future out 45 years (1939 to 1984); if you were to write a book 2055, what would be the main themes? Would we even exist as the USA? What would the world political posture and geography look like?


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Keith Barton, Ph.D.
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Fax: 281.583 - 5008
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(c) Copyright 2003 A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
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The Writer's Connection SM is 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.

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Archives

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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, and for the past 13 years founded and runs a clinical practice in Northwest Houston. 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

Copyright by Virtual Writing Coach (SM) and Keith Barton, 2001 - 2008.