Dedicated To Those of Us Who Don’t Even Know What A Beat Is … #RRBC #RWISA #RRBC_Community

Welcome to our very first (of many) informative and entertaining blog posts on our new site!

For those who don’t know, my favorite author out of all the authors in the world, has been my favorite since I read her book for the first time in 4th grade. Yes, that was many moons ago.

Louisa May Alcott and her classic “LITTLE WOMEN,” are the only two reasons that from a very young age, I wanted to become a writer.  There were only two professions that I intended to grow up into – Author and Teacher…and Teacher was only my backup plan.

When I gave birth to daughters, the very first gift each of them received was their very own copy of “LITTLE WOMEN.”  I’m saddened to share that neither of them has read the book all the way through, if even just a bit of it.  I have faith, though, that one day, they’ll come around.

I was reminiscing yesterday on just how much I loved this book, how much it meant to me, and how many hundreds of times I must have read it – and, I’m pretty sure that number is actually in the hundreds.  {In 4th grade alone I read it 11 times…that’s how much it moved me.}

Yesterday, I decided to open it up and read only the first chapter.

From the first page alone, I knew that some of today’s writers would be appalled at the style of writing in this book – you know the ones I’m speaking about, the ones who go on and on and on about “beats.” What the heck is a “beat” anyway?  (That wasn’t a question by the way, so please don’t answer it for me in a comment.  Thank you very much!)

I’d like to share with you just a teeny bit of the very first page of the book – what some of us might refer to as hiccups today, was clearly OK way back when.  {You do know that I believe all of the greatest authors lived way back when, don’t you?}

Take a look at a snippet from Chapter One…

“PLAYING PILGRIMS”

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

“It’s so dreadful to be poor!” sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

“I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things and other girls nothing at all,” added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

“We’ve got Father and Mother and each other,” said Beth contentedly, from her corner.

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly: 

“We haven’t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time.” She didn’t say “perhaps never,” but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was.

Nobody spoke for a minute, then Meg said in an altered tone:  “You know the reason Mother proposed not having any presents this Christmas was because it is going to be a hard winter for everyone and she thinks we ought not to spend money for pleasure when our men are suffering so in the army.  We can’t do much, but we can make our little sacrifices, and ought to do it gladly.  But I am afraid I don’t.” And Meg shook her head as she thought regretfully of all the pretty things she wanted.

“But I don’t think the little we should spend would do any good.  We’ve each got a dollar, and the army wouldn’t be much helped by our giving that.  I agree not to expect anything from Mother or you, but I do want to buy Undine and Sintram for myself.  I’ve wanted it so long,” said Jo, who was a bookworm.

“I have planned to spend mine in new music,” said Beth, with a little sigh.

 “I shall get a nice box of Faber’s drawing pencils.  I really need them,” said Amy decidedly.

I’ll end it there.  I have highlighted in red the things that many of today’s new-age authors might find sinful.  I readily admit that after reading some books (not this one), I, myself have sighed a few times, as well, noticing an author using too many “said” phrases;  and even after listening to these new-age authors and buying into the “beats” craze, I may have rolled my eyes a time or two when I happened upon too many of the other descriptive words or phrases above.

So, I write this post for two groups of people –

1. Those of you who have bought into the “beats” craze – let it go.  Get over it.  Who cares.  (Again – that’s really not a question.)
2. And, for those of you who have been made to feel inferior because you don’t even know what a “beat” is in writing, ignore the noise and go ahead and write your hiney off, any way you please, just so long as it is good, clean, written entertainment.  If Louisa May Alcott wrote that way, you better believe I’ll follow her lead any day over any new-age author.  I mean, she was LOUISA MAY ALCOTT!

Think of it this way, many of the people who are practically married to these new-age writing techniques, made them up…and if they didn’t, somebody else did.  I don’t know if they wanted to create the next craze, or, if they wanted to have a legion of followers, following their lead, but, it’s the style of writing they liked.  You don’t have to like it and you sure as heck don’t need to continually beat yourself up because you don’t understand the technique.

I’m going to leave you with this.  The only beat I’m interested in is me, writing to the beat of my own drums!  Now, that’s a lead I’d encourage you to follow any day!

~Nonnie Jules

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