“Writing Spider Inspired"
This columnist’s photo of a clipping from
the LA Times featuring the photo
from Descanso Gardens, LA Cañada-Flintridge, CA
How Is Charlotte Working for You?
Writing Spiders’ Influence—Now and Then
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, writer of fiction, poetry, and
the HowToDoItFrugally Series of How-To Books for Writers
A few years ago, administrators and docents of the lovely Descanso Gardens in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains where I live shared the story of writing spiders everywhere including the colorful orb weaver (you might know her from her yellow spots, her eight extra graceful legs (even for spiders), and her beautifully constructed notebook which she often weaves in gardens—like our famous Descanso—and our own backyards. (If she is dressed in bright yellow, then she is probably a she/her/them/they.) Today her job is to remind Karen Cioffi’s Writers on the Move visitors, subscribers and other literature lovers and writers to read or re-read the singular Newbury Award-winner by E. B. White about a writing spider who used words like “radiant” and was forever positive and supporting. It is up to today’s writers—spiders or otherwise—to keep White’s vision flourishing in this season determined to keep us intimidated by their fearsome reputation.
The author of Charlotte’s Web wove a fictional tale for children, but he might have known one personally. Perhaps one he had read about. It’s hard to know because spiders (and other inspirational beings) are often not given the credit they deserve. Halloween is a good time remind writers that the quality that makes great literature is how it reflects or affects real life. Nature. Us. What makes it great is that magical quality that attracts and—dare I use the word ensnares?—so completely it becomes known as a “classic.”
An orb weaver we call Charlotte was once an occasional and welcome guest in our yard. Even though she was only about an inch long, she fiercely kept harmful insects away from my precious chartreuse gladiolas. Unliked the webs of many spiders, her web-notebook was very tidy; hers is the one most artists emulate when they reproduce the delicate, magical web used for most everything spiders do. It’s was her bedroom, nursery for her cocoons, her home, and (Ahem!) her kitchen! Her web was as intricate as longhand and so she became…mmm…what creatives call “writing spiders.”
Halloween has been flaunting spiders as terrifying for much longer than it has been presenting them as adorable. If reading Charlotte hasn’t already changed your attitude about spiders, Halloween is a good time for writers to readjust their attitude and put “inspirational” at the top of their list of adjectives even if it pushes “silken” to describe their webs down to second place. I know, “silk” may be a handy way to create such a conversion, but really! We all know it’s sticky! But if we get up early enough to see one that has collected dew in the gentle morning sunlight, “inspiring” can be a lot more useful for us. Let’s write a pretty little poem about it. Or draw a spider on a Halloween greeting card to give to kids who knock on our doors. Let’s continue to embrace this holiday in ways similar to what E. B. White started in with his Charlotte’s Web .
Note: This article was re-inspired by a whole chain of creative souls, photographers to illustrators I found decades ago in a column titled “California Classroom” I clipped from the Los Angeles Times. It had found its way to the clipping notebook (real paper!) where I keep articles that have touched me. It re-emerged this year all nicely yellowed by time. That’s the kind of thing that can happens to writers no matter what we use to record our messages.
More About the Author:
Carolyn Howard-Johnson read E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web illustrated by Garth Williams to her children when they were very small; it never occurred to her that one day she would appreciate that book on many levels beyond a lovely story with lessons to teach. She is now the author of a Modern History Press Series that began in 2004 with The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. It’s now published in its 3rd edition as a hardcover, paperback, and…an e-book! One of the books in that series is even available as Audio! Author White might never have believed in possibilities like that in 1974 for his lovely characters, his lovely story. Find Carolyn’s series on Amazon’s newly offered pages created for series only at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTXQL27T. That Amazon feature is one of #TheFrugalBookPromoterTips she shares with writers so if (when?) they write a series, they’ll know there is a similar page just waiting for them to install it using their Amazon Central feature. Happy Halloween to all.
