Currently gearing up for my cross country venture, I purchased two audio books for the ride. One, a short biography about the life of Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and the other, The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. I should state that although being assigned Old Man and the Sea in middle school I have never read any of Hemingway’s work. For the level of grandeur he holds in the literary world, he is someone I feel I must learn from in order to become a more articulate and adept writer. The same can be said about Dr. Seuss (though I have read a considerable amount of his work, mostly in grades 1-4).

While these two are not often mentioned in the same breath, I believe them to each hold a precious piece of the puzzle that I am currently cobbling to complete. What is this puzzle? My writing style. If someone was to define an author as an inspiring combination between Dr. Seuss and Ernest Hemingway, would you not want to see what that person was writing? I know it is not for me to compare myself to either of these fathers of fiction but it is how I aspire to write. I again say this only knowing brief snippets of Hemingway’s work. More research must be done on both fronts to better define my own literary aptitude. If writing is my exhale than reading is my inhale, and I must do both to breathe life successfully into any work of prose worth reading.

Up to the nest to take deep breathes that contract with fingers and eyes

Time will tell if I can dispel the weak words from the wise

As my thoughts expand I’m sure to land some words that help me learn

In clever ways I’ll write for days the pages that you’ll turn