Friday, September 21, 2007 12:23 AM CDT
Daughter of famed author James Jones conducts writers' workshop at Eastern
By LISA BARTELT, Staff Writer
lbartelt@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — As the daughter of a well-known writer, it was practically her lot in life to be a writer.
But, Kaylie Jones learned to do some things differently than her father, James Jones, author of “The Thin Red Line,” “From Here to Eternity,” and “Some Came Running.”
As part of the Embarras Valley Film Festival honoring her father’s legacy, Kaylie Jones, author of “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,” among other works, conducted a writers’ workshop Thursday at Eastern Illinois University.
When Jones recently began writing her memoir, she had to break the news to her 9-year-old daughter that she would be engrossed in her writing again.
“One day on the walk home from the bus, she said, ‘Mom, I don’t want you to write. I want you to love only me,’” Jones recounted. “I laughed because could you imagine if I had said that to my father? Growing up, it was ‘Shh, Daddy’s writing.’”
Jones said she assured her daughter she loved her more than writing, and if she had to choose one or the other, she’d choose her.
Her daughter has begun writing, too, Jones said.
“She doesn’t have an angst-ridden soul like I had,” she said. “(Writing) does run in the family. It’s genetic in certain ways.”
As a teacher of writing, a reader for Book of the Month Club, and chairman of the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, Jones said she’s seen a lot of common mistakes writers make when composing a novel.
She shared those tips with the roomful of writers, whose interest and experience ranged from writing for fun to published authors.
Choosing the novel’s beginning is important. While writing her memoir, Jones said she couldn’t identify the proper beginning for the novel until one of her friends pointed it out.
“I got to the part where my father was dying and from the hospital bed he said, ‘You’ve got to get your mother to stop drinking so much,’” Jones said. “Those were basically the last words he said to me. I said, ‘I’ll try,’ and I carried that ‘I’ll try’ for more than 30 years.”
Later Thursday, Jones also introduced the film version of her novel “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries.”
“People are so sure it’s a memoir,” she said of the book, explaining another tool writers can use to tell stories. “It’s not. It’s like looking through twisted glasses at the past. I couldn’t release myself until I created a character not like me.”
The Embarras Valley Film Festival continues through Saturday.
Schedule of events today at Embarras Valley Film Festival
- 9:30 a.m., “James Jones: The Evolution of a Soldier and a Writer,” Ray Elliott, author, Tarble Arts Center.
- 10 a.m., “Censors and Tempers,”– Helen Howe, James Jones Literary Society, Tarble Arts Center.
- 11 a.m., “A Recipe for Some Came Running: 7 Parts Robinson, 3 Parts Marshall. Shake Until Blended,” Doug Lawhead, James Jones Literary Society, Tarble Arts Center.
- 1 p.m., “Remembering the Music of World War II,” Dan Perrino, Medicare 7, 8 or 9, Tarble Arts Center.
- 2:45 p.m., “Airborne in WWII Europe,” Don Burgett, author, Tarble Arts Center.
- 4 p.m., “It’s Been a Long, Long Time: The War’s End and the G.I.’s Return as Heard on the Radio and in Popular Music,” Matthew Barton, Library of Congress, Tarble Arts Center.
- 7:30 p.m., Winston Groom, author of “Forrest Gump” (keynote presentation), Miller’s Banquet Facility, 307 Sixth St.
- 8:30 p.m., Music by EIU Jazz Ensemble, Miller’s Banquet Facility, 307 Sixth St.
Contact Lisa Bartelt at lbartelt@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.
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