Sundays with Ray Bradbury
By: Scott Myers
Tags: Creative Writing, Writing, Fiction, Screenwriting, Creativity

“I can imagine all kinds of worlds and places, but I cannot imagine a world without Bradbury.” — Neil Gaiman

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) had a remarkable writing career. Author and screenwriter, here is a partial list of his writing projects:

Novels

1950 The Martian Chronicles

The Martian Chronicles 1953 Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 1957 Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine 1962 Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes 1972 The Halloween Tree

The Halloween Tree 1985 Death Is a Lonely Business

Death Is a Lonely Business 1990 A Graveyard for Lunatics

A Graveyard for Lunatics 1992 Green Shadows, White Whale

Green Shadows, White Whale 2001 From the Dust Returned

From the Dust Returned 2003 Let’s All Kill Constance

Let’s All Kill Constance 2006 Farewell Summer

Collections

1947 Dark Carnival

Dark Carnival 1951 The Illustrated Man

The Illustrated Man 1953 The Golden Apples of the Sun

The Golden Apples of the Sun 1955 The October Country

The October Country 1959 A Medicine for Melancholy

A Medicine for Melancholy 1959 The Day It Rained Forever

The Day It Rained Forever 1962 The Small Assassin

The Small Assassin 1964 The Machineries of Joy

The Machineries of Joy 1965 The Vintage Bradbury

The Vintage Bradbury 1966 Twice 22

Twice 22 1969 I Sing The Body Electric!

I Sing The Body Electric! 1975 Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury 1976 Long After Midnight

Long After Midnight 1980 The Last Circus and the Electrocution

The Last Circus and the Electrocution 1980 The Stories of Ray Bradbury

The Stories of Ray Bradbury 1983 Dinosaur Tales

Dinosaur Tales 1984 A Memory of Murder

A Memory of Murder 1988 The Toynbee Convector

The Toynbee Convector 1990 Classic Stories 1

Classic Stories 1 1990 Classic Stories 2

Classic Stories 2 1996 Quicker Than The Eye

Quicker Than The Eye 1997 Driving Blind

Driving Blind 1997 The Golden Apples of the Sun and Other Stories

The Golden Apples of the Sun and Other Stories 1998 A Medicine For Melancholy And Other Stories

A Medicine For Melancholy And Other Stories 1998 I Sing The Body Electric! And Other Stories

I Sing The Body Electric! And Other Stories 2002 One More for the Road

One More for the Road 2003 Bradbury Stories

Bradbury Stories 2004 The Cat’s Pajamas: Stories

The Cat’s Pajamas: Stories 2005 A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories

A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories 2007 Now and Forever: Somewhere a Band is Playing & Leviathan ’99

Now and Forever: Somewhere a Band is Playing & Leviathan ’99 2007 Summer Morning, Summer Night

Summer Morning, Summer Night 2009 We’ll Always Have Paris: Stories

We’ll Always Have Paris: Stories 2010 A Pleasure To Burn

There are a couple of Bradbury quotes I want to include in my book The Protagonist’s Journey: Character Driven Screenwriting and Storytelling:

“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” “Stand aside, forget targets, let the characters, your fingers, body, blood, and heart do.”

You can see why I like those quotes!

Like many Bradbury observations, they float around online without attribution to the original source. Therefore, I recently picked up Zen in the Art of Writing written by Bradbury and am reading through it to see if I can find those two observations on the craft..

As I began with the book, it occurred to me: Why not share Bradbury’s wisdom with Go Into The Story readers? Hence, a new series: Sundays with Ray Bradbury. Today: From Zen in the Art of Writing , “The Secret Mind,” pp. 87–88.