Writing Tools

As many of you know, I like to play with ideas that connect writing with music. So this story will come as no surprise. I was scheduled to speak at a writing workshop in San Antonio, but had to postpone at the last minute. Most disappointing to me was the lost opportunity to perform a famous Mexican song, which I had been rehearsing for months, just for the occasion.

The song is called Cielito Lindo, "Beautiful Little Heaven."

Here's a sample of how it sounds performed in classic mariachi style.

And here are the Spanish lyrics with an English translation. (Stick with me. This is about writing.)

Ese lunar que tienes

(That mole that you have)

Cielito lindo junto a la boca

(Beautiful heaven, next to your mouth)

No se lo des a nadie

(Do not give it to anyone)

Cielito lindo a mi me toca

(Beautiful heaven, it's for me to take)

Ay, ay, ay, ay!

Canta y no llores

(Sing and do not cry)

Porque cantando se alegran

Cielito lindo los corazones.

(Because singing, beautiful heaven,

makes our hearts happy.)

Now you are about to hear me sing this song in Spanish (with some help from my editor, Leann Frola) and play it on the guitar, but not until I make my point about the power of detail in writing. The key word in this song is "lunar," which translated badly into English as "mole," but comes out better as "beauty mark."

The narrator refers to his love in the abstract, as a woman of heavenly beauty. But when it comes down to showing rather than telling, it is that little mark near her mouth he desires for his own. Even the tiniest detail can help us see -- and taste.

And now, without popular demand, to my friends in San Antonio whom I never got to see, I dedicate my version of "Cielito Lindo."