okay, maybe that’s a little extreme. but still, some nights, when I get home, I just feel like I’m living my life in little circles.
time to do some writing, I guess.
scenecards
I just got off the phone with my friend Kat (who, alas, doesn’t have a blog); she’s taking a writing class at the UW extension, which she’s really enjoying, and she shared this technique for writing, or rather for organizing writing.
first, you break your piece (novella or novel) into scenes. then you create a spreadsheet or a database, and make an entry for each scene. in each entry, you include a number to identify the scene, the major action of the scene, the characters, the place the scene occupies in the character arc, and a link to the file with the scene. (I think that’s everything…except a few concepts specific to the course (when it was critiqued, some other concepts).)
I like it. I wrote a while back about the problem of changing the flow of a piece of writing after having a bright idea. I think this would help, in the same way that breaking apart a script into functions helps in reworking it. (actually, as she began describing this technique, I thought…oh, modularizing your story!)
I’m gonna try it with a bit of fantasy fluff that I’ve been trying to finish since just before Christmas, and see how it goes….
it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood
it really is…the sun is shining through enormous fluffly grey-white clouds, and this morning I went out onto the front step to wave off C. as he biked to a local bakery to get pasteries for breakfast this morning and a baguette to go with dinner, and everywhere birds were chirping. the grass is green and the air is mild and smells of spring. the tulips are still struggling out of the earth and the leaf litter I covered them with last fall. sunlight streams through all the windows on the south side of the house, and Jane Siberry’s voice floats creamily out of my crummy little computer speakers.
so, I’m going to finish up my market spice tea, finish tidying up my desk, and go outside. if you can’t enjoy the out of doors today, read this 1998 profile of Mr. Rogers instead, and remember a beautiful day and the people you love. (thanks to Anita for the link)
after doing some yardwork (still not really gardening), I took some pictures around the neighborhood.