Topic Tuesday #99 2014/06/10 "Optimism"

Optimism.

op·ti·mism ˈäptəˌmizəm/ noun

1: Hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.

I am, generally, a rather optimistic person. Take my recent trip that I am currently in the midst of as an example. I did not book accommodations ahead my trip, hoping that I could get things done quickly and turn and burn back home. When that didn't happen, I checked in for only one night. I am hopeful again that I can get things done in enough time to make the eight hour drive in the same day.
I did plan ahead though... I brought enough clothes for a prolonged trip. The moral of the story is no matter how optimistic you are, it can't override the Murphy's Law of reality. Things go wrong, ALL THE TIME; best to plan ahead.
So, though I proclaim to be an optimist, perhaps that is just being optimistic of my own pragmatic approach to reality. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

Have a great week. And may luck always favor the bold and prepared.

Update: I'm looking for another hotel room, preferably with double beds so Murphy, and his law, can sleep in another bed.

Topic Tuesday #95 2014/05/13 "Tell Me A Story"

Once upon a time...
In a galaxy far, far away...
It was a dark and stormy night...
And it came to pass...
So we were at this bar...
There was this girl/boy/woman/man/dog/cat/horse/pig/etc...

How does the story begin? How does the story end? And what the heck is in the middle to get from here to there?

It's a struggle that every writer has to contend with. No matter what topic, you have to begin, present, and end. Which is the hardest? That depends on the writer and subject.
If you are the kind of person that finds it hard to walk away or say good bye, you may have dozens of stories that are only half told with no exit strategy.
You may know the perfect ending and have a beginning, but choke when figuring out all the connective tissue between the two.

You might have great story ideas but no entry and no exit in sight and that wall prevents you from writing a damn thing.
Frustration is the annoying officemate that accompanies the writer to the break room talking about the same inane drivel they always do.
I have mentioned it before but it bears noting again; outlines are your friend.

Take Hollywood as an example. Why are those terrible stories made? Well... Formula scripts work. They are easily understood. They fit into production schedules. Editors have an easier job.

I am not telling you to write a formula Hollywood docudrama. Please... Think of the children...
But we can take an example from the sweatshop script factories. They have the ability to both start and finish, while connecting the two in a somewhat intelligible way. (Some series ends excluded of course.)

As we know, most of the time they do not care about the story. They make it fit a rigid structure. That structure is valuable. Check out some script analysis diagrams. (I say scripts simply because it is often easier than working through the structure of a literary work, but can be translated to it.) You start with the "exposition", then you transition to the "rising action", then to the "climax", " falling action", and the "resolution", or cliffhanger if you are in the sitcom biz, or George R. R. Martin...

In longer stories each chapter, or even every paragraph, may follow the same basic flow. It's hard and sometimes constrictive, but that can be magical. For example, I recently did a little game on my Facebook wall. Short stories, of only six words. This was remarkable for bringing out rampant creativity. Hemingway* did, perhaps the best of these.

"For sale, baby shoes. Never worn." (* - Heminway may not have been the originator but is credited with it.)
Sometimes all you need is a little restriction to actually soar to new heights. I'll get into the psychology of choice another day.

Go write something!