Suspended animation

I noticed the following leaves a couple of days ago.  I did not take the picture as they were floating to the  ground.  They were just  hanging in the air like that.  If you look to the left side you can see the hints of the spider web that is making this possible.  But without that, I could not even see the web holding these leaves in place when I was staring at it.  

The world is so full of amazing mysteries.  It is a fascinating and wondrous place.

On Pins and Needles

I just finished writing a column that will appear in the December issue of a magazine.  It made me stop and think about Christmas.  I can still remember the excitement of waiting for Christmas - sitting on pins and needles - as the idiom goes.

When learning a foreign language idioms are those things you just have to memorize, and when you come across them unawares, they can throw you for a loop.  (Where does that idiom come from, I  wonder?)

Consider "pins and needles."  Is it referring to sewing?  Or does it relate to some medical procedure?

What about some of the other idioms we use on a regular basis.  Why is something that is easy a "piece of cake?"  Is cake easy?  Or why do we say something is "easy as pie?"  Pie isn't all that easy to make.

Well, hold your horses, because when it gets down to brass tacks, I may have hit the nail on the head.  If I just run to the store, I guess things could be as easy as pie.  After all, stores these days offer everything but the kitchen sink.  Now I know this came out of the blue and maybe it's just a bit over the top, but if I cut to the chase curiosity killed the cat.  What do I mean by that?  That I just better stop while I'm ahead because trying to understand all of these idioms might just drive us all batty!

Careful Writing

I started writing a very different blog today - related to the hickory tree in my front yard and the massive amount of hickory nut casings all over my yard.  In the process I stopped to look up hickory nuts to see if they are edible.

What I read caused me to shift the focus of my blog.  It highlighted the importance of editing our writing.

I came across an article that stated there are 17 different species of hickory trees.  It then walked me step-by-step through a process to identify which one I might be dealing with.  All of this centered around the nut - size, appearance, etc.

That was all fine and good until I came to step 4.  It stated:

"Taste the nut meat. Several hickory species yield a sweet, edible meat, while others yield bitter meat that one should not eat."

Do you see a problem here?  Need I say more?

Hints at Things to Come

I have been watching our very busy squirrels lately.  A large hickory tree stands in our front yard and seems to be the home of numerous squirrels.  Some can be seen scurrying around the trunk in apparent play or along the ground gathering, cracking or burying nuts.  When they can't be seen, they can still be heard either by their chittering or by the near constant sound of nut casing pieces being dropped to the ground.

We have been wondering if their behavior is predictive of a harsh winter.  If you following almanacs and old wives' tales it is.  Kind of makes us curious to see what's coming.

I have read many books of suspense over the years.  It seems you can take two different tacks.  One method is to lay out little bread crumbs, little hints of what is to come.  The other one is to totally blind side someone with a surprise they weren't expecting.  I think the first of the two is the harder one to successfully pull off as a writer.  After all, you are telling someone what is going to happen and yet, you don't really want them to actually figure it out.

I'm not sure which method I enjoy reading more.  There are benefits to each.  However, I am preparing for a hard winter.

Integrity

There are moments when my faith in humanity is restored.  Have you read or heard about the young Dairy Queen manager who witnessed a blind man drop a $20 bill only to have another customer quickly scoop it up?  The manager asked her to return the $20 to its rightful owner or he would refuse to serve her.  She objected and eventually left.  Then the manager approached the blind man and gave him $20 out of his own wallet.

The bad example of the female customer aside, the manager did what we would hope most people would do.  I wonder sometimes in these days of plagiarism and bullying where we are heading as a nation, as a people.  I have written a character in my book who tries to be impeccably honest.  I have wondered if readers would believe such a person could exist - should, yes, but could?

This 19-year-old manager from Dairy Queen didn't tell his own story, a customer observed what happened and wrote to tell Dairy Queen.  Not only does the behavior of the manager encourage me, but also that of the watching customer.  It tells me that really good people do exist, and that others want to see such behavior.

That is more important than whether my character is believable or not.  It gives me hope.

Books vs. Real life

I had a dream last night.  I don't always remember my dreams, but I woke up in the middle of this one so it stayed fresh in my mind.  At one point in my dream we were at a summer camp and the director felt it his obligation to scare us in the middle of the night with skeletons and ghosts.  I was somewhat disgusted and told him we didn't need the scare treatment.

Okay, so you're wondering where I'm going with this.  It's quite simple really.  In books we want suspense and surprises.  I recently read an article that suggested when writing a book there should always be tension.  This was coming from a screenwriter who knows what makes a good movie.

And it's true.  We want books to spur us on to the next page.  I have stopped reading boring books, but continued to read books that kept me guessing.  I have even kept reading books I didn't really like just to find out what happened in the end.

However, I don't know of many people who want unending tension in their lives or constant surprises around every corner.  I'm not sure why we think we are "escaping" into a book when so often it is not a life we would like.  In fact, our boring lives may seem pretty good after reading about the stresses our fictional heroes are under.  Maybe that's the point.

Involving all our senses

I must admit that I usually relish the quiet.  Those of my early followers will remember my many blogs posted while I wrote at the library.  I wrote there for the quiet it afforded me.

I'm trying something new now.  My sons have introduced me to some good music - what used to be called "easy listening."  (I'm sure they would cringe at the label!)  It is a modern version of folk music.  I am listening while I write.  It's new, but I like it.  It is relaxing and adds to the joy I feel when I write.

I may be getting older, but I can still learn a new trick now and then.

Sick Days

 Today is one of those early fall days - the air is crisp and the leaves are showing tinges of color - and my boys have colds.  School is back in session, so while learning abounds, so do germs.

I can't say that my youngest, the one staying home from school, is that sick.  He's not even the sicker of the two boys.  But when you are in second grade compared with tenth grade it's not that big of a deal to miss a few days of school.

So, he's home watching movies and playing sword fighter (with himself).  He appears to have more energy than I do (and I'm not the sick one).  He is an authentic seven-year-old and I am an authentic somewhat-older-year-old.

If you've read my blog much you know how much I love writing.  And this illustrates a little of why.  I get to write different people, some are young and some are old, some are kind and some are selfish, some are honest and some are devious.  It is fascinating and challenging.  But that's what makes it so rewarding!

Honoring

Today is September 11th, a solemn day of remembrance.  May I suggest we do more than remember?  Honor the memory of those who lost their lives, especially the fire fighters that did so trying to help others.  Honor them by giving service today.

It doesn't matter whether your service be great or small - help a neighbor, say "hi" to a shut in, make a donation somewhere of time or money.  Use your imagination.  But let this day's sorrow be swallowed up by our greatest strength - our ability to care about and for others!

When We Fall Down

Toddlers are such wonderful creatures.  At what other time of life do you see such persistent learning?  Toddlers will build a stack of blocks, knock it down, and build it again - and again - and again.  They walk on unsteady feet and fall down.  But they get up again - and again - and again.

How many of us as adults show such determination?  Life is full of times where we fail or fall.  The measure of our character is shown in our response.  Do we get back up and try again?  Do we quit?  Do we rant and rave about whose fault it is that we fell?

I don't suppose there are too many books where the first draft is what got published.  (In today's world, I might need to exclude the self-published arena from that.)  But it is the ability to learn, to reevaluate, to start over that sets people apart.  It is not easy.  After all, trying again is admitting that the first try was done incorrectly, that we were somehow wrong.  But that pain is washed away when a later attempt does meet our expectations.

Toddlers are eventually rewarded with completed puzzles and tall stacks of blocks and fluid walking.  If you keep trying, what will you be rewarded with?

Drops of Dew

Early in the morning, as if by magic, little drops of dew can be found resting upon blades of grass and porch railings.  While there was no hint of them the evening before, there they are.  And later in the day they will burn off leaving only a trace in our memories.

Little drops of inspiration come to me in the night.  I have no idea when these thoughts will come, and unless I find some way of keeping them in my memory, they will quickly dry up and disappear.  So, I keep a notebook and a pencil by my bed so I can capture them, remember them, use them.  

Much of my current book came to me in just such a manner.  In the morning, I was able to convert my scribblings into the full fledged thoughts they begged to be.  The chef I recently interviewed keeps a notebook handy for ideas he has.  I know of others who have thoughts and ideas blossom in the night. It's a wonderful gift, like manna from heaven.

Interpersonal Dynamics

I've been doing a lot of character studies of late, and my best material comes from real life.  I was part of a group of women who gathered for lunch today, and the dynamics were rather interesting.

This general group has gathered before but not with the exact same participants.  I choose to sit quietly, for the most part, watching what happened.  One woman dominated the conversation.  That was not the interesting part.  It was how the other women responded.  Most of them have been vital participants before, but they became silent observers instead.

So, I suppose when I create my fictional characters, it's good to remember that they might not always act the same way in every situation.  Maybe they will choose to listen and observe.  Maybe they will choose to stand up when they've had enough.  Maybe they will keep me (and you, the reader) guessing.

I imagine the trick to writing any character in a believable manner is to make him or her consistent but variable, consistent with who he or she is, but with the ability to choose to act one way or another.  It is, after all, what makes human beings interesting and yet difficult to totally predict.  Add to that our ability to change over time and we are fascinating creatures.  And maybe that, in and of itself, is worth writing about.

Lazy Days

Today is Labor Day.  In a way that is a misnomer because most of us choose not to "labor" on this day.  My kids are out of school and letting it be one of those days with no purpose.  I suppose I am treating it the same way.  You just need days like that every once in a while.  So, excuse me, but this blog will be brief - although not completely without point.

In the process of editing my book, my daughter pointed out that my dialogue only contained necessary information, not just the normal conversations that we have every day.  While she was not encouraging me to add a lot of inane dialog, she was suggesting I make the conversations that I already had more natural by adding some simple banter.  In other words, to make my book better, to add more flow, some of what is said and done needs to have no point to it.  This is also important since there is an element of mystery in my novel.  I was giving away the farm by only including relevant information.  It will certainly maintain more of that mystery, and be more realistic, if there is more distraction and misdirection and yes, more things that don't have a point.

Who knew a lazy day by being pointless could actually have a point to it?