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Posts Tagged ‘creative writing’

Extended Metaphor #1

Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 16 May 2013| 2 Comments »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiAs part of my natural writing exercises, I’ve been encouraging my right brain to “do its thing.” As a result, I’ve noticed  a growing number of metaphors and some interesting imagery creeping into my day.

Yesterday, I watched an interesting video about metronomes and a striking metaphor came to my mind.

The video shows 32 metronomes (for you non-musical types, they’re the little tick-tock timekeepers musicians often use to keep a steady beat), and the videographer starts them all out of synch. The sound is a chaotic rush of ticking, like a river of hazelnuts clattering downstream. Now, if the metronomes had been on a table or other solid, static surface, they would continue this way, but the videographer has put them on a moveable surface (it looks like a suspended sheet of foam rubber). As each metronome swings its arm and counterbalance, a tiny amount of its force is imparted to its neighbor. The result was fascinating.

It’s only 4 minutes long, and rather mesmerizing in its way.

Go. Watch it. I’ll wait. (more…)

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Celluloid Dreams

Posted in Culture, Movies, tagged , , , , , , , on 14 May 2013| 2 Comments »

Bogie and BacallYesterday, after posting about “Persuasion,” I asked my online peeps what their favorite on-screen kiss was. I did not ask for Best; I asked for Favorite.

When Best walks in the door, it has Judgment on one arm and Argument on the other, while Favorite is pure opinion. You can’t argue or judge someone’s favorite. Best is an opinion. Favorite…Favorite just is.

The list was interesting, and I was surprised by each and every response, in one way or another. Some choices hinted at the flip-side of my friends’ personal coin. Others were obvious sentimental choices. Others were temporal, tied more to a time or event than to the movie itself. All were illuminating, and I can easily see how any of them could be someone’s favorite.

As with everything, this is all grist for the novelist’s Character Creation mill. The quirks and quiet, inner details of personalities fascinate. People are like fractals: the deeper you look, the more detail you see.

Here’s the list. Feel free to add yours in comments! (more…)

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Exit 175

Posted in Writing, tagged , , on 08 May 2013| Leave a Comment »

Gossamer Wheel

Exit 175

water bubbles up
through concrete and macadam
past stone and brickwork
a quiet spring

a seeping thread of clear water
it cleanses my singing tires
rises in hissing mist
makes rainbows in the rising sun

the natural world lives on
despite manmade bonds
lies quietly beneath my feet
like grass in cracked pavement

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Spit in the Ashes

Posted in Culture, tagged , , , , on 07 May 2013| 1 Comment »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiI’m in serious Writing-Avoidance Mode.

May brings the first Mother’s Day and my mom’s birthday since her passing in December. Family business and concerns literally wake me up at night. My day job has been a frenzy of frustration and chaos. I can’t focus on anything requiring mental acuity for very long, so the garden and household-repair projects are all I can manage.

Writing? What’s that?

But I did come across this interesting article in the Washington Post. A new study has found that several words have a much longer history than we thought possible. (more…)

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XX vs XY

Posted in Culture, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 02 May 2013| 2 Comments »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiWhen I build my characters, I like a full picture. As I practice this craft, I get better at it. My pictures are more complete each time, and one reason for this is Observation.

Observation teaches two things. First, it shows me actual characteristics, physical and mental, that I can use to build my characters. Appearances, mannerisms, vocal traits, behaviors, they all add to a complete portrait. The second thing observation teaches is types. Yes, I’m sorry to say, but people generally can be classed into types.

Understanding types is important because, when I go against type, I want to know it.

Example: by and large, men are more into sports than women. Yes, I know…some women are sports nuts and I’m not saying they aren’t; I’m saying that, in general, men are more likely to have an interest in sports than women. So, will I never write a female character who’s into sports? No, I might do that in this next book. But if I do, I need to know that the characteristic puts the character in the minority. Why? Because if a character is in the minority of her peers, that might shape her, one way or another.

To this point, an interesting characteristic has been discussed on a couple of boards. It’s a characteristic I hadn’t thought of before, but it’s an important one. I’d like to share it with you, and get your feedback.

It has to do with men and women and the friends they have. (more…)

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Doggerel Day Afternoon

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on 30 Apr 2013| 4 Comments »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiOver the weekend, I experimented with the “clustering” technique, with mixed success.

It is a great idea generation tool, and similar to Ray Bradbury’s morning word association ritual, can seemingly bring something out of nothing. It needs a seed, a kernel from which to grow, so it’s not literally “from nothing,” but that kernel can just be the first word that pops into your head. I’ve had success before, born of this sort of free-wheeling (my Ploughman Chronicles started from just such a random idea generation technique), but what clustering provides is a definite method.

Another way I found it of use is in focusing and honing an idea I already had. I used it when I created “25 Hz,” posted yesterday. I already had the idea, born of a crappy mood and a little cat therapy, but didn’t know exactly what I wanted to say. Clustering around the word “purr” gave me a page of word associations and–to my surprise–almost all of them appeared in the short poem.

However, there was one area in which I found clustering to be of no use whatsoever: Rhyming.

Yesterday, I got the bit of doggerel stuck in my head. I knew the start. I knew the finish. I just needed help with the in-between bits, all of which needed to fit in with a strict meter and rhyming scheme. Here, clustering failed me, utterly. To finish, I had to resort to an old school method; I slept on it.

(more…)

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25 Hz

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on 29 Apr 2013| 3 Comments »

the number on her breath—
inward, louder
outward, gentler
my scent pulled in
peace exhaled
jewel eyes half-lidded
surrounded by safety
in this moment
my hand along her fur
—is a purr of love at 25 Hz

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