What our characters hide

This morning I was watching a little girl in Church who obviously didn't feel well. She didn't appear very ill, but was out of sorts enough that she was snuggling into her mother's lap for comfort. Another boy was crying hysterically, oblivious to the people around him, because - well the best I could tell from the broken sobs was that he wanted something and mom wouldn't let him have it.

I was in Church and should have been focusing on the purpose for being there, but the writer in me had something else in mind. Watching those children got me to thinking how open young children are about their feelings. No pretenses, no fake smiles.

That got me to thinking about a conversation I'd had recently about how good people are at hiding what's really going on in their lives. We were discussing this in the context of suicide. Unfortunately I've attended two wakes in the past few years for people who took their own lives. In both instances, the people had been under a doctor's care for mental illness and both they appeared to be doing well. Given that they took their own lives, appearances were deceptive.
We were discussing that and how good people are at hiding their feelings when they don't want you to know what they're thinking. The other woman commented that we never know what's really going on when people go into their homes and close their doors behind them.

This morning that conversation came to mind when I was watching the little children. When do we go from being so open to hiding our deepest fears and cares? More to the point of this blog though, do we reflect that tendency in the characters we write?

I know I've read many books where physical beauty is obscured for one reason or another, but what about emotions? Of course there are many books where someone pretends something to further the plot, but I'm talking about something more. Something that would bring richer characterization.

I'm going to pay more attention to looking for this in the books I'm reading, but I'd love to hear thoughts. Is this something we do? Or should do more of? Or am I making too much of it. Maybe I should just have been paying better attention to the homily. ;)

A Perfect Day

For all the talk of Super Bowl commercials, I've always found the ones that air during the Olympics to be more memorable. A few of them this year stand out.

The P&G Moms ad wrenches my heart.






The GE Say Ahh healthymagination one has me humming along.



McDonalds is airing the Filet-O-Fish one again. That one gets stuck in my head until I want to scream. Out of the kindness of my heart, I won't link it and torture anyone else.

My favorite earworm of a commercial though has to be AT&T's Perfect Day. It's been playing on repeat in my brain for days. Today I especially love it because it captures my mood. I had a perfect writing day. I'm loving my new story and all the plot points are falling into line as I work through the story.




Ah perfect day indeed.

Beginning again

I doubt there's even anyone reading here anymore because my blogging has been so sporadic. While school's in session, I keep up my class blog daily but my writing mind is more focused on getting my daily words done than on blogging. It is probably something I should do to keep in a conscious writing state though.
As I write that, I'm thinking of all the craft books sitting on my shelves. I'd love to have a group of people work through some of them together - but that's probably a tad ambitious for a blogger who has no following. ;)


Anyway, since we're on break this week and I've had time to dedicate to writing (when the Olympics weren't distracting me), I've been thinking about a new story. I've got one I'm working on, but I'm the kind of writer who needs to let things marinate before I'm ready to write so I'm thinking ahead to the next project.

Right now my process reminds me a little bit of choosing off the old Chinese menus. I've got a bunch of scenes and ideas swirling in my head and I'm trying to cull out what belongs together and decide what is really a different story. So I'm taking a character from Column A and examining the choices in Column B. What works together? What feels right - or wrong? Looking to Column C for the conflict - so many choices but which one will complement the previous selections?

Enough of the Chinese menus. I'm only getting hungry. Maybe I need to pull out a different analogy and just go play with my characters.

So while we're off exploring, if anyone happens to stop by, please share your processes for beginning a new story.

Storytelling

We are so consumed with the details of getting the story just right - in print. Someone sent me this link to another kind of detailed storytelling. AMAZING - and I think it speaks for itself.

From Ukraine's Got Talent. WOW!

That lovely post-Christmas lull

I think I love the day after Christmas even more than Christmas Day. The decorations are still up, everything still looks festive, but there's an allowable laziness factor.

All the prep, all the pomp and circumstance are done and now I get to relax and just be lazy. I spent this rainy afternoon snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a good book. The dog slept with his head in my lap while I read. A tranquil, lazy afternoon. Sheer perfection.

I've always loved the day after. One of my strongest childhood memories of Christmas is of waking up on the 26th and looking over at my neatly stacked pile of presents and knowing I had the entire day to enjoy them. I'm not sure what ever became of that mustard-colored sweater, but I sure did love it then.

I hope everyone had a fabulous day celebrating and I wish you all a lovely day of doing whatever you choose - even if it's nothing at all!

Thank you to all who have served.

To Be Determined

I wasn't sure whether to call this The Grass is Always Greener or Saying Goodbye to a Dream.

You decide.

Here's the thing. For as long as I can remember, I've gotten a terrific rush from writing - except not really. The rush comes from the beginning of the creative process, the better-than-drugs euphoria that accompanies a new story idea or a solution to a particularly thorny plot or motivation obstacle.

But like with any drug, the euphoria wears off. That's when creative lethargy settles in.

A similar scenario sets in when I'm anticipating large blocks of time to write. The anticipation is exhilarating. My enthusiasm knows no bounds and I can't wait to get started. Until I have the time. And then - the blahs set in. At this point, I'd clean rather than sit in front of the computer.

So what does this all mean? Well - either I'm a struggling writer, I'm lazy, or I'm a realist who is lowering her expectations. If the last seems confusing, consider this article in the Economist called Mild and Bitter: The Evolutionary Origin of Depression with a subtitle: Depression may be linked to how willing someone is to give up his goals.

Here's a brief excerpt:

Dr Nesse’s hypothesis is that, as pain stops you doing damaging physical things, so low mood stops you doing damaging mental ones—in particular, pursuing unreachable goals. Pursuing such goals is a waste of energy and resources. Therefore, he argues, there is likely to be an evolved mechanism that identifies certain goals as unattainable and inhibits their pursuit—and he believes that low mood is at least part of that mechanism.

So, does that mean that when I get the blahs each time I sit down to write, it's my subconscious telling me I'll never attain my goals and should go do something useful (like clean the toilet) instead?

Or am I just a procrastinator extraordinaire who always finds the grass in the other pasture greener so if I had to clean that toilet, I'd be lamenting the lost writing time?

What do you think? Not about me, but about the premise of the article.