giraffe

On rereading (A TREE) I'm thinking I should have switched verses 1 & 2.

Doug

giraffe: I like (A tree) and I do apologize and I never do this so yell if you like, but how about instead of switching verses 1 and 2..

A kiosk with a strobe like neon sign
flashes ostensibly, reflecting back in
a puddle of murky water.
My shoes plodding on to some strange muse.

The extravagance is over. It culminates
in sullen apathy. It strangles me.
I don't want it anymore.

I think putting it in present tense makes it stronger and i do apologize for switching some words out. Hope this helps, but if it doesn't blame Q for making thing of being helpful (nosey).

marius

giraffe, I like it! Didn't find 'sick humor' nor think 'pathethic, but certainly found a mood. And, agree with you ... switching first and second verses does seem better.

Particularly like the way this verse feels (when I read it/see it in my mind):
"A newspaper kiosk, a street lamp, a neon sign
flashing ostensibly, reflected in a puddle of water
and my dirty shoes plodding on to some strange muse."

Doug

-thing + me think of being helpful.

Qsilv

Doug - ; P

giraffe - interestingly, I read the suggestions about reversal first, then backed up a page to read your original. Read that several times, trying to convince myself each way, but I have to say, only one way works for me... and that's the way you originally submitted it! It draws me in, in perfect cadence.

Marius - "with Anthony it was the way he used his voice to say things that words couldn’t say... (snip) ...and later, when she walked to her car, people turned to stare at her without knowing why." --that is the core and it has me smiling clear to my own core.

marius

Q, agree with your edit and tee hee, and before I changed it to get reach the 321 word count, it was like your edit. [Funny, I didn't like the change but 'wanted to be done!' Think I just got a lesson on listening to ones self. Tee hee, tricky!]

Glad the ending had you, "smiling clear to (your) own core." I like the ending too.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --
Now, to try to answer midnight's four questions.
1. How do you write?
2. What is the process you go through when taking a list and count and turning it into something else?
3. Where do your ideas come from/what inspires you?
4. What's your editing process? (maybe I'm just a little too curious)...

1. At the beginning of writing, I like to let loose, no thoughts to grammar, punctuation... just let ideas tumble out. When I do that, some idea will usually jump out and say, "Me! Write about me!"

2. How word lists seem to work for me: I respond emotionally to words so when your word list was posted, midnight, creative processes went into shock. Some of the words on the list, I rarely use. (synchronized, ostensibly, malice, apathy and strangle ... might use apathetic, but rarely apathy.) Then there was the problem that while all the words are okay individually, the way I feel about them together is that about half the words are not words that I'd ask to "get along and be nice" in the same piece of writing. So, I've had problems getting inspired with this word list because it requires using words for which I don't feel a resonance and using combinations of words that don't resonate, for me anyway.

When I was writing my last piece, I finally said, "This is the last time I'm doing this. The words provide a structure, but now the structure has become a nasty little anchor, not letting the writing go where it wants to go." I imagine this can happen with any list of words ... so please understand this is not a complaint about your word list. Well, wait ... yes, it is a complaint but it's based on MY personal stuff. ; ) The words in this list that "speak" to me are: kiosk, muse, garland and a little bit, extravagant.

3. Not sure where my ideas come from. Have noticed reading TD forums, that things people talk about stir up ideas. Otherwise, think my ideas come from personal experience or anything for which stirs up particular clusters of feelings.

4. Editing process varies. Might spend hours on one thing and less than an hour on another. I like to read everything aloud because that helps to hear where things don't flow. When a piece is almost done, I like to see if there are better ways to arrange it and then sometimes that means an almost complete re-write. Sometimes I think editing is the most fun. Also like to look for what doesn't 'ring true.' These are the places where I'm trying to force something that doesn't want to be there. When I find those places and dump them or rework them, it feels like finally getting someone to scratch that unreachable place on the back. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Thanks for your questions midnight, it was fun to think about!

marius

This is an example of letting things tumble out with no editing, "Q, agree with your edit and tee hee, and before I changed it to get reach the 321 word count, it was like your edit."

lmao at self! (There's a quote on our fridge that says, "Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused." Don't know who said it ... but, yes! ; )

giraffe

Doug. You're right on the tenses. I mixed them up, but i like the original structure of dirty shoes plodding on to a strange muse. There's a compromise in there.

Marius. Thanks. Laugh at yourself. NOW!

Qsilv. Ostensibly is always my awkward word, Also garland is tough for me. I like the malicious strangulation. The lists give us a jumping off point and without that, we might not be doing this at all. Even if something sounds weird, it brings out some new thought that could be edited (later on when the teacher's not looking).

marius

giraffe - I AM laughing at myself, right NOW! : )

You wrote: "The lists give us a jumping off point and without that, we might not be doing this at all. Even if something sounds weird, it brings out some new thought that could be edited (later on when the teacher's not looking)." Good point. I am re-writing my story so it flows better to me ... and yes, without the word list I complained about (sorry midnight), I might not have had that story to be able to re-work it now. ; )

So there! Go to your room!

Doug

marius: Love your answers to midnights questions. You belong in ThinkWrite! You have a natural ability to write and get into the give and take that is as much a part of ThinkWrite as the word list and stories. I hope you continue to be a part of this.

Even though I've written more than a few for this thread I too have trouble with this list. The words just don't flow together. I get hung up on a couple of them. Kiosk being the biggest offender. Where in the heck do you find a kiosk except at the mall and its usually some knock off product being sold there. (sorry midnight). But with that said, we have to deal with it and that is part of the process and I think what makes the "discussion" and the stories even more enjoyable!

No editing done on this message so be forewarned.

marius

Doug, thanks for kind words. Sorry you're stuggling with the list, but thanks for sharing that cause now I know ... I'm not the dreaded "only one." (tee hee) And, I AM having fun on TW!

Dragon

Some times the difficult words are a chore to fit in and sometimes their what gets you thinking of a particular story altogether. Kiosk was the word that my whole story was built around.

I once had a teacher who had us do an excercise in free-writing. Free-writing is where you set a time limit and then spend the whole time writing. It doesn't need to make sense, it can just be what ever is on your mind at the time but during the whole time period your pen must always be writing something (or your fingers typing). You find that you struggle at first just to find something to write about but one idea flows into another much like an animated conversation. Our teacher had us read through our free-writing piece and find something in it to write an essay about. My essay ended up being about dreams because in part of my free-writing I had told a dream that I'd had recently. It was a really interesting way to get a starting point for something and kind of a neat way to challenge yourself and see whats really going on in your own head. I think psychologists might use this in therapy too.

Qsilv

I've been thinking about the process ever since midnightpoet asked.... AND what a wonderful addition these ramblings are to the ThinkWrite threads.

Not sure when this one ends... hope to get my own "process" thing figured/written/posted some time today...

...right now I'm just flying thru at supersonic speed, but absolutely want to say how much joy you all are giving!

mouse

Doug--Re: Simply Beautiful. My kind of story.

I have been watching this time--I can't seem to come up with a story.

mouse

Doug-- Re" JEB-- sorry left title out.

mouse

Midnight Poet --
You ask "How do you write?". From what I have read on here most, if not all, of you have had some kind of writing class or have been writting for a very long time.

I have never had a writing class. Actually I was not much of a reader until about 10 years ago. Didn't like to read but now I read all the time.

I don't know that I have a style or a way to write. A word will get me to think of something and I go from there. Like the word Kiosk makes me I think of a mall or festival.

I remember hearing somewhere you should right about what you know. Maybe that is why I struggle so much here. ( I guess I don't have a lot of life's experiences to write about )

Still, this is a kind of adventure for me. Something I have not really done before ( except writing my family history and that was facts not fiction)

So , bear with me and I will keep trying.

marius

Mouse your comments brought up a smile from deep in the heart. Thank you for that!

You wrote: "I remember hearing somewhere you should write about what you know. Maybe that is why I struggle so much here. (I guess I don't have a lot of life's experiences to write about.) ... So , bear with me and I will keep trying."

Okay ... some curious things:
1. There is a sense I get that you, dear Mouse, have a treasure-trove of experiences to write about. Tee hee, one of them might be knocking on your door right now! : )

2. In TW XXXIV, Doug and giraffe welcomed the baton-carrier with a 'torrent of scary.' Their antics got me to wondering what sits on my bookshelves. Yes, could have listed many of the books, but suddenly there was motivation to give the collection a *serious* review. What surprising discoveries!

The one that surprised the most was realizing that I DO read scary books - just not the fiction kind. The second biggest surprise was finding a book I bought and read in 1987 and have not opened since! I started reading that book two days ago and what you wrote made me think of it. The book is called, "If You Want to Write, A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit," by Brenda Ueland. Think I am loving this book more than when I read it 23 years ago! Here are some quotes I particularly like.

"I have been writing a long time and have learned some things, not only from my own long hard work, but from a writing class I had for three years. In this class were all kinds of people: prosperous and poor, stenographers, housewives, salesmen, cultivated people and little servant girls who had never been to high school, timid people and bold ones, slow and quick ones. This is what I learned: that everybody is talented, original and has something important to say." (chapter 1, pg. 3)

"Everyone is TALENTED because everybody who is human has something to express. Try *not* expressing anything for twenty-four hours and see what happens." (chapter 1, pg. 4)

marius

And, after typing in those quotes, I went on-line to read about Ms. Euland. Tee hee - found a quote that, for reasons I can't quite explain (wink), makes me think of Baldur, and now Dragon too .... hehehe ....

"I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten, - happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another." -Brenda Euland

giraffe

Hey, Mouse. I think the 'writing from experience' thing is over-rated. I promise I've never been a lady stumbling at night with a broken heel, or a transsexual, or on an alien planet, or probably from most of the things I write. I just have fun and let the imagination go.

mouse

Marius & Giraffe.

Thank You both for your thoughtful comments.

Marius, I believe I will look for the book you mentioned in the local library and I will check her out on the web.

Oh, I think I do hear a knock at the door--LOL


Giraffe--I actually laughed out loud at your "non- experience" comment--Made me feel good.

My favorite author is Elizabeth Peters. I have always been intrigued by archeology and her mysteries set in the Egyptian ruins, speak to me.

Though it is not a book (yet) I love "LOST". Those writers have some imagination. Again --Thanks