Thinkin’ on Thursday: Picture This!

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

At times in the past, I have modeled characters’ looks, fashion sense, even personality on unknown models in magazines. I’ve even cut them out and then built characteristics for that person on the same page or on a 4×6 card. Or I’ve envisioned an old time actor (or a current one, for that matter) as my “hero,” “villain,” “sidekick,” or whomever.

I’m going to suggest another way to utilize pictures of unknowns from magazines or books to help your writing (and the above paragraph has some good ideas too: if you’ve never tried it, give it a go and see what you think). Look through a magazine or illustrated book, preferably one you haven’t read already, or an old one you’ve forgotten all about. Find a picture with at least two main “characters” on it. THINK of these two as major characters in a story you haven’t yet thought through.

Just allow them to begin interacting with each other. Don’t “plan” ahead (this will be a good one for all of us ‘pantsers’), because this is designed to give us practice in a more “organic” method of plot construction. Just start “recording” the story’s events and let them spin out in front of you. Pay attention to other props or objects that appear in the ad or picture. If there are other people in the picture, ignore them for the moment. See how or why the two might interact with the props, objects, bits of scenery, in the picture with them. Record items and events as faithfully as possible without thinking about the “rules” of story plot structure.

Once you’ve recorded the scene, note whether your characters interacted with or used any of the props, etc., given them by the picture. What did they do with items there? Twiddle nervously with papers on a desk? Pick up a coffee cup and look for a refill? Grab a hammer or bucket of paint, intending to use it as a weapon?

How did your characters interact with each other? Were they friends or strangers at the start? What relationship was forged during the scene: adversarial? Conciliatory? Pleading? Helpful? and so on.

Go ahead. This is just a writer’s PLAY ground. Have FUN in it ! ! !

(And, at the end, is there anything salvageable there? Can it be incorporated in your current WIP? Is it the beginning of a short story? An article? An editorial? A children’s book? Even a brand‑new novel?)

See you next for Saturday’s Spellbinder!

Thinkin’ on Thursday: Women’s Wise Words by the (Baker’s) Dozen

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

I’m thinkin’ about women: women of power—women writers, women movers and shakers, women artists of all types. I’m thinkin’ about women I’d like to emulate, follow, know, and have a sit‑down lunch with. Women whose wise words have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, made me think. Made me take action. Here are a few of the best of them:

A woman whose books touched me in so many ways: “[My mother] said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understand of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~ Maya Angelou

A woman whose songs touched me, and a whole nation, a whole world: “It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. They words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page. ~ Joan Baez

A woman whose voice and twinkle of the eye I still miss: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.'” ~ Erma Bombeck

A woman whose legend inspired me: “It is necessary to try to pass one’s self always; this occupation ought to last as long as life.” ~ Queen Christina of Sweden

A woman who made herself what she needed to be to flourish in her own lifetime: “It always seemed to me a sort of clever stupidity only to have one sort of talent—like a carrier pigeon.” ~ George Eliot

A woman who only became more beautiful as she aged: “I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they’re good—or there because they’re lucky.” ~ Katherine Hepburn

A woman whose strength grew over time into a towering figure: “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” ~ Helen Keller

A woman who inspires me to keep writing: “If you’re going to write, don’t pretend to write down. It’s going to be the best you can do, and it’s the fact that it’s the best you can do that kills you.” ~ Dorothy Parker

A woman whose words I loved even before I could read: “Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.” ~ Beatrix Potter

A much admired woman whose life matched her words: “You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A woman whose soaring voice made my soul soar as well: “There is a growing strength in women; but it’s in the forehead, not in the forearm.” ~ Beverly Sills

A woman whose strength encompassed a nation: “One only gets to the top rung on the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of abilities which you thought NEVER belonged to you—suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, ‘Well, I’ll have a go, too.'” ~ Margaret Thatcher

And finally, an unnamed woman who offers hope in times of stress: “Fear gives intelligence even to fools.” ~ Anonymous

See you next on Saturday’s Spellbinder!

These quotes came from a Treasury of Women’s Quotations, by Carolyn Warner, Prentice Hall, 1992, in 1998, through the hand of a strong woman whose friendship and laughter I still treasure: Connie Burrup.