The coda

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 11:32:40 EST

[Avec moi! Feet together, back straight, head up...and bend those knees, bend them, until your taut little buttocks bounce on the ground...le grand plie, if you please! and up, up, up again, slowly and gracefully, that's it, now down again! and two two three four...that, my dear one, is ballet!]

The ending.

The question--posed from the very beginning--elaborated, swollen in importance, with the highest stakes possible hanging on it--diligently explored, extended and enlarged, perhaps even eviscerated through the actions and reactions of the ensemble of characters--comes now to the climax. The blade is poised overhead, the sun glints on that sharpened edge, and the reader holds their breath...

The protagonist, pushed to the edge of the cliff, hanging on by the merest sore hangnail, twisting in the breeze of the impending hurricane, down to her last nickel or dime--will she tumble down to the depths or make an incredible effort of the soul and shaking muscles to rise up and confound the cursed cat that is biting (oh, well, this was out of control a few lines ago, so let's let the nonsense be nonsense and skip right on...)

Okay, here's one approach. For this, you can use a story you haven't finished or one that already has an ending.

1. Write out the question (the goal, the problem, the point!) of the tale.

2. Now make a list of at least five different climaxes (conclusions, ways for the protagonist to win or lose, realizations/satori, etc.) Five is good, ten is better.

3. Pick one of the less obvious ones. For example, suppose the protagonist simply pulls Snidely Whiplash over the cliff and tumbles to their mutual destruction, secure in the knowledge that her beloved horse will be safe from his whip from now on...

4. Write up that scene. You want to make this scene really work for your reader--they've been following along, wondering, waiting, and now comes the point of the whole story. Don't disappoint them, make this the key to the whole story.

5. Polish it. You want to make the reader really enjoy this. Make them sweat over whether Nell can pull herself up that cliff, or whatever the climax you have picked, and give them solid, well-paced writing that makes the scene come alive for them.

That's it. Just a reminder to work on the end, and keep it in shape.

[Now, for something completely different...a man with three...oh, you've heard that before? well...

here are five words for you to use in a tale if you like...

esteem bulwark mettle garland libertine

and for the one line beginning folk:

The tantamount, on mistletoe and foggitheel, did drift a fine hoboken dance that New Year's night before us all.

a toughie, but I'll bet someone feels that itch, that sniffle of words about to sneeze out on the screen or paper, that glorious grinding of mental gears that heralds the best of fairydust in blinking eyes...

WRITE!

and back to the barre...hand up, arm bent, gracefully bow, forehead to knee, and curtsy with courtesy. thank you, and good night...]

Follow the yellow sunshine...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting: Dec. 22, 1995

[where should we start? why, start at the beginning, and go on until you find the end...so here's a beginning!]

The setting sun laid a golden path across the tops of the waves.

Jeanne licked her lips and looked back once. Then she raised her head and looked straight out at the horizon, set her foot on the bright rippling way, and walked firmly across the water and into...

[oho! we're off, adventures cascading, the reality of the worlds molding around our excitement, the dreams unfurling into the now...and remember, you are there. Tell me a story, please?]

Christmas Bells

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Dec. 21, 1995

Just a short list of notions that you might use to avoid growing morose around the inlaws, outlaws, and other grotesques of the season...

1. Who are these people? Imagine you are writing a character sketch for your old chum tink, and provide enough details to make these people come to life. Don't forget, tink doesn't know them even if you do!

2. The perfect gift... Imagine that through the magic of the season, a box containing exactly the right gift for each person has been hidden amongst the others. What is in there--and what does it do to the person? (You may use stockings, life situations, concrete emotions, and other personifications as needed, but make sure it is exactly the perfect gift, something straight out of the fables and myths if needed)... Think about writing this up, too!

3. The guest who didn't come. In certain traditions, an empty chair is left for another guest. Let your imagination go, and tell us about the guest(s) who didn't come to the party--but should have! If you prefer, you may do the variation of having that guest walk in!

4. The Alien Anthropologist. Having landed her saucer in the back woods, she observes the strange rites being participated in. What does she make of the backslapping, handshaking, destruction of decorated paper, and other little oddities? What does she report to her students about the curious natives?

5. Details, details, details... sing a song, make a snow angel, watch that old movie--but do it with your writing eyes open! again, you want to write a description of this little piece with all the senses open (how does a song smell? what do you hear when you are singing at full offkey? did you taste something when you sat your bare buns down in the snow? what precisely is the sparkle in the child's eyes when they come down at 5:30 a.m. Christmas morning--and the shuffle in your feet? What is the Obi Wan Cafe doing in the beginning of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"?)

6. (extra credit!) Tell your family about writing! Ask them what writers they like, books they remember, poetry that they really love...you may be surprised at the responses!!! You can even do a reading, or a round robin, or...help a kid write something, and see the world through their eyes...

so I expect to see writing... and have a great vacation!