TECH: Can you see that?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 19 Jan 2012

This has been an interesting week. Last week, one day Mitsuko looked at me and said, "What's that?" She was staring at my face. I said something intelligent like, "What's what?" She said, "That thing on your eyelid." When I went and looked at the mirror, I had a red spot swelling up on my left eyelid. It didn't hurt. And I had had a similar spot last year that went away by itself. So I wasn't particularly worried. Yet.

However, Mitsuko asked the experts -- she talked to her friends. And this is where things got scary. So many of them upon hearing about this immediately dug up their horror stories. Joe lost his eye! Our dog gets those and the veterinarian just does a little surgery every time. There was that man who... The stories just seemed to get worse and worse. What was growing on my eyelid, and how bad would it get?

So on Tuesday, we went to the eye clinic. I didn't really want to go, but those scary stories! When we got there, the first steps were very quick. Fill in this form, thank you, now go sit in the big waiting room. Barker Michael? Please come over here. Take your glasses off and look into this. A strange purple light shined in one eye, then it shined in the other eye. Can I see your glasses? The girl was looking at them and I remembered to say that they are progressives, bifocals so that the top and bottom are different.

Then she invited me to come sit over here, facing the display on the wall. Take your glasses off, and put your head in here. One eye is covered, but the other one... There's no lenses! She had a large C on a white background -- a circle with a hole on one side. She stood practically in front of me and asked me where the hole was. Right. She took a step back, turning the test gadget in a well practiced maneuver that hid which direction she turned it, almost a magician's spin. Where is the opening now? I had to ask where the gadget was. She laughed, and we tried the other eye. Again, I didn't see very much. So we had confirmed that I am profoundly nearsighted. Next she tried putting lenses on, and having me identify directions on the chart on the wall -- it's the same circle with a hole on one side, ranging from fairly large to specks that I have to assume are the same, because I've never seen them. As usual, the final step where they say is this better or that, sliding a final adjustment in and out, was mostly just confusing.

Next, I got to sit again. Two hours in the waiting room. At about 4:30, they announced that they were doing the 2:30 appointments! But eventually, I got to see the doctor. Who did a few more checks on my eyes, then looked at the eyelid and laughed. She said it's a little bit of fat building up in the pores -- a common zit! She did say there is a little bit of infection, and prescribed eye drops and a salve to put on.

So after all the scary stories, and most of an afternoon spent sitting in a waiting room, the end result is that there's nothing to worry about.

However, thinking back about those stories that the friends told us, I realized that there's a lesson here for the storyteller. After all, friends don't tell you about all of those times when these symptoms turned out to be nothing major. No, the ones they pass along are the medical horror tales. The cancer, the amputation, the permanent disability, the "oh my" tales. In the same way, I suppose our stories really should push the edges, or at least skirt them. An average guy on an average day doing average stuff... Well, it's just not much of a story. Joe Average (Everyman is his middle name) facing unusual challenges and problems... Now, that's better!

So write!

TECH: 6x6: Getting Started!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 22 Jan 2012

Okay. Quick ways to get an idea for your very own 6x6 story (or any other story, for that matter).

1. Dictionary!

Almost every online dictionary offers a "word of the day" which can be helpful. For example, over here http://dictionary.reference.com/ they were giving out remora when I wrote this (although the meaning -- an obstacle, hindrance, or obstruction? Wait, I thought a remora was a fish that went with a shark... later! :-) But one word doth not a story make, right? Well...

Go over here http://www.ypass.net/misc/dictionary/index.php?random=1 and you can get a random word. Refresh the page, and you get another one. Plus, you can select verbs and nouns, for example. So you might select a noun, a verb, and another noun -- filling out the pattern noun-verb-noun to make a sentence. E.g. I got "feather ball", "work", and "Norfolk jacket" so I might have a sentence like "The feather ball worked over the Norfolk jacket." Or maybe against? Anyway, you get the idea.

And best of all, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Dictionary.htm gives you a list of several words, all at once! The start of the list I got was "city, driveway, now, sprint, read, daisy, surveillance, and doily" -- imagine trying to use those in a story? Or just take the five across the top -- homeland, liking, consult, holland, dish.

Anyway, random words from a dictionary sometimes can be the tinder where the fire starts. So pick your words and link them up!

2. Pictures. Nope, dictionaries aren't going to do it? How about pictures? If you google "random pictures" there are sites out there devoted to just this! Although most of them seem to be aimed at funny pictures. Or you could toss something into the google image search and see what you find there. Take a look at CNN -- the Daily Snapshop over here
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/06/travel/daily-snapshot/index.html?hpt=hp_bn3 which is actually 7 pictures -- pick one, and tell us what's going on there.

3. Jokes. Oh, did you hear the one about... Yipes! I did a search for jokes, and everybody and their brother seems to have a joke list. However, the first ones I looked at... well, maybe my idea of humor isn't quite what they have? Anyway, yes, if you can find a list of jokes that makes you laugh, you might consider using that as a seed for a story! Just don't yuck it up, okay?

4. Urban Legends. Our friend Snopes over here http://www.snopes.com/ has more urban legends than anyone could read. But hit the randomizer, or the Hot 25, and see if you get inspired. What if... there was some truth in that legend?

5. Plots. Take a look at 20 Master Plots (psst? Try this list, if you like http://writercises.livejournal.com/47510.html ). Or any of the other wonderful lists of plots -- quest, revenge, love, adenture, one against the odds? Or do you prefer journey and return, betrayal and revenge, boy meets girl, overcoming opposition, rescuing the victim, overcoming monsters, finding treasure, sin and redemption, impersonation, comdey, and come to realize? Or... pick a framework or list of plots, and consider doing one. Or part of one? Now, add characters and setting, and write!

6. Quotes. This will take some work. First, go somewhere like http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 and take a look at a collection of say 10 random quotes. Pick 3. Now, write your story around those philosophical concepts, those jokes in wordy disguise, those realizations. The hard part here is that random quotes, while typically amusing and witty, often don't exactly suggest characters, scenes, actions, and all that directly. So you will have to work a bit more to wring the story out of the quotes, but... You can do it!

Okay? Some seeds to sprinkle into your 6x6 garden. Then urge them to grow!

and WRITE!

FILL: The little daily stories

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting 23 Jan 2012

I was pondering this morning the difficulty that we all have with coming up with a story. And yet, when we sit down at lunch, in a coffee shop, or just with the telephone, there never seems to be a shortage of things to talk about.

Did you see...? No? Let me tell you about it.

Did you know...? That's right, and then...

I just don't understand... Back when..., I...

Those daily stories. Pieces from the news, our life, our friends and family, television shows, things we read on the net, we blend all of those bits and pieces into little tales, little stories, with themes and cliffhangers and interest all the time. We describe events and characters, we evoke car accidents, vistas of wonder, little comic scenarios, all kinds of story stuff.

Then we sit down and say, "I want to tell a story." And suddenly... It all goes away.

Maybe instead of telling a story, imagine for a minute that your friend is sitting there. And you want to tell them about that funny thing that happened the other day. Go ahead. Just talk to your friend about that daydream that you had, the strange way that secretary piled the papers on the edge of the desk until they fell off, or whatever it is. Now imagine telling your friend another story, one that you came up with just for fun. Make your friend laugh, make your friend cry, make your friend lean forward and say, "And then what happened?"

Sure, it may not be a great story. But you know, it's a story.

FILL: The little daily stories

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 25 Jan 2012

"Good story telling, either verbal or written, is not always natural."

Very true. I'm not at all sure it is ever natural. But...

I'm not sure how to say this best.

Yep, good story writing, good story telling, is hard. It takes time, it takes practice, it takes trying things out and watching what happens and then thinking about it and trying again and again and again -- it's work! And just like every other mastery... well, the research shows that 10 years and a million words will get you started. So it isn't something that just happens naturally.

But, on the other hand, we do talk a lot. Maybe we're more patient with each other than we should be, but we do talk and listen, helping each other out, drawing out the interesting points, laughing when there's something funny, making it easier to tell that story about the time when...

And it may not be the greatest story, or even particularly good, but it's a story.

All I meant was that instead of trying too hard to tell deep, meaningful stories, maybe it is easier to start with the little daily stories.

I don't want to get into the question of whether everyone can tell stories or not. Although, I have to admit, as a teacher, part of what I'm supposed to do is try to unlock whatever abilities are there and help build them up as far as possible, so I've got a vested interest in at least assuming that just about everyone can do more than we might expect -- although what's needed to get them started and keep them going to the point where they are reasonably good at it can be tough. But the good news is that the folks around here (WRITERS, that is) want to tell stories -- and this is a game where desire can certainly help push things along, even though it also takes a passel of hard work and practice.

So! What the heck. Sit down, pull up a friend, and try telling them one of your daily stories, the ones that you talk to your friends about, the ones that you write in letters, the ones that you tell over a cup of coffee. That's all I'm saying.

(Do people still write letters? Someone must, right?)