The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 7 December 2009

Today's scruples are taken from the game by a random shuffle and pull. So, your task, should you choose to accept it, is to pick a number from one to ten (yes! 10! So pick one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten. Got it?)

No, pick a number. We'll wait.

Now, take a look at the list and see what you picked:

1. You are a politician. The people who elected you demand that you take a position on abortion which is against your personal convictions. Do you?
2. There are no dryers available at the laundromat. Suddenly one is free and you claim it. A woman protests that she has been waiting longer than you. Do you yield it?
3. In order to marry someone you love, you must change your religion. Do you do it?
4. Late one evening, your 19-year-old daughter asks permission for her boyfriend to stay over. Do you give it?
5. Your lover has appeared as a nude centerfold. Do you leave him/her?
6. Someone extends his friendship but you aren't interested. Later you learn that he is a legal wizard. You need free advice desperately and don't know anyone else. Do you call him?
7. You are a doctor treating a patient for a terminal illness that can be extremely painful. Do you do everything in your power to prolong the patient's life?
8. A friend who is a strict vegetarian is coming for dinner. You're feeling proud of your bean stew until you remember that you used a beef stock. Do you keep quiet and serve the dish?
9. You find an expensive pen in a public lounge. Do you keep it?
10. On the street you meet a couple who have recently arrived from South America, and want to remain in the country illegally. They are destitute. Do you help them?

Feel free to shave the edges off, flip sexes and whatnot, to make these your very own scenarios. Maybe it's not abortion, but some other problem irritating your politicians in number one? Or perhaps it's just a fifty dollar bill that you found lying in the public lounge in number nine? Or... make that situation one that you can believe in, and that makes your characters itch.

Then write! How did your characters get into that corner? Why is it so difficult for them? What do other people think about it? And... what are they going to do? Is there a way for them to resolve the problem with honor? How about with their conscience intact (poor Jiminy Cricket, he has so many things to advise us about)?

Go ahead. Tell us the tale of the moral choice... or failure. And what happened then...

Original posting 17 April 2008

And since we all enjoyed worrying about ethical dilemmas the other day, let's try it again.

Pick a number from one to six. You know, half the numbers on the face of the clock.

And your choice is:

1. A neighbor's kid finds $30 on your driveway and gives it to you. No one claims it. Do you give the money to the kid?
2. You are buying a car from someone who must sell because he is broke and out of work. Do you offer him much less than you think the vehicle is worth?
3. A waitress at a fancy restaurant forgets to add your drinks ($8) to the bill. Do you remind her?
4. You find a wallet containing $300. By the address, you can tell that the owner is wealthy. Do you keep the money?
5. Instead of the $1.00 which you have in a dormant bank account, your latest statement reads $100.00. Do you withdraw the money?
6. You have a struggling young company. You have to choose between two equal candidates for a job, a man and a woman. The woman will work for $2,000 per year less than the man. Do you hire her for that reason?

You may notice that the tormentor . . . make that the director of the exercises has carefully hand-chosen these so that they all relate to money. We do love our economics.

Ah, yes. Your chore is to put some people, scenes, a little more motivation and conflict, around these bare bones. Then let's see if Lazarus can get up and walk. I think he can, I think he can . . . and the little engine that could huffed and puffed and . . .

WROTE!

Now There Is Something You Don't See Every Day

Just look at it!

Are you still working on your nanowrimo? Or did you finish it off long ago? Either way, I think you'll find today's piece useful in provoking some extra words here and there. Some of them may even be printable :-) Or at least you can write them down and count them against today's quota, whether it is in your private journal or in the final hours of nanowrimo. So let's get started.

Okay. Today we're going to take a short trip to A Kick in the Seat Of The Pants by Roger von Oech. You might have thought he wrote A Whack on the Side of the Head -- and he did. A Kick is his second book about thinking. It might help to read the fine print on the front of the book which says, "the human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need A Kick in the Seat Of The Pants."

Anyway, without getting into details, the book discusses four roles in creative thinking. The Explorer, the Artist, the Judge, and the Warrior. And for today's bonus, here's a list of topics from the Explorer (and very brief comments). But to claim your bonus, pick a number from 1 to 14. Go ahead, pick one. Got it? Now see what you picked.

1. adopt an insight outlook: be curious
2. know what your objective is: create a map for yourself
3. look in other fields: leave your own turf
4. look for lots of ideas: too much is not enough
5. one thing can lead to something completely different: don't be afraid to be led astray
6. shift your focus: pay attention to a variety of information
7. don't overlook the obvious: what's right in front of you?
8. pay attention to the small things: get out your magnifying glass
9. look at the big picture: what does it all really mean?
10. use obstacles to break out of ruts: break up your routine
11. slay a dragon: look for ideas in places that scare you
12. find the ideas you already have: remember where you've been
13. look for fun things: enjoyment is excitement
14. write it down: stake your claim to the new territory

Remember that the Explorer is looking for ideas, is going out to search for things. So take your problem -- your story, plot, characters, conflict, or whatever -- and consider using the approach that you just picked out. Look in other fields, don't overlook the obvious, think about ideas you already have -- whichever approach you picked, take a few minutes and try it. What would it mean for you to look in other fields? Well, which field have you been looking in? What other fields are there? You're writing a genre formula story? What about mixing in a little bit -- a subplot -- from another genre? Mystery, romance, fantasy, suspense? Or what about the non-fiction folks? Can you borrow a technique from them? Or jump right out into videos, movies, and whatnot? Anyone for anime? Slip slide into another field and see what you can borrow.

Okay?

And while we're tossing bits and pieces in to complicate the picture, here, pick a number from one to six. Got it? Now, you have chosen:

1. At lunch, your colleagues are running down the work of another colleague who is absent. Do you speak up for the absent coworker?
2. You want to landscape your property but find that trees cost too much. Do you drive into the woods and take some?
3. A childhood friend from overseas is in the country and wishes to visit you. You have not been in contact for 20 years and have little time or space. Do you extend your hospitality?
4. You are an adoption worker. A native child has been living happily with a white family for three years. Now his relatives want to take him back to the reservation. Do you let them?
5. You are waiting at a red light at 4 AM. There isn't a car in sight. Do you go through the red light?
6. You reserve seats at a local theater by phone (without paying). A few hours before curtain, you decide not to go. Do you bother to cancel?

There you go. Six scruples. Fun to think about, and I'm sure that the one you picked relates to your problem. It's the mysterious ability that you have for picking a scruple that relates. Just think about it for a few minutes, and I'm sure you'll see some relationships. Oh sure, there are some differences, and you may need to adjust things a bit, but I'm sure that the colors match :-)

So, there you have it. An Explorer's guideline and a scruple for the trip. Plenty to ponder, eh?

And . . . write!
tink
(about 800 words)
Jette, jette, jette -- and away they go!