One advantage to owning a small dog is the ability to pick him up as needed for cuddling, for safety or for bad behavior. The disadvantage is the dog’s ability to crawl into my lap and wedge himself between me and my laptop. It’s difficult to type when my terrier is nudging my hand in an attempt to get my attention. At times my terrier might prevent me from typing. At other times he's an excellent source of inspiration. This lesson can be applied to all of life's distractions.
It's a constant struggle to balance the demands of life with the need to write. Grocery stores, cars, dentists, family, bills and sleep all conspire to keep us away from the keyboard. However, what conspires against us can also inspire us. In the midsts of each of these distraction, instead of lamenting the loss of typing time think "What if...?". I like to keep a pad of paper and pen in my purse in case of a "What if...?" moment.
Just think of the possibilities. What if a woman went to the hunky dentist's office? What if I came up with a story while sitting in the dog dermatologist's waiting room (yes, there are dog dermatologists, I've taken my terrier to one)? What if I unplugged the internet so I could eliminate at least one distraction?
OK, "What if...?" can go too far but you get the idea.
I've been tagged.
Elizabeth tagged me. Now my mission is to write 6 quirky things about me. Below are my own little oddities.
1) I don't like the feel of felt. It gives me the creeps.
2) I have to separate my M&Ms into color groups before I eat them. This also applies to Skittles and any other multi-colored candies.
3) I order burgers the way Sally from When Harry Met Sally orders burgers. Sometimes this method of ordering applies to other menu choices but I try to restrict it to burgers.
4) In communal kitchens, when I tear a paper towel off the role it has to come off clean. For some reason it bothers me to the point of distraction when the towel rips or someone with wet hands has touched the whole role.
5) Pencils have to be sharp and of a certain length. I may write with a dull pencil but I hate when they're short. It throws the weight off.
6) Bell peppers. I can't stand the sight, taste or especially the smell of them.
Thinking about quirks makes me think about characterization. Giving a character a little quirk helps bring the character to life and make them feel more real. Try and think of Darth Vader without thinking about his weird breathing. Or Fred Fenster's mumbling in The Usual Suspects. I read an interview where Benicio Del Toro explained how he made his character hard to understand in order to turn what was a bland character into something more memorable. Quirks make characters memorable.
Quirks can also help us develop a character by making us think about what in their past resulted in the odd behavior. Quirks can also play a role in the conflict. How will the hero react to the heroine's quirk of vice versa? Will it create conflict or bring them closer together? In the case of a serious quirk, can the H/H overcome it in order to do what's necessary to save another character or pursue their love? The possibilities are endless.
The not so modern beginings of the modern age.
The first two decades of the twentieth century marked the beginning of the modern era. Many of the things we think of as distinctly modern, including cars, xrays and blood transfusion, came into wide use at some point during these two decades. Though it was a hundred years ago, many of us had, or were privileged to know, grandparents and great-grandparents who vividly remembered those days. These close family members provide us with a strong link to that era that often lulls us into believing that it wasn't that long ago. After all, Grandpa didn't tell stories about the Regency but he had quite a few about the 1918 influenza epidemic.
We wouldn't be where we are today without the innovations of that generation. However, it is interesting to see how some of the old habits stubbornly refused to be left behind as we entered the modern age. For example, the belief in miasma as an agent of infection was alive and well during the 1918 influenza plague. Folk remedies such as asefetida bags were often hung around children's necks to ward off the bad air. My mother remembers her grandmother regularly employing these bags during her early childhood in the late 1940s. Out of curiosity, my sister is trying to locate a sample of asefetida. It seems the repugnant herb, like the miasma theory, has retired from public life, though it does enjoy some popularity in the spice drawer.
We wouldn't be where we are today without the innovations of that generation. However, it is interesting to see how some of the old habits stubbornly refused to be left behind as we entered the modern age. For example, the belief in miasma as an agent of infection was alive and well during the 1918 influenza plague. Folk remedies such as asefetida bags were often hung around children's necks to ward off the bad air. My mother remembers her grandmother regularly employing these bags during her early childhood in the late 1940s. Out of curiosity, my sister is trying to locate a sample of asefetida. It seems the repugnant herb, like the miasma theory, has retired from public life, though it does enjoy some popularity in the spice drawer.
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