“Along the way accidents happen, detours get taken—the accidents turn out to be some of the best things.”
—John Irving
“Talented writing tends to contain more information, sentence for sentence, clause for clause, than merely good writing. … It also employs rhetorical parallels and differences. . . . It pays attention to the sounds and rhythms of its sentences. . . . Much of the information it proffers is implied. … These are among the things that indicate talent.”
—Samuel Delany on good writing vs. talented Writing“Rather than live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man, I would rather live on in my apartment.”
—Woody Allen“I think I'd give almost anything on earth to see you writing a something, an anything — a story, a poem, a tree, that was really and truly after your own heart.”
—J.D Salinger, from Seymour: An Introduction
Lists. A writing exercise...
What I know to be true…
- I know that I would rather have wooden floors than any other.
- I know netflix has changed my way of watching series/films I would have never watched before.
- Companionship and camaraderie are essential to my interactions.
- I enjoy dipping lemon slices into sugar as a late night treat.
- The spelling of my name was after Katharine Hepburn.
- I like mattresses that walk the line of soft and oh-too-firm.
- I like to dance, or shimmy or shake. I like to move when I can.
- I am very good at pool, i just need to relax and trust myself.
- I make a damn good breakfast.
- I get scared and lonely sometimes.
Fashion in Fiction
Crossword stockings were a craze in America in 1925. Not before, not after. Fashion’s a funny thing; nowadays, it changes fast.
Why do I bring it up? Because, except in rare cases, your world probably has fashion. If it’s a historical world, then you know by now you’ve got to do your research. If, however, it’s a world you made up, then you’ve got some thinking to do.
For starters, what do the people in this world value? What is their general mindset? In the 1920’s, the war was over, and people wanted to forget it had ever happened; this is when the idea of right and wrong began to be more questioned in America, when moral issues began to be probed by the common man. The old was something they wanted to do away with, as it represented war and death. This lead to exciting clothing, newly high hemlines, brilliant colors, fringes, beads, and the like.
Another important point is, who is important in the society? For instance, again in the 1920’s, leather aviator jackets came into fashion when Charles Lindbergh made the first sole transatlantic flight. He inspired a whole style of clothing for men.
Colors are also important; green stood for pacifism in the 1920’s, an increasingly popular movement. White was sometimes associated with the KKK at this point in time; black with fascists. Your colors could stand for anything, from red for the blood of those killed by war (a protest), to white for purity (a classic), to brown for the power of the working class (a party or group).
And again, most fashion is designed for a particular body type; in Victorian times, one was expected to have a waspish shape, if one was a woman, and to be able to look good in very fitted garments. At some point in Victorian times, the style for men was to have an inverted triangle sort of shape in the upper body.
Fashion also follows necessity; the length of girls’ dresses shortened during the 1940’s following the lack of cloth.
So, just a few thoughts on deciding what’s fashionable in your world and what’s not, to get you thinking. I hope you come up with marvelous things!
Lately, I’ve been breathless.
I spend my time somewhere
between suffocation and
“This should suffice…”
My lungs are not quite full,
Yet not quite hollow, still
Contracting, still expanding,
Still trying, desperately,
to filter through the haze of
smoke and mirrors surrounding
my heart. Save me
from this spool of yarn,
knotted, twisted, unnatural,
before they stand in line
to tighten the noose
that I’ve placed upon my neck.
I simply forgot that jewelry
is seldom made of rope.
