Holes April 16, 2013

Writing thought of the day: holes

Writers are taught to see holes as bad: plot holes, motivation inconsistencies, and descriptive voids aka ‘white room’ syndrome, to name a few.

But since Clarion, I’ve grokked the importance of leaving holes as well.

Humans are pattern-recognition junkies: we see vast stories of gods scrawled in the stars and celebrity faces burned on bits of toast. Hell yeah, a reader can put two plot points together when implied through subtext.

So, holes: the trick then becomes leaving the right ones at the right time, as each story, each moment, will impose different demands. In one, an omission will need to be signalled as theatrically as draping a strip of gauze on the scraped knee of a sobbing toddler while other times, placed as stealthily as woven rushes over a spear-filled pit.

As in all, you have to know what holes you are leaving and why. But when well done, I think it engages the reader like no other technique because they become the storyteller, filling in those holes in a uniquely satisfying way, building a story perfect for them which you alone could never write.

So. Holes. And a realisation about writing that looks for a moment at the importance of things unwritten.

Omg, omg, omg April 10, 2013

Omg, omg, omg…

Uh, yes I have just edited two chapters, copy edited an optics ms and written a scene, to the point I have words leaking from my ears.

Shakes head vigorously, splattering walls with excess verbiage

And precisely because I spend so much time using Word (as well as words) that I can say without hesitation:

Omg omg omg

This…changes…so much…

Did you know, perchance, that if you press shift+f3 in Word, it cycles selected text through ALL CAPS, Initial Cap, and lowercase?

Sadly, a not insignif. part of an academic copy editor’s job involves swapping headers and titles into stylesheet-compliant formats. I’ll no longer have to retype ‘Introduction’, ‘Conclusion,’ or ‘References’ approx 1000 times a day. Give or take just a few.

I feel like Homer Simpson when he realised that the pecking bird only needed to hit ‘Y’ instead of Y-E-S: “Marge, I’ve just tripled my productivity!”

I’m not quite sure what I will do with this newfound bounty of free time. In keeping with Homer, though, I can say one thing: it definitely won’t be housework!

Super easy kid-tested cream of potato soup (AKA Squished Potato Soup) March 20, 2013

I came up with this easy, high-protein soup for my potato-mad, protein-lacking, super-fussy vegetarian six year old. It has since become a once-a-week staple: home-made soup in under half an hour. I kid you not!

Ingredients (for 3-4 servings)

• 4 -5 med/large potatoes (one per person plus one for pot)
• Half a cup tiny red lentils
• Mixed herbs and bay leaf
• Organic vegetable stock
• Milk

Method

• Scrub and chop the potatoes. Since they’ll be mashed, the size of the pieces isn’t important but smaller ones will cook faster.
• Put potatoes in a large saucepan, add boiling water two inches over covering, and turn on med-high heat.
• Add lentils, veg stock (amount as recommended on package for soup–I use a teaspoon of Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon), herbs and bay leaf.
• Cook for 20 mins uncovered–until lentils are pretty much dissolved and the potatoes have become soft. Check and top up with water if necessary while cooking. You don’t want to add too much back though, since this is a thick soup not a broth.
• When done, remove from heat and fish out bay leaf. Check seasonings and add salt and/or pepper to taste.
• Mash with potato masher. You want to end up with a watery mashed potato consistency, but you can leave thicker or chunkier depending on your preference as well. This is a very forgiving recipe!
• Fill bowls about 2/3 with the concentrated soup and swirl in milk right in the bowl. You could do this in the pot but I find leftovers keep better in the fridge without the milk added. Plus adding it directly in the bowl cools the soup down to a kid-friendly eating temp pretty much right away.

Variations

I know, I know. I said a simple soup and here I am complexicating it right back up again. Well, hopefully the little one won’t be a fussy eater forever, and when that day comes, I’ll be ready! So, variations:

The lentils in this–which give it such a rich, hearty flavour and a big protein boost–mean you don’t have to worry about adding any other type of bean or pea. But broccoli, spinach, kale (cooked separately and added at the end) or cauliflower all could boost the veggie content.

You could also switch part of the potato to sweet potatoes, swede, turnip or parsnip. Or sauté the potatoes in some cumin and turmeric before adding the water. Or..or…or…hey, what about adding some, I dunno, leeks?

I serve it with carrot sticks and cucumber slices on the side but YMMV according to the fussiness of your eater!

You know you’re a writer when… March 17, 2013

…when:

•you have a head full of cold

•you washed a tissue in with a load of darks

•the sole of your child’s school shoe has split and you won’t get to the shop before Monday morning

•you’ve head-butted your way through a draft of a story that’s been nagging you for ages

…and all in all, you consider it a good day.

Don’t take my word for it, though. See for yourself… March 1, 2013

Today is the last day to get in your application to the 2013 Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Workshop at UCSD.

 

I’ve been meaning to write a Clarion six months on post, but  keep finding new things I want to say, and now the deadline is here.

 

Ack, out of time! (which is how I felt pretty much every week at Clarion as story submission time loomed).

 

What can I say, short and sweet? Do it. Apply. If you get in, go. (Clarity and brevity; real-life application of one Clarion lesson right there).

 

Even now, months later, I am still grateful every day for the experience and still discovering just how much I learned in those far-too-short six weeks.

 

Good luck!

The Failure of Fire February 23, 2013

At the corner shop not so long ago, I got stuck behind a rather elderly gent trying to return a lighter.

The shop owner was trying to determine the reason for the return; was the lighter broken, he wanted to know.

Oh yes, definitely, the elderly man said, nodding vigorously and looking at me, drawing me in to the transaction.

The shop owner flicked the lighter wheel and up popped a flame, tall and strong.

The gent kept nodding, not at all fazed by this apparent indication of lighterly competence.

The shop owner tried the lighter a few more times and each time, the flame leapt up without hesitation.

The gent continued to nod, as if this proved his assertion, and refused to take it back when the shop keeper held it out.

Finally, in that irritated yet patient tone of voice common to parents and service workers, the shopkeeper asked, so, sir, what is the problem with it?

A look of consternation tightened the gents features as he said, the fire is defective.

The shopkeeper’s eyebrows popped up and he tossed me an appealing look. He clearly had not anticipated that answer, though why he’d expected sense at that point had me more surprised than the gent’s answer.

Turning back to the gent, the shopkeeper had to think for a moment before asking, uh, how?

The gent was glaring at the lighter. Nothing I light stays lit, he explained. The fire’s broken, nothing stays on fire.

The shopkeeper and I swap confused-amused looks and I could see the temptation rising within the shopkeeper to ask just what the heck the man was trying to light.

However, with a shrug, the shopkeeper tossed a new lighter at the man, who wandered away with a pleased smile.

I loved it. Defective fire…and an understanding of the world that can look at flames and items that fail to ignite, and blame the fire. There is soooo a story here. Someday.

Someday soon.

In the meantime, I got the lighter off the shopkeeper and am pleased to report that it has brought its A game to all my flamey needs. Rather disappointing. Time to find some wet leaves or something so I too can experience the failure of fire.

At least it’s available freely over-the-counter February 4, 2013

On the plus side, I have, in Draft Three, finally figured out the second half of the book.

On the minus side, I think that I’ve inadvertently created a Pavlovian connection between Lemsip and chapter 22.