The Wayfaring Wordhack

 Happy Thanksgiving, Friends.


I am grateful that many of our dishes had ingredients grown here in our own garden.  I am grateful we got to eat outside.  I am thankful for my family's good health.

What are you grateful for this year?

Has anyone else had their entire mailbox emptied because they had not signed into the account in (according to the provider, and probably true) over a year?  I have an account that I use to store stuff, not really checking it, just sending stuff there.  Today I opened it, it still recognizes me, but it is completely empty. Not a single thing in it. 

It is a Yahoo! account. Does anyone know how I can get my info back?

 I am in that space in my mind, where I have not been for many a year, where I start composing blog posts in my mind as I go about my day.

I compose and then I stop and wonder about what that says about me and where I am in life now.

That is all. 

:P

In a recent entry, I bemoaned the rigidity of my writing brain. I talked about using a different POV to convey info, but I wasn't clear because I don't want to bore people with specifics. What I meant to say was this:

( Ramble, ramble, thoughts a-bramble )

Any thoughts?

I've been fighting insomnia* for the last hour, to no avail. So instead of tossing and turning in frustration, let me ask you a question, O Great Hivemind of Fellow Writers!

When you've left a project fallow for an extended amount of time, how do you get back into it?

Do you dive in right where you left off, with no priming of the pump, working purely from memory with what and where you think you need to go?

Do you reread the prose you wrote and pick it up from there? All of it or just a scene or two?

Do you peruse notes and outlines first to get the juices flowing?

Something else entirely?

On another writing-related note, do those of you who are known for (or personally feel you have the knack of) writing relatable characters put yourselves in the characters' skin when writing? Do you visualize yourself as the character interacting with the story world? Can you put your finger on what you do?

This sort of roleplaying does not come naturally to me, and I constantly find myself distracted and pulled out of the "game" by my own wandering thoughts, leading me to the conclusion that this technique "just isn't me." I'd like to persist, though, and try to master it because I WANT to write characters that readers love to love and love to hate. Such roleplaying might be a good way to accomplish that.

I also wonder if I have a hard time doing it because I lack empathy on some level. Before I lead you to think I'm some kind of heartless monster, let me clarify by saying that I do feel for others and am able to understand their feelings. But it is easier when their situation is not connected to mine. When I'm involved, I'm too often concerned with and overwhelmed by Self. I usually have to have some distance before I can see the other side's point/feelings in a confrontation. especially when I myself have strong feelings or a sense of rightness. Are those of you who are better character writers, so to speak, more immediately empathic, perhaps?

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

And perhaps I should not be permitted to make blog posts when I'm sleep deprived. :P


____________
*This is the resulf of discomfort--it's too hot--but also of writing. When my brain starts playing with words, sleep becomes elusive...

Is anyone on my flist a crocheter?  I started making a hooded jacket for Junebug (before Christmas) but petered out on in because of (to me and obviously a lot of other people, judging from the comments) unclear instructions.  I need help understanding something and would appreciate it so much if someone could make sense of it for me.

The excerpted instructions are as follows:

Shoulder:
Place a marker 9:11:13:15:17:19 sts in from armhole edge to mark inner edge of shoulder seam leaving 14:15:16:17:18:19 sts unworked at front opening edge.

Here is what I have so far, to which I should apply the above instrustions:



Where do I start counting from? In which direction? Any ideas?

Has anyone on my flist read anything by Wendell Berry?  I want to order a book or two of his but don't really know where to start... I'll probably get a book of poems, but I'm unsure whether or not I want to get a novel, too, or an essay anthology.

And while we're talking books, anyone have a good read they feel like recommending?  I'm open to anything. 

Did you know that Tuesday, February 26th, is a holiday? It is; it's Tell a Fairy Tale Day.

I'm thinking of coming up with an original tale and posting it. There are only a couple of days left, so I won't do anything long or elaborate. Nevertheless, as a lover of fairy tales, I think I should do something to mark the occasion.

Anyone want to play along?  Write something original or put a spin on an old tale?

I'm posting with a "request" this time, rather than just showing a snippet. If you read, I'd like to know: Does this make sense? I've fiddled and fiddled with this paragraph, trying not to be too descriptive while still drawing a clear picture for the reader. It is the "clear" I'm worried about.

( snippet )