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| graphic courtesy weheartit.com |
The scene is bucolic. The three characters in the Peanuts comic strip (Charles Schultz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5, 1959-1960) are lying on their backs on the top of a knoll watching the white, fluffy clouds float by above them in the sky.
Dialogue:
Lucy: Aren't the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton. I could just lie here all day and watch them drift by. If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the formations. What do you think you see, Linus?
Linus: Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. [Points up] That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor. And that group of clouds over there...[points]...gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.
Lucy: Uh, huh. that's very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: Well.. I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.
Ah, poor Charlie Brown!
Actually, I can sort of identify with him. The past week has been relatively successful--the rough draft is moving forward, about 4000 words-worth so far. That in itself is amazing since I procrastinated so much on this project last year. I'm not looking back over the mess (see last post about the messy first draft here) to edit or fill in the blanks. Just pushing forward at this point. I'm afraid when I do go back, though, the voice will sound more like Charlie Brown than Linus.
But maybe that's okay. Duckies and horsies might be just what my story needs!
Are you Linus, Lucy, or Charlie Brown in your writing this week? Watching very many clouds go by? And how is your imagination faring?
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My writing can take on a Linus quality, and though I have a character who should sound a bit Linus-like, his dialogue is often too much in that direction, and I find myself needing to go back in and tone it down.
ReplyDeleteAs to my writing, I have taken the past three weeks off from writing, and am experiencing what it's like to be an ordinary person not living in dual worlds--the real one and the imaginary one. It's quite an unusual experience for me.
Cathy, how does one ratchet back Linus, he has such interesting things to say :-) Good luck in bringing your character into the balance you're seeking. And it sounds like your three week writing break might have helped you to get some perspective on things. Maybe you needed it to find some balance, too? I think our brains need a rest sometimes. Does that bring us full circle back to cloud-watching? Ha!
ReplyDeleteI am so a Charlie Brown this week! I had great plans to get so many pages edited and here I am again procrastinating. Good for you for making progress! Thank you too for your kind words on my blog.I can't wait to cheer for you when you announce your book is accepted!
ReplyDeleteTerri, thanks for stopping by--and thanks for your support, too. Happy for you on the announcement of the release of your book! It's always good to hear such great news :-)
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