Most of the contributors of the Writer’s Retreat Blog participate in the weekly meme, Thursday Thirteen, so every Thursday we link to the individual sites of each writer’s TT. Hopefully, this helps you get to know each of us a little better. This week we’ve got:
Catherine: 13 Things I Carry With Me
Eaton Bennett: 13 Reasons I wasn’t doing a TT
Dawn: 13 Beloved Characters
The Peripatetic School
Peripatetic:
ADJECTIVE:
1. Walking about or from place to place; traveling on foot. 2. Peripatetic Of or relating to the philosophy or teaching methods of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.
NOUN:
1. One who walks from place to place; an itinerant. 2. Peripatetic A follower of the philosophy of Aristotle; an Aristotelian.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English peripatetik, from Latin peripat ticus, from Greek peripat tikos, from peripatein, to walk about, or from peripatos, covered walk (where Aristotle allegedly lectured) : peri-, peri- + patein, to walk.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/P0195500.html
So. What does peripatetic have to do with writing? Good question. I was reading Julia Cameron’s work and she commented that several writers belong to the “peripatetic school.” My first thought was, what the heck is peripatetic? Then it was, what does walking have to do with writing?
Well, try it, then you can tell me.
I should just stop the essay there, but I’ll be kind. For me, walking is something that slows me down to human speed, rather than caffeine speed, stress speed, or I have to finish twenty things in time enough only for ten speed. Walking is repetitive. There’s not much more than pick up one foot, put it in front of the other. Lather, rinse, repeat. This allows the mind to wander while the feet, well, wander.
How is this of benefit to writing?
Well, try it, then… you get the picture.
It’s strange how we get so into our own heads when we write. Our own heads are not necessarily the most helpful places to be when writing, either. But instead of fighting with our internalized voices, next time you are stuck try getting up and walking around the block for twenty minutes. See what interesting insights might bubble up for you.
Besides. You can dazzle and confuse everyone by telling them, “I’m part of the peripatetic school.” “Really? What degree are you getting?”
Many members of our group have already done the Artist’s Way workshop and the following books with Catherine, but I’m a first-timer.
Ever have those things that just happen to fall right into your life, right when you need them? I’ll be honest, I resisted this for a while, thinking I didn’t have the time, or even (yeah, ego, I know) that I didn’t need it because it’s supposed to help blocked creativity, and I wasn’t blocked.
Well.
Skepticism. Yeah – there’s a section on that in this book. There’s also one on synchronicity. And I’m now a believer.
I’m on Chapter 3 and I can already see the way I view myself as an artist, and creativity in general changing and morphing. The back cover touts the Artist’s Way as the ‘seminal book on the subject of creativity’ and it’s true. It really is.
I have been trying to put my finger on what exactly it is, because I think part of the reason I resisted so long was that the actual SCOPE of this book was never adequately described to me. But it cannot be adequately described.
It’s subtitle: ‘A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity’ doesn’t do it justice. I think the only way to describe it is to say that wherever you are on the road, you can get something from this book. I thought I didn’t need it, but then, when I finally gave in to peer pressure, I found I needed it more than I ever could have imagined. And I truly believe that no matter when I might have picked it up, I would have needed it then too, and taken something different from it.
From an objective position, Ms. Cameron has an amazingly soothing and engaging voice. Her thoughts are well organized, thoroughly informative and totally applicable. In short, I think everyone should read this. I can’t think of a single person in my life who won’t take something away from it. And I know, just like all my friends told me (yeah, I know . . . I’m a stubborn arse, but you love me anyway), I will do it again and again, and take something new away each time. I’m officially on board now.
Buy it. Read it. Live it.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
I am a collector of words. All kinds of words, and phrases too. I keep them in a spiral notebook complete with a well worn cover and creased pages.
When I am reading, I try to keep a pen and paper nearby to ‘capture’ any words that might strike my fancy in the text and eventually transfer them to my notebook for further reference. Sometimes I will glance over these lists when I’m writing and use any words that might apply in my current work.
For example, I just completed the novel ‘Outlander’ by Diana Gabaldon and found a veritable treasure trove of words that I just had to add to my collection.
Bear in mind that these are normal, everyday words, you will recognize each of them I’m certain. But they stood out in my mind as memorable. Anyone who has read the book will undoubtedly know the scene to which I am referring. ~wink~
Shudder—blow—smack—perilous—feirce—surrender—biting—rasping—clawing—furious triumph—impact—savaged—agonies—inexorable—battered—shattered—fury—hammering—shackled—pinioned—fastened—strike—shatter–rage—use—invading—spread eagle—ragged—ride—pounding—brutally—cruel—and– quiver.
All of these words, found on three small pages conveyed more ‘eroticism’ than many longer and more graphic love scenes I have read. I am convinced that effective word choice is an important skill for authors and hopefully my writing will improve because of the lists I keep.
A different list of words I keep is —“ ways to say ‘said’”. As part of an English class in high school, my teacher gave us an assignment to find 50 alternate words to use instead of ‘said’. His point to this exercise was to expand our use of verbs, to help us find more descriptive ways to express our characters’ personalities. I kept my original list of these words, and am still adding to it with over 400 entries and counting.
Imagine the phrase, “But I love you,” he …… Instead of using ‘said’, what other words might better serve our needs?
Whispered—hinted—teased—rebuked—whined—barked—explained—laughed—pointed out—reassured—exclaimed—growled—wheedled—giggled—cried—reflected—echoed—lied—dared—exaggerated—commanded—demanded—begged—pleaded—asked—giggled—instructed.
You get the point. These words are infinitely more interesting than repeating ‘said’ over and over in dialogue and add variety to our work.
Another list in my notebook includes words whose meaning I had to look up in the dictionary. The very act of writing them down makes me more likely to remember them and their definitions; theoretically improving my vocabulary.
My latest entries in this category are:
Ephemeral—short lived, fleeting
Cogent—intellectually convincing
Inveterate—stubbornly established by habit
Laconic—terse speech or writing
Nadir—lowest point on an arc
Parsimony—frugality or stinginess
Abnegation—denying self comfort
Puerile—juvenile, immature
Well, there you have it, evidence that I’m a list maker, especially when it applies to words and writing. I find words fascinating and love to play with them.
When I write, I consider myself a ‘word-smith’: someone who hammers random words into a desirable form through sheer force of will and determination. And to do this effectively, I keep my lists (and a thesaurus) close by; I’m happy to use all the help I can get.
Throughout the next few months, I plan on doing Wiley Wednesdays that are focused on different elements of fiction. By doing this, I hope we can all learn a few things, and improve our writing (isn’t that the goal here?). Today I shall begin by talking about characters. I’ll be honest, you can have the most amazing plot in the world, but if I don’t connect with your characters, I won’t remember your story a month from now. We all want our characters to be remembered and loved, but to do that it takes time, patience and love. (Yes I said love, stop giggling and pay attention!)
Character – Any person or entity created in a fictional story.
There are many different ways and reasons to create a character. The protagonist is the main character that drives the action (Hello! That’s who the story is generally about), this is usually who we consider the good guy. You also need a character that opposes this person, like a villain. This is the antagonist, which in Greek literally means competitor, opponent or rival. Occasionally you’ll read a story from a different point of view and you’ll see the good guys as the antagonist.
So now you have two main characters to flesh out and create a story for. You’ll usually find you need others to help you along the way. This is where the supporting characters come from. They help move the plot along and can give clues and insight into your main characters.
Round and Flat characters
Your main characters are usually what would be called round characters. You’ve fleshed these characters out so well that they’re almost real. You know that they detest onions and have a secret passion for Belgium chocolate. They have good qualities and bad ones. They occasionally get caught up in their own internal conflicts and are just plain complex. Think Frodo Baggins or Sherlock Holmes.
There is another kind of character called a flat character. This is “the redneck” or “the con artist.” They have one or two traits and are pretty easy to figure out. You can usually sum them up in one sentence. “Gollum is driven to obsession by the One Ring he will forever try to recover.”
Dynamic and Static Characters
A dynamic character is one who undergoes a change. You see this alot in the coming of age stories. The protagonist starts out young and a bit naive, and by the end of the story they’ve had to grow up and they see life differently. The best example I can think of this is Harry Potter.
Static characters pretty much stay the same throughout the story. Their personalties are mainly unchanged and stable. Lots of main characters that are not the protagonist are static characters. Ysandre de la Courcel from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart springs to mind when I think of a static character.
This wraps up today’s study on characters. I hope it may offer some insight and help with your characters a bit. Until next time my lovelies 🙂
~Dawn
I chose Never Let Me Go and one other book to study out of a list of twenty others because I’ve never been struck by book like this in my life before.
Ishiguro is more famous for writing The Remains of the Day which was met with mixed reviews just Never Let Me Go is. A feeling that life’s path is already set out for you and there’s nothing you can do but meekly follow what life expects is an uncomfortable issue for most people. Regardless of what we want to think, we are trapped by society, even the most free of us, we all need to work to live, we all get stuck in a terrible monotonous cycle of sustaining our existence. And this is why I believe some reviews are so negative, people see their own trapped acceptance of life in this book.
But what is it about? Well the story revolves around three main characters Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, all three are doomed to die young because they are clones existing purely to provide organs to keep non-clones healthy, at around 20 they become “donors” and continue to have their organs taken one by one in a very ghoulish manner until they “complete” which is what the clones call death, once clones have “completed” their remaining organs are harvested and given to ill non-clones. The reader follows Kathy’s narrative all through her life starting at the mysterious boarding school Hailsham (aptly named) which tries to fight for a better world for clones, better living conditions and treatment but most importantly trying to prove the clones had souls. We learn that this movement was very popular until a race of “super-children” was created which made the whole of society shove the clones back into the shadows in fear and disgust along with all other genetic engineering.
Kathy and Tommy make a weak attempt to avoid the fate waiting for them but ultimately they just sit back and accept that they are going to die. I find this acceptance to be the most powerful theme in book because I was practically screaming at the characters to run away, refuse to die or just do something. But they didn’t succeed, just as we never escape that cycle-like prison in life, their effort was small and now they accept death.
“This extraordinary and, in the end, rather frighteningly clever novel isn’t about cloning, or being a clone, at all. It’s about why we don’t explode, why we don’t wake up one day and go sobbing and crying down the street, kicking everything to pieces out of raw, infuriating, completely personal sense of our lives never having been what they could have been” ~ M.J. Harrison, The Guardian
So give it a read, chances are you’ll either hate it or find yourself touched by it.
~mlf
Andi of Unhinged has decided to try her hand at an online series. Plotting, worrying, and over-thinking what she writes hasn’t worked out so well, so she’s going back to the way it was when she first began writing. She is totally winging the writing of this story, and has no idea where it’s going to go or how it’s going to end.
This is the second part. If you’re interested, the beginning is here.
~*~*~*~
The numbness spread as my heart slowed its push of blood through my veins.
There was–
–no pain.
Noth…ing left–
–no more…me.
Something touched my cheek.
GUH-GUNGH!
My spine arched–
GUH-GUNGH!
–as oxygen tore down my throat and filled my lungs with intense heat. I gritted my teeth against the pain of it, surprised that rebirth hurt when death had not.
GUH-GUNGH.GUH-GUNGH.
My heartbeats grew stronger, impossibly strong, until there was no pause between beats. No room to catch my breath, to swallow and soothe my burning throat. Teeth still clenched to keep from screaming, I curled over into a ball.
When I could think long enough to string two coherent thoughts together, I concentrated on slowing my heart again.
GUH-GUNGH…GUH-gungh…GUH-GUNGH!
It was more difficult than dying, but maybe that made sense. Living was supposed to be harder than death. Maybe this was another test to see if I was worthy. Anyone could die. Everyone died.
I tried to will my hyperventilation into submission. When I was twelve and obligated to demonstrate an example of Illyria’s Power before The Council, I’d had a panic attack and fainted. What I felt now was similar, and the memory made it impossible for me to control my breathing.
“Don’t fight it.”
Through the black wings beating at the corners of my mind, I heard the voice.
“Or do. And die for real this time.”
It had to be the troll who guarded the gold. Who else would have such a mellifluous voice, strong enough to soothe me in spite of the words he’d spoken?
Guh-gungh. Guh-gungh.
Why was he still here?
Why was he still alive?
Why was I?
A Gentleman’s Wager is about the pains and pleasures of the regency period, set in the countryside during the winter season. The three main characters are: Bella, the flamboyant and exciting country lady; Lucerne, the bright young city landowner who refurbishes his country estate; and Vaughan, the dark and dangerous Marquis. Bella and Vaughan both desire Lucerne, doing their best to seduce him away from the other’s affections.
This book is, in a word, brilliant. It totally captivated me. A great example of what erotica should be – elegant yet depraved and utterly, deliciously morish. I deeply enjoyed the characters, all maintaining their unique personalities throughout and developing as well, which I was delighted with. The dialogue was wonderful and not too Jane Austin yet convincingly of the period. And, oh, the sex scenes was perfect. Some detailed, some blurred, it was masterful the way Madelynne Ellis knew which to use when, not one being cringe-worthy.
Unfortunately, the plot was a little too watery and cliché for me to appreciate. As told in the title, the plot device is a bet between two men – a minor character Charles Aubrey and the wicked Vaughan – who wager on Vaughan’s ability to bed Louisa (Bella’s prudish best friend) and Bella. Countless books and movies have used this, and I was disappointed when I came to it but happily it didn’t detract to much pleasure from the rest of the novel.
There were also a few place that could have done with a little more research, such as what was eaten during the regency era. Sadly, Madelynne Ellis skims over most meals which is regrettable, as it could have enhanced the experience.
Overall, as I said, brilliant. If only the plot had more care, it would have reached five-stars. I have high hopes for Ellis’ sequel, Phantasmagoria and I will be on the look out for more works from this author. I give this book 4 out of 5.
Please note, the content of this post is, Adult Only.
The challenge Cont’d:
Welcome to my Wiley challenge. I have been working on poetry for the ‘Words, Words and more Words’, challenge that I laid down in my last Wiley post here, Words in Context. The challenge involved twelve set words being written in a poem or drabble (100 words).
I wrote three poems, the reason being, I wanted to show how different combinations of words can change the context of what has been written and also change the readers experience in each individual work, even though basically they say the same thing. I had a lot of fun writing these poems, playing with words and watching them evolve from the set twelve words into vibrant poems. I hope you enjoy reading and experiencing my efforts. 🙂
The list of twelve words that has to be in the writings is as follows:
Ivory
Flesh
Hunger
Seeking
Tongue
Wetness
Penetrate
Climax
Alive
Secret
Folds
Eager
Here are the poems I wrote for this challenge:
Pale moonbeams
Illuminate ivory flesh
Deep sleep elusive
Dreams penetrate the mind
Calling forth erotic hunger
Phantom tongue
Seeking wetness in
Eager secret folds
Shuddering climax
Alive!
Ivory flesh exposed
Body quiescent
Limbs still, expectant
Senses stirring
Dreams penetrate the mind
Freeing erotic hunger
Eager tongue; illusion or reality
Seeking wetness veiled
By secret folds
Exquisite pleasure budding
Climax overwhelming
Breathtaking…Alive!
Moonbeams falling on
Ivory flesh
Face stark in the glow
Limbs taut
Dreams of erotic hunger
Take flight
Tendrils of passion
Burning
Tongue sliding over
Wetness
Desperate to penetrate
Secret folds
Willing submission
Desire alive
Eager for fulfilment
Climax!
My new found delight in poetry is proving that subject matter is limitless, with new ideas constantly eager to be written. Friendship was the inspiration for this poem. At first I thought it would be light and airy, but it morphed into something deeper and took me by surprise, yet again.
Memories bite and sting
Resurrected fears
Crowd my mind
Thoughts of you
Stir wondrously
Suggesting hope is alive
From that land so distant
I dreamily imagine
Shining eyes on me
Gentle in their focus
Generous eyes, your eyes
Dispelling my dark fears