1SS: Theme and Plot-Theme

I'll refer to this first story as 1SS. Today's post is a mini-exercise on the story's theme and plot-theme. It took about 15-20 minutes to write.

NEXT: Review additional short story construction activities, start writing.

Theme
Situations which require forced action and how to cope with them. i.e. "have to work to help the family get by," "putting a sick dog to sleep," etc. An examination of situations where one MUST take a certain course of action, even if they disagree with it passionately, if only because the alternative is much worse.

Plot-Theme
A man receives a piece of news via a telephone call which forces him into such a situation. The news is never revealed in an attempt to maintain ambiguity and universal relevance. We convey the man's emotions through physical and verbal cues as he sits at his kitchen table. The story ends with the man grabbing an old revolver and solemnly leaving the house.

Use of revolver is meant to emphasize the finality of his decision, i.e. he cannot take back his action. Revolver will be old, heavy, polished, some type of simple metal (brass, bronze, copper, whatever revolvers are made from) as a symbol of responsibility and its burdens, and the timelessness of decisions associated with it.

The Translator

A story about a translator born and raised in Darfur during its regional genocide. The writing isn't super sharp but still solid. The story is incredibly interesting, even 20 pages in.

A quote about traveling in the Sahara:

...So you will want to know the ways that have worked for thousands of years.

If you are good, like my father and brothers, you will put a line of sticks in the sand at night, using the stars to mark your next morning's direction of travel; you can extend this line as needed. Be careful: some people die because they look to a distant mountain as their guide, but the wind moves these mountains around; you might travel in circles until your eyes close and your heart withers.

It says everything about this land to know that even the mountains are not to be trusted, and that the crunching sound under your camel's hooves is usually human bones, hidden and revealed as the wind pleases.

Short Story: Setting pt. 1

Written in 40 minutes.

Next goals: continue developing the kitchen a bit more, start developing the main character.

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The morning sunshine floods into the kitchen and warms every cabinet door and countertop. The walls--which normally take on a light, butterscotch color--appear like honey in the nascent dawn. A pan lined with cooking oil, black pepper, and egg yolk remnants rest atop the gas stove. Nearby, a cutting board holds pieces of cheese, leaves of spinach, and bits of sweet onion which went unused in that morning's breakfast. A white table stands in the back corner of the kitchen, accompanied by two white lawn chairs. One of the chairs bisects the table and the center of the room, seemingly vacated in a hurry. Several items atop the table also suggest a rushed departure: a half-finished bowl of scrambled eggs with a fork hanging off the rim, a newspaper tossed aside with advertisements spilling out, and a napkin crumpled up next to an unused knife.

A dusty trail of bootprints winds from the table out into the living room. The prints pass the cabinet filled with crystal glasses and fine china, which refract the morning light across the opposite wall in a burst of colors. They pass the maroon linen couches and their textured cushions, situated far from the windows and thus still covered in darkness. The trail--now barely visible on the dark wooden floor--ends at the front doormat. A strong wind blows through the open front door and burrows under the doormat, creating sinuous waves of fabric for seconds at a time. On the front porch, between two planks of wood running parallel to the street outside, rests a bullet casing.

Two Month Layoff

since I've written meaningfully, read anything powerful, or worked on anything related to economics.

I've used most of my free time to ride bike, go out, or play video games. Even now, I'm distracted with the TV while trying to write this blog post. Then I jump to websites. And AIM. In general, I'm neglecting these important activities for filler, which is pretty depressing.

So I'll propose something new in retaliation: a fixed daily time for writing and reading. A daily time slot dedicated to writing and a time slot for reading. 30 minutes each, nothing spectacular or extraordinary. These times will be fixed, but preferably as soon as I wake up. Best to bunch them together, so I'll have an hour daily to knock this stuff out.

We'll see how it goes.