Occasional Sputterings

Target Audience: 6/8 y.o. boys Bob stepped off the train. The smell of travel and fall filled the air as he carried the two bags to the station. As he neared the closest swinging door, a woman with kind eyes held the door open. “Thanks,” said Bob gratefully, as he smiled and quickly passed the doors. “No problem,” said the woman and she smiled. Dropping off one bag at a nearby bench, Bob lugged the other bag to the nearby window. A tall man with fast hands asked, “Hello, how may I help you?”  His hands continued sorting and stamping paperwork. “How much to send mail this bag to the closest ocean?” asked Bob. “Um, we don’t ship to the ocean, “replied the tall man; the various papers on the tall man’s desk were quickly arranged into neat piles. “Well … what routes do you have available that cross the ocean,” asked Bob. The tall man stopped touching his desk. “Um, I’m afraid you may not understand what we do here,” said the tall man “... ...

So I'm bored. I'm bored with not having something published. I'm bored with letter excuses justify me not quite finishing things. I'm bored with letting interruptions self-justify non-completion. So I'm committing. I'm going to do SOMETHING every day for the next three weeks on a single book. I've got enough context I should be able to write something. Daily work won't just be writing - it'll include all the bits. Workflow as follows: i. Pick a story idea (doesn't have to be the best, it just has to be chosen) ii. Brainstorm on it iii. If we can brainstorm sufficient for at least 16 primary nodes, we're set      Otherwise, repeat i-iii At this point the book exists but is insufficiently abstracted iv. However, if we haven't picked something sufficient in 2 days, go with the one with the most v. Break out each primary node into 5-20 sub-nodes vi. Identify 2-3 bullets for each sub-node vii. Punchy/funny tit...

The problem with being a narrator is that everyone assumes you're omniscient.  I suppose it's because you're the first voice the reader hears when they begin the story.  You trust the teller of a tale to know certain things about what is going to happen.  You're one describing who is present, who is not, and what sorts of clothing and madness is lurking about those who are there. But there's no training, no guild, no best-practices - it's why the first few stories you hear from a new narrator are always a bit scabby.  The narrator hasn't learned to drop a few things, to skip a few details before they speak.  Too, narrators are given the chance to be the voice of the story maker - but the narrators are hand-picked.  That is to say, nothing external to the narrator tells the story maker that THIS is the best narrator they could have chosen. Most story makers simply stick with the first one they pick.  As a result, they're stuck with the inadequacies,...