Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Whats the Problem?

This is my workstation.



What’s the Problem?

I hate it when Microsoft does an update and you lose the document you are working on. That is one of the reasons I bought an Apple, even though I am not using it now. I am using an old laptop because it enables me to size and import a photograph to a size required in WDC images. I know the Apple can do this as well, however I haven’t figured it out yet.

Tomorrow the EWW course will begin. I am starting to get the templates the students have submitted. Some get it more than others. I suppose that for many aspiring writers the focus is still on reading for pleasure. A writer needs to do this, certainly on a first read, but on a second needs to shift into some variation of the templating mode. By this I mean they need to not just enjoy a read but understand why they enjoyed it. This requires dissecting some of the components and spreading the parts on the examining table. It means gleaning several things. These are, the components that were used, the degree to which they were distributed and the art with which they are presented.

It is like reading a sentence in grammar school and diagramming the parts. (UGH! You say. Admittedly it can be a bit of a sterile exercise but one that a writer needs to undertake, leading to the realization that writing is as much a science as a stream of conscious from our imagination.)

I remember teaching at the Command and General Staff College--- the beginning of the Commander’s Estimate of the Situation.

It is a problem solving process which begins with the definition of the problem. To show the student how important this step is we gave a vignette showing a young officer caught up in a typical stream of events and asked… “What’s the problem?” I remember that as many times as I handed out the vignette, I never got the same problem statement twice. It is the same with templating. Most of the student’s sort of get it but no two students get it the same.

Today I have a treat for my readers. I am including a photo of my desk and the top shelf is full of figurines. Hanging above is a print by a famous artist. If you are a fine arts person you will not doubt recall seeing examples of his work. I love these images and use them in character development. Unfortunately you can’t look as close as I can but in each the artist succeeded in capturing what I perceive to be a sliver of the spirit of the subject. This is much the same thing as a writer capturing the spirit of a character. Anyway I like to start with an image and go from there.