 For Authors: February 01, 2023 Issue [#11789] |
This week: The Little Things Edited by: fyn  
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Genes are like the story, and DNA is the language that the story is written in. ~~Sam Kean
The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then the queen died of grief is a plot.~~ E. M. Forster
Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. ~~C. S. Lewis
The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it. ~~James M. Barrie
What is life? A madness. What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story. And the greatest good is little enough; for all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams. ~~Pedro Calderon de la Barca
And were an epitaph to be my story I'd have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world. Robert Frost
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The quote above, by E. M. Forster, the one in bold type:The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then the queen died of grief is a plot. Then we need the whos, the wheres, the whens, and the hows. The big scenes are fun to write, but then we need all the little bits that stitch them together. We are the sewers of the quilt stories, for all tales are a bit of this ragged old t-shirt and a piece of those worn-out jeans, a strip of an old romance and a scrap of a broken heart, and a patch of bad luck sewn to great-grandma's apron pocket.
Too often the little details, the everyday 'stuff' gets lost in eagerness to write the big crash or the raging flood. And yet, it is the details, the moments along the way that make the big scenes matter to the reader. We need them to care. Because, if we don't care, then it doesn't matter what the story is.
Why do we have that piece of great-grandma's apron? How did those jeans get so worn? What is on the front of that t-shirt that was worn to shreds? How does that broken heart figure in with what's going on now and what went did the old romance teach them going forward? Is great-grandma still around or did they meet just down the path from her gravestone? Had the mosquitoes been biting and had she swatted one and got him instead? Had they ignored the storm warning in their eagerness to get to their 'special' place>? Had the fourteen-car pileup happened because he was trying to get back to or find her?
A friend of mine is reading a series that I read years and years ago. We talked about parts we liked, and I mentioned some blue flowers in a cracked old pitcher on a windowsill. I still remember that visual. The moment, when the girl remembered them later on as the sky was the same color blue or when she realized his eyes were the same shade. They were but little details, yet stitched together, they added layer and nuance to what was going on in the world of the characters.
The details and observations the writer makes about their environment adds a bit of embroidery or edging that ties the bits and pieces together. Otherwise the whole 'boy meets girl, boy loses girl, girl gives him one more chance and they live happily everafter is just the same old story that's been told a million times before. The little moments and occurrences are what makes this story different, what makes it unique, and what makes it yours.
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If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. 1st Pl Win Quotation Inspi
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Quick-Quill  writes: My books are divided by type Writing reference books and keepers. However, my husband doesn't like my books (he only read John Grisham and not one of my published books) so they are neat, sort of, on a couple of shelves. I regift my purchased books to friends or offer them to anyone who likes what I like. Im at an age where I need to downsize so I don't keep or purchase many physical books unless they can help me be a better writer.
Osirantinous  says:Good luck with the shelving, and take comfort in that you've made us all jealous. I am in fact waiting for my new bookcase to arrive but even then I'll only have about 10 of them and I'm sure they still won't fit all my books. I also have some very old books and collections that I keep 'protected' - they're in the bookcase in the hall which does not get direct sun. But also that houses manga, coffee table books, contemporary fiction, fantasy, and dictionaries plus 'how to write' books. Anyway, they're clumped in groups but still clumped!! There is a method, I swear!! This new one going in the lounge is actually also going to house a very large lego (but not actually lego) model of Neuschwanstein Castle to keep it safe. My next goal would be to actually build in some shelves in the spare bedroom as the study doesn't have enough walls and it's too light/hot in there in summer. Sigh. Send us a photo when you're all shelved????
Will do!!!
THANKful Sonali LOVES DAD  comments: We had a pond with a turtle in it.
For a while, my Dad used to say he'd rent space from the turtle and sleep in the pond.
The house is full of books. Every available surface is occupied by books. Shelves? We filled those years ago! 
Aiva Raine  adds: I love that you have so many books. I haven't tried to count my collection, but I suspect it's only around a thousand or so, not counting the kids books that are boxed up awaiting future grandkids.
Mine are sorted via genre and then alphabetically by author in series order if possible. I've run out of room on my bookshelves now, so I've had to put books in front of books, which is bothersome, but I have no more room for bookshelves.
You'll have to post a picture once you get your library room finished. I'm jealous of your window reading seat. If I ever buy another house, that's on my wish list.
AmyJo- only 2 steps behind -   joked: LOL...and I thought my mom and I loved books...Wowzers!
Monty  says: Once I had a home with bookshelves floor to ceiling. When my first wife died and I sold the house, I donated 500 books to libraries. Now I have maybe 100. Very interesting about what you will have.
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