Muse Food – Bison And The Unexpected
If there was a bison background character in one of my stories crafted for North American readers, I would likely merely mention there was a bison. I might call him majestic or large or hairy. But I wouldn’t go into much detail.
If I was describing THIS bison, I would likely devote some space to describing his horns.
Why?
Because they aren’t typical for a bison. They aren’t ‘normal.’
And because they aren’t normal or expected, they stand out and they warrant mentioning.
Mention the unexpected in your stories, especially if that unexpected detail is important to the plot or character development.
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Muse Food – A Ship In Harbor
One of my favorite sayings is
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for”
(attributed to John A. Shedd).
I remember that saying when I’m writing a scene, a scene that will make my characters uncomfortable. Characters in stories aren’t meant to be comfortable. Comfortable beings don’t take extreme actions, actions that we expect characters in great stories to take.
Make your characters uncomfortable. Push them out of their safety zone. Get that ship in the sea.
(grins)
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Muse Food – Monkeys Eating Pringles And Sharing Our Treats
(The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I encountered this monkey eating Pringles in Malaysia.)
A human is trekking through the forest and they encounter a cute little creature.
They want to interact with this creature. So they reach into their pack, take out candy or chips/crisps or chocolate and they then offer this treat to the creature.
This happens often in books and in movies, whether that forest is on Earth or in Space.
We share our treats, the foods that taste good to us, hoping we’ll make a connection. It is our way of saying “I want to be friends.” We do this with people and we do this with other living things.
How would the main character in your story try to make friends?
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Muse Food – Other Escape Routes
Your characters are trapped.
The doors are blocked. The windows are sealed tight. Danger is all around them.
If they don’t escape soon, they’ll die.
Look down. Is there drainage they can fit into?
Look up. Is there a ventilation shaft they can navigate?
Spaces are often designed for air and water to pass through them. These systems could be escape routes for your characters.
Or you could always give your characters a bomb of some kind and blow sh*t up.
That’s fun also.
(grins)
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Muse Food – Pile Of Bricks And Arrangements
This sculpture in Taipei, Taiwan is…technically…a pile of (beautiful and unique) bricks.
(smiles)
It is how these bricks are ARRANGED that makes it a beautiful work of art.
Our stories are technically a collection of words. It is how we arrange them that makes them wonderful, that creates a story.
And we can arrange the words a gazillion different ways. This arrangement is what makes our stories unique, stories only we can tell.
Have fun, fellow word arrangers!
(grins)
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Muse Food – Fences And Barriers
These beautiful barriers were erected around an often visited historical site in Kuala Lumpur.
They communicate a few things.
The first and foremost, it IS a barrier. That means unauthorized people should keep out of the site. That’s the primary communication of a barrier or a fence.
The barriers also tell us the site managers KNOW it is a tourist destination. They KNOW visitors to the city will be disappointed that it is under construction. They KNOW these visitors will still want to be take photos.
And they value visitors to the site and to the city.
The pretty barriers relay pride in the site. The site managers care enough about the site to make it pretty.
The images are drawings, not photographs. That relays the site managers care about the arts. They didn’t send a construction worker out to take photos. They employed an artist to sketch it.
And these barriers tell everyone this construction will be happening for a while. It isn’t an overnight closure. The site will be closed for weeks, maybe months, maybe years.
The type of fence or a barrier in a story is important. It communicates much more than ‘Stay out.’ Make your choice of fence or barrier intentional.
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Muse Food – The Details Few People Notice
I recently shared this photo with you.
What you might not have noticed and I only noticed because I enlarged it on my screen is the millipede on the fallen tree trunk in the upper left hand corner of the photo.
Writers do this ALL THE TIME. Mystery Writers are especially skilled at this. They weave little details into their stories that might seem like throwaway lines, lines that don’t mean anything.
Yet they very much mean something. These details can be foreshadowing. They can hint that all is not normal in the world (The movie, The Sixth Sense, did this very well.). They can be the clue that solves the mystery.
Care about the little details. They are often the difference between a good story and a GREAT story.
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Muse Food – Kuala Lumpur Tower And Partially Obstructed Views
The Dear Wonderful Hubby took this beautiful photo of Kuala Lumpur Tower partially hidden between tree branches.
We can see some of the tower, enough to know it is a tower, but not all of it.
Overheard conversations and viewed at a distance meetings in our stories are similar. Our hero/heroine can hear some of the conversation or see some of the action but not all of it.
And these gaps in their perception, their partially obstructed view, can lead to misunderstandings, sometimes amusing reactions, and in extreme cases…murder.
(grins)
Have you ever used a ‘partially obstructed view’ in your stories?
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Muse Food – Who Is Watching?
We saw these two little ‘guys’ intently watching some action on the pier.
(smiles)
Who is watching your hero’s or heroine’s actions? Why are they watching? What will these observers do with the information they gain? How will being watched change your character’s future?
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Muse Food – Bridges And Transitions
Transition scenes are, admittedly, my least favorite scenes to write. I have to get my character from one point to the other and I’m usually in a rush to get to that second point. That’s the scene I really want to write.
But transition scenes are like bridges.
And we all know bridges can be super exciting. The bridge over a steep drop could be holding on by a flimsy and rapidly fraying strand of rope. The bridge could be guarded by a troll who demands a price the hero/heroine isn’t willing to pay. The enemy could be waiting at the end of it. A giant eagle could swoop down and carry our hero/heroine off while they are attempting to cross the bridge.
Make that transition scene interesting, my friends.
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