Craft Notes
A Sunday Writing Prompt: Beneath
I found myself stuck yesterday, looking at the last few lines of a scene, sure about where the story goes eventually, but not sure where it was supposed to go right then.
I decided to reexamine the scene I had written from a different angle. I decided to look at what was going on beneath the scene.
And I don’t mean metaphorically. I went beneath the scene and decided to try to describe what was happening within a character’s foot. Maybe I’ll keep it. Maybe I won’t. Something happened, though.
Here’s the exercise: find a scene or write a scene. Read it or reread it. Start again. Describe what is happening beneath it. The apartment below. Under the dirt. Deep within the lower extremities of a character’s body. At the opposite end of the Earth.
Maybe that scene is more interesting. If so, throw out the original. Maybe the scene makes meaning in the juxtaposition between itself and the scene above it. Incorporate one into the other. Maybe nothing will be there. Hey, at least you spent some time writing. Good for you.
Tags: Writing prompts
Very good point: I’ll spend my time with writing now.
Very good point: I’ll spend my time with writing now.
Hey this is off topic but isn’t Hollow Earth the coolest? There’s this great Hollow Earth book, just called HOLLOW EARTH, by David Standish.
Slightly more related- This is an interesting exercise, and probably very useful, though the language of the directions seems like it might push a writer toward a more jarring and extreme change of perspective than is easily managed without seriously re-orienting the story entire. Though admittedly that might be the point. Will have to give it a try sometime.
Hey this is off topic but isn’t Hollow Earth the coolest? There’s this great Hollow Earth book, just called HOLLOW EARTH, by David Standish.
Slightly more related- This is an interesting exercise, and probably very useful, though the language of the directions seems like it might push a writer toward a more jarring and extreme change of perspective than is easily managed without seriously re-orienting the story entire. Though admittedly that might be the point. Will have to give it a try sometime.
I, too, am a big fan of the Hollow Earth hypothesis. Subterranian fiction of all kinds, really.
I think I was hoping a person would approach a story in desperate need of a extreme change in perspective. So, yeah, I agree with your assessment.
I, too, am a big fan of the Hollow Earth hypothesis. Subterranian fiction of all kinds, really.
I think I was hoping a person would approach a story in desperate need of a extreme change in perspective. So, yeah, I agree with your assessment.
That’s a really cool idea, Matthew. There is so much stuff everywhere, and focusing too much on the scene at hand can be really constricting.
I was also thinking that you could start a new school of writing called Subterraneanism where everything is taking place underneath what is taking place. Of course, that is a stupid joke.
But I seriously do think that’s a very cool exercise.
That’s a really cool idea, Matthew. There is so much stuff everywhere, and focusing too much on the scene at hand can be really constricting.
I was also thinking that you could start a new school of writing called Subterraneanism where everything is taking place underneath what is taking place. Of course, that is a stupid joke.
But I seriously do think that’s a very cool exercise.
One literary-historical precedent for this move is the comic strip “Krazy Kat,” which started out as stuff drawn in under the floorboards of “The Dingbat Family” and then turned out to be by far the more fruitful setup for an ongoing strip. Which also makes me think of footnotes. What would DeSelby have to say about up and down?
One literary-historical precedent for this move is the comic strip “Krazy Kat,” which started out as stuff drawn in under the floorboards of “The Dingbat Family” and then turned out to be by far the more fruitful setup for an ongoing strip. Which also makes me think of footnotes. What would DeSelby have to say about up and down?
foottotes, george herriman was a genius, i thought of the same thing.
i guess it’s still sort of sci-fi cheesy (until string theory is proven) but i also thought of alternate dimensions as well as jimmy chen’s ‘second opinion on time’ post. i’ve been thinking about dfw lately and if you think about it footnotes are a lot like windows.
i’m going to try to combine all these ideas into my day’s writing. thanks for helping my brain not grow soft, guys.
foottotes, george herriman was a genius, i thought of the same thing.
i guess it’s still sort of sci-fi cheesy (until string theory is proven) but i also thought of alternate dimensions as well as jimmy chen’s ‘second opinion on time’ post. i’ve been thinking about dfw lately and if you think about it footnotes are a lot like windows.
i’m going to try to combine all these ideas into my day’s writing. thanks for helping my brain not grow soft, guys.