10.01.10 The SCARIEST Story of All

It looks like some sort of computer code...doesn't it? It must mean something...right?

Maybe it means something big is going to happen today or something bigger will happen on 10.10.10 - that's only 9 days away. Maybe we should all prepare for it, like we did at the new Millennium: buy some flashlights, batteries and extra water. My tip would be BUY CHOCOLATE. It's the single most important thing we might want to stock up on.

Why...?

Well, I guess we could get worked up about all sorts of things on a day with such numerological significance as today but there's something bigger and scarier coming our way than a strange number: It's the death of chocolate.

THE DEATH OF CHOCOLATE... You might say, don't you mean Death By Chocolate?

But No. You heard me right the first time.

Scientists are racing to find a cure before it's too late and we lose chocolate to a disease. In West Africa, 70 percent of the crop of cocoa is produced and these cacao trees have no resistance to diseases that could destroy the crop.

That's why scientists are racing to find the sequence to path the genome for chocolate. You see there are two virulent pathogens that could wipe cocoa off the face of the earth, one is witch's broom and the other is frosty pod.

I read that the Mars Company in partnership with IBM are working to path the genome for the cacao tree. And, I for one, sure hope they are able to save chocolate.

If you don't believe me and think I'm merely trying to start October off with a scary story so I can simply jump start the Halloween horrors, check out this September 15, 2010 article from the Washington Post.

What would we do at that certain time of month, if there was no chocolate...? It really does sound like the beginning of a horror novel to me.

What say you?

Confused Dog on Escalator

Hope you all have a happy day :)

Anwer to Word for Wednesday

Answer: A femtosecond is one quadrillionth, or one millionth of one billionth of a second.

Time flies but that's nothing more than a flash of a hummingbird's eyelash.

Word for Wednesday - a game for Writers

Word: Femtosecond

Take a guess, put it in comments then come back around 3:00 P.M. to see if you were "write" or wrong.

Thicken the P(l)ot

Soup, like a story, is always better when you give it time to develop. You need to let it sit and simmer for a while to get all the full-bodied flavor out of the characters...or vegetables. So remember to take a little time with your p(l)ot--let it stew inside your head. This added time will help thicken the story...or broth.

So you see, a good pot of soup is just like a good story.

After you have your idea, think about your characters. Make sure you make them multi-dimensional, complex, and--mostly--imperfect. Otherwise they will be predictable and bland. No one wants a boring soup or a one-dimensional story. Everyone has flaws so remember to throw in a few quirks and complications, it will spice up your characters.

After you finish your story, let it sit for a few days then go back and get another little taste from the p(l)ot. You might discover some things you'd forgotten, or see mistakes you never noticed. You might even realize a few ways you can fit some of those pieces together better than before with only a small sprinkling of salt...or a bit of new information.

So I hope I've helped you see that "The Joy Of Writing" can be comfort food for the writer's soul and add spice to your story for the benefit of your reader.

So, the next time you're cooking up a pot of soup, think of character, and when you're sitting down to a savory cup of alphabet soup, think about those words. How can we use them to make our stories richer, tastier and more ful...filling?

People say "time heals". I don't know if that's true, but it sure "helps" when it comes to thickening the broth of your soup and it will do even more to make your story rich and tasty.

Word Soup - Character Chowder

I have goals for the week: writing goals. I want to start a new story, get a few thousand words on the page, and compose my character outlines. Which kind of makes me think of soup.

Yep, that's what I said, word soup and character chowder. I don't want to merely spew strings of letters together on a page and hope they form a story. I want to create a medley of flavors using multiple ingredients. Every word needs to move the story forward and every character has to be multi-dimensional.

I draw a lot of my characters from real life--or at least many of their personality traits, mannerisms, and overall character. I doubt anyone knows people who are only one-dimensional. Of course there are stereotypes, or people who seem to be more one thing than another. But most people are very complex. I learned this fact studying psychology back in college and earning my degree only taught me that there was way more to learn than I had time for in four years.

Anyway, who wants to eat plain potato soup? We all want a little variety...(some salt, pepper, dill, garlic, maybe even a little cilantro or fennel) after all, that is the spice in our lives and in our stories.

So, how do we make a word soup that is tasty...?

Come back tomorrow and I'll give you a few tips that I use when I'm writing.

Go Goth

I love dark red fingernail polish--especially when it gets close to Halloween. So, when I saw these colors I nearly went crazy and had to have them. I even bought an extra set for a friend. Plus, they came with a black lace cuff band--way too kewl.

Plus for a present, I added a little pumpkin basket and some nail files. What a way to start a holiday.