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What draws me to film as inspiration is the importance of concrete detail in visual images.

Yesterday, I had an afternoon break from work, so I went to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, (I'm here selling books at a rabbinical conference).

It was like walking through a nightmare.

The first part of the museum was like a great beginning.
We saw images of what the American soldiers found.  Pictures and film of camp survivors.  Many dead bodies.  Many bodies that looked like walking corpses.  But they were alive.  There were scenes of cheering.

The museum immediately took us back to WW1.

This was particularly difficult for me.

So many missed opportunities.  Our country's policies stopping us from doing things.  (political note: doesn't that sound familiar???)
One riveting image: Hitler welcoming his cabinet for a picture.  If the image of Hitler did not represent evil, the photo would show men, smiling, talking.  Nothing scary.  Nothing to intimate what was about to happen.
Juxtaposed to that:  Lists of laws enacted to strip Jews of their rights.  Some, as the picture was being taken.

Do you see where I'm going?

Two images.  Reader assumptions.
Juxtaposed.

Other visual moments:  the piles of shoes.  The photographs of shorn hair.  The tatooed arms.  Then the narrative.  Stories of heart and bravery.  One man, who still insisted on telling jokes in the camps.  A woman who thanks an SS guard for helping her stay alive.  A woman who did not recognize her own image.  Or her sister's.  A metal pail that held family mementoes--found after the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto.  This family had the will to survive, to pass on their stories--even when they knew they were dying.  

I could go on.....

But let's stop here and think: what does this mean to us as writers????

I contend that CONCRETE IMAGES--things we can see--make our writing visual, alive--and help us increase suspense.  What is on the shelf of the protagonist?  Read Tim Wynne Jones's A THIEF IN THE HOUSE OF MEMORY.  The opening offers camera shots.  We see the house.  The room.  The empty room.  

Juxtaposing images help tell our stories WITHOUT explaining.  Providing details helps the reader see the world we are creating.  Knowing what details your protagonist would notice helps you find voice and pov.

And sometimes, we can ignore everything I've said.  We can use the assumptions that our society offers to make a point.

Let's go to THE RAG AND BONE SHOP.

The book begins with a dialogue.  There are almost no tag lines.  The reader recognizes: this is an interrogation.  A crime has been committed.  A murder.
Without description, we imagine the characters.  A burly cop.  An adult killer.  We know what this looks like.

Then Cormier shocks us.

The killer is a boy.

Our world is turned upside down.


Enjoy the day!  Write like mad!!!!!!

I'm so glad to be finished with the official debate on the Saipan casino initiative. (And I dread seeing myself on local television!)

In a bit of follow-up research, I found this nifty site that offers a curriculum from Harvard Medical School for middle school kids on mathematics, probability and gaming--to help educate them about gambling and risk. FACING THE ODDS.

I like the bit about helping kids make the transition from "magical thinking" to "mathematical thinking." I'm not in middle-school, but it's been a long time since I took "probability and statistics" in college, so even I would like to be a student in this class!


(And now I hope to turn my blogging back to writing--and getting ready for NaNoWriMo!)

A letter in the newspaper today suggested that we educate ourselves about casinos. Good idea!

Good, clean fun? Better watch out.

I blogged about my initial thoughts and analysis of the Saipan Casino Act here.

I've heard many other concerns since I wrote that article: concerns about unregulated greed and potential dishonesty; organizational, administrative, and technological incompetence; and unintended, harmful consequences on local businesses.

I share all of those concerns.

But one of my biggest and newest concerns deals with the effect on the traditional mwarmwar. I mean, what if we end up with headgear like this?

The Saipan Tribune has a headline today that reads: "Saipan the most viable for casinos."

NO, NO, NO.

(I'll update this post later, when I have time to give it my full attention. But I had to get this opinion expressed now, before I explode.)