Each week we gather at tables, on sofas, or lean back in bed and take note of headlines in the news. Whether dramatic or funny, people gather in the information and decide from that point how much they’re willing to invest in the facts and speculation they’ve just read.
This past week has—on Yahoo! News alone—kept many balls in the air while juggling subjects across the spectrum. The amazement comes from trying to assimilate all the information and decide how any/all/some of it affects the individual.
In a country where schools, parents, etc. are trying desperately to decrease the incidents of bullying among children, recognizing that our safety officers are actively displaying the behavior with impunity brings with it thoughts of 1984 to the max.
- Minot, ND is underwater from the flooding of the Souris River. The damage estimates have yet to be firmed up for the town’s residents. This is another example of this year’s crazy weather’s aftermath. This is especially true when taken in light of the expanding drought throughout the south. That drought situation was in evidence throughout the Southwest last winter, as well.
- Venezuelan President Chavez is reported to be in critical condition in a Cuban hospital after emergency surgery. The situation, according to the report, has made an already shaky situation worse as the Venezuelan government deals with an absentee president who may or may not have cancer.
- A bus-sized asteroid is slated to make a near-miss pass of the Earth on Monday. The estimate is that it won’t come as close as the much bigger one that whizzed by us in February. If this one dips a bit closer than expected, it would burn up on entry and create no problems for us. So say the scientists tracking it.
- On a lighter note, spinner sharks are now jumping over surfers in Florida. The event was billed as a new “spin” on “Jumping the Shark” of Fonz fame.
- Clean-up workers dealing with the Amtrak crash site in Nevada fear they will find more bodies in the wreckage of the burned out cars. The National Safety Investigation Team has not yet given their report on the incident other than to say that the semi driver slammed on his brakes before doing a head-on into the fourth car of the train at the crossing. None have stated why they thought he missed seeing both the working signal lights and gates.
- The organized hackers of LulzSec are disbanding permanently, according to reports. They released a statement that said little of g
Top 5 Tips for Dynamite Scenes
Guest Post By Roz Morris
Join us on Facebook for a discussion of scenes.
Have you got a scene that’s looking lifeless? Here’s how I pep it up.
Have something change.
No scene should ever go as the reader expects. If you have a character set out to buy a pint of milk and all they do is amble to the shop, buy their stuff and walk back, you’ve hit the snooze button. Instead, take that scene somewhere the reader is not expecting. It needn’t be a big twist. It could be tiny – a change of mood, a resolution to do something. But if nothing changes, the scene isn’t worth showing.
To keep the sense of progress through the story, a scene should always contain change. Otherwise it hasn’t earned its place in the story.
Make that change have consequences for the characters.
Suppose you add something to your milk-buying scene – the character realises her boyfriend claimed he bought a certain brand of cigarette from the corner shop, but that shop doesn’t sell them. So where did he get them? And isn’t it odd that they are the same brand smoked by his ex? Are they seeing each other again?
If a change has happened, it should have a lasting effect in the story. Again, it could be small, or it could set them on a new and dastardly path. Good scenes don’t exist in isolation; they affect what comes after them. And they are affected by what happened before.
If you have to fill a blank, bring something in that you introduced earlier.
In the thick of a scene, you often have to invent details off the top of your head. Where was your minor character John last night? The cinema, you write, because it doesn’t matter where he was, he’s not very important. But go back and look at what you’ve written about John before. Is there something else you already invented that you could bring in instead? Three chapters ago, did you send him, quite casually, to choir practice? Why not send him there again, or to the chemist to get throat lozenges? Now we’re fleshing John out and with very little effort.
Bringing back ideas you used before is a great way to make the world of your story feel more solid.
Even if what you’re using is trivial it can build up – and who knows where it might lead? It’s a technique called reincorporation. It makes stories elegant and satisfying. And it adds to the feeling that everything matters.
Keep a list of everything you plucked off the top of your head because you needed to fill a blank space. You’d be surprised how useful it will be.
When one partner has a drinking problem it inevitably impacts their partner, and working together to overcome the problem, can often be the best chance for success. In Overcoming Alcohol Problems: Workbook For Couples Barbara S. McCrady and Elizabeth E. Epstein provide a 12 week program that involves a couple to participate in their professional treatment. Below is an excerpt that shows a common pitfall of supportive partners.
Partners often try to protect the drinker from the consequences of drinking.
The result is that the drinker does not experience negative consequences that would help motivate him or her to quite. The protection helps maintain drinking. For example, you may shield the drinker from the 
embarrassment of having the children see him or her in a drunken condition. You may call your partner’s boss and make excuses for absences. You may lie to family and friends to hide the drinking problems.
One common type of protection is to give comfort to the drinker who is suffering from the effects of a drinking episode. Many partners will care for the “sick” person. Instead of suffering the full consequences of the drinking, the drinker gets special attention.
Partners protect the drinker for many reasons. Out of love, they do not want the drinker to suffer. They also do not want the drinking to affect other family members, particularly children. In many situations, the partner wishes to protect the drinker’s job because it is an important source of income for the family.
The partner who protects the problem drinker is denying the drinker a full and true knowledge of his or her own problem. When you protect the drinker, you are not giving these powerful negative consequences a chance to work. The protection unintentionally helps keep the drinking going.
You should agree together as a couple not to protect the drinker. If your partner has a future slip, you should refuse to do any special favors for him or her when he or she has been drinking. This means no hiding, making excuses, or caring for the sickly drinker. It was your partner’s responsibility for drinking and it is also your partner’s responsibility to cope with the consequences.
Make an agreement about what you will do if the drinker has a slip. The agreement should say that your partner is responsible for the consequences if he or she drinks. You should not try to make the consequences any easier.
Plan and practice for the possibility of a slip. Thin of possible situations that may occur between you. Talk about how you will act.
You should imagine how you will handle the situation. Think of a likely situation. Go over in your imagination all the things that would happen. Imagine how you will firmly tell your partner that you will not make things easier. Rehearsing will make it easier to act at the right time.
Not protecting the drinker shows you care by getting your partner to face his or her drinking and the problems that result. Protecting your partner may lead to continued trouble.
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Clauds, I have a daughter who won’t watch the news anymore. She finds it too disturbing. Can’t say I blame her, though I feel the need to at least be aware of what is happening in the world.
Sometimes — no — OFTEN I can’t get over what is considered “news,” and how it is presented. As you point out, we are in the information age. It can be overwhelming.
When I think of the changes that took place in my grandparents’ lifetime, it is mind-boggling.
Great post, Clauds. I love how you make us think out here.
Sometimes, I wonder, Marie, whether knowing anything that goes on beyond my living room is of value other than as scare tactics on the part of those “in the know.” Other times I can laugh at the absurdity of the world and those who live on it.
Six of one… and all that.
I’m glad that you enjoyed my morning musings.
Claudsy