Trouble

According to Les Edgerton, author of Hooked, "All stories are about one thing: trouble. What does trouble create? The hope that we can do something to get out of it."

I saw this quote at Writer Unboxed, and I've been thinking about it ever since. Mostly because I was having some trouble with character motivation. Just that one little quote actually lent some new perspective to my dilemma, after which, I found more helpful quotes:

"What can I do about it anyway? Every squeak counts, if only in self-respect."

"The hour of consciousness doesn't mean cognition only, but understanding..."

"The search for justice is timeless, and courage isn't lack of fear but persisting despite our fear."

"There is just this, and it is everything."

Saturday night I had to do an errand after work, which was about the last thing I wanted to do. But as I drove past Sherman Marsh I smiled because the errand wasn't going to take too long, and it was a lovely, warm summer evening. The last of the sun was all golden, the wind was blowing through the car from the open windows, and my dog was happy to be doing something different. And I thought, yes, there is just this, and it is everything.

What's inspiring you this week? 

 

the power of description

“There was an air of sullenness in them both, and particularly in the girl; yet, struggling through the dissatisfaction of her face, there was a light with nothing to rest upon, a fire with nothing to burn, a starved imagination keeping life itself somehow, which brightened its expression. Not with the brightness natural to youth, but with uncertain, eager, doubtful flashes, which had something painful in them, analogous to the changes on a blind face groping its way.”


This short paragraph, describing a character in one of Charles Dickens' books, tells us more about her than what she wore, how her hair was dressed or even what color her eyes were. Two sentences. That's all there is and yet, don't you feel you know this girl?

If you know her name and what book she appears in, I'll send you a book mark - just for fun.

Advice worth taking

From The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver -

"... if you ever need a party to cheer yourself up, invite the painters, not the writers."