Friday, June 10, 2011

Laughter! Descriptions! Bananas!

Evidence of fatigue setting in:
Three guys in their thirties laughing their asses off to a Monty Python-ish song, just composed by one of said guys. I can't even begin to explain it.

Today we listened to Elaine Isaak lecturing about description. How to reveal aspects of a character depending on which words he uses to describe something. If he describes a person as thin, skinny, or gaunt. Big difference.

The thing I'm going to take with me is to make lists, before writing the text. What do the readers need to understand my story? I am writing one thing set in Istanbul. I need details on the geography, look and feel and smell, history, details on the bazaar, info on silversmiths, info on amphetamines and Modafinil, etc. I may not need to write specifically about these things, but I will need them as background to make my world come alive.

Overall, a good day. Now, kicking back for a while, to celebrate having survived Thursday night. Later, going shopping for bananas and water (we go through about 1.5 liters per person per day), and then a barbecue in the yard by the dorms.

Tomorrow we're sleeping in (ssssshhh, don't tell Teacher), then off to find some café with air conditioning, to write in, since the campus pretty much closes down on the weekends. If we're good boys and do at least six hours active writing + the critiques we need to do, we get to go to an actual restaurant with actual menus and actual waiters. This is not a rule here, it's something we came up with on our own.

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