Date: Fri, 28 Apr 1995 15:58:59 EDT From: blunderword! Subject: EXERCISE: Another Fine Mess... Comments: To: heaps of letters! Die ready? Pick a character or two. Contemplate a scene of your choosing? and... Roll. 1. "If only one could tell true love from false love as one can tell mushrooms from toadstools." Katherine Mansfield 2. "Manana is often the busiest day of the week." Spanish proverb 3. "You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus." Mark Twain 4. "To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle." George Orwell 5. "Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." Gen. George Patton 6. "History is a better guide than good intentions." Jeane Kirkpatrick Your character, in whatever scene you like, is about to run into the LITERAL interpretation of these wonderful statements. E.g., in the scene: 1. true love and false love CAN be told apart in exactly the same physical way you tell mushrooms from toadstools. 2. Manana IS the busiest day of the week, don't try to go shopping! 3. Your character's imagination IS out of focus--all fuzzy! (go ahead and try to adjust the focus. make my story...:-) 4. Your character is trying, valiantly, to see what is literally in front of their nose. 5. Your character is going to hit bottom--and check their success by how high they bounce! (you want to have a whole division jump? and get their annual reviews based on how high they bounce? sure...you mind explaining that?) 6. Your character may have a strange tour, being led by those two fine guides, History and Good Intentions...don't forget to tip them appropriately, okay? (what kind of nose does History have?) Walk us through these literal events, and make those scenes breath. Words for the poor? Spare words for the poor? (oh, go ahead, give 'em a dictionary. throw a thesaurus in the cup, too! after all, gov', you've got a pretty encyclopedia full of words, ain'tcha? I've seen you lay down a week's worth of words on the turn of a die, so give 'em a thrill and show 'em your dictionary...OED, ain't it? :) *words UP! so hang ten!* tink