Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope your day is filled with lucky charms!

Journal: setting and mood

Setting and mood have a lot to do with a scene. Consider a birthday party, for example.

Now consider a birthday at a zoo.
And a birthday in a hospital room.

See? Different.

Journal: Write two scenes using the same premise, but experiment with setting and mood. Use my example if you like.

Journal: setting

Think of your favorite stories--books, movies, stage productions, etc. Where do they take place (continent, culture, socioeconomic, rural,etc.)? What time period are they? Is there historical significance? What time of day? If you were designing a set to create a movie, what elements are absolutely necessary?

Journal: Compile a list of your favorite stories and consider the settings. What do they have in common? Try writing a scene with one or more of those common threads.

Beware hubris

The other night I asked Max to identify different animals, shapes and objects, and he'd repeatedly point correctly. Occasionally, he'd utter the corresponding word. "Du" for "duck." "Ball-ball" for "ball." "Brrrroom-brrrroom" for car. I'd cuddled and read and played with him for a while and grew increasingly impressed with his intelligence--as only a mother can do.

Proud, I had him show his father. He was marvelous again.

I hugged him and asked, "How did you get to be so smart?"

He smiled proudly. "My dada."

Journal: point of view

Sometimes, when I read a first person narrative, I'm reminded of my philosophy class in college.

It was the only class I ever fell asleep in. More than once I awoke with a jerk and realized I'd drooled on my notebook. But the class was so boring! All everyone did was talktalktalk about other people's thoughtsthoughtsthoughts. I needed some action.

Often, first person POV easily becomes too introspective. It's not fun to read about someone's thoughts all the time. Inject action!

Journal: Write a scene from first person point of view. Have your narrator observing something. Be sure to inject action and/or dialogue elements to prevent the scene from being blah. For fun, remember that first person POV can be biased.

Spring approaches

Daffodils make me so happy each year when they spring from the ground, and the little buds begin to show hints of color. Maybe it's because I remember Willy Wonka using the flower as a candy teacup in the original movie, or maybe it's because the first bit of color is like nature's surprise party. Either way, I love them.

So I wanted to share a bit of cheer with you. I spotted these outside our office and quickly snapped a picture.

Enjoy!

Project Runway

I just watched this week's Project Runway. The challenge was a mommy and me combination. Seth Aron's combo totally rocked and I loved the jacket he designed.

Amy Sarubi was in the bottom three. She should have been. Even the little girl made a reference to the circus when she saw the outfits. But what I have a problem with is that the judges repeatedly told her that her color combination didn't work.

Really?

Click here to see Amy's color combination.

Then check out this outfit on the left from Tracy Reece's Fashion Week runway show at Bryant Park.

Hmmm.