05 April 2006
Inspiration at the Barber and a segue.
Even though I've been getting my words lately, I had the vague feeling that I was writing myself into a corner. Not the "I'm doomed" kind of corner, but the "where do I go from here" kind. Last night, I knew I had reached that corner. No nighttime inspiration struck.
I had high hopes for this morning's shower (a notorious thinking place for writers) but nothing. Well, there was a little niggle of something, but it didn't make it out of my subconscious in a, er, conscious way. If you know what I mean. So I left it there so my hind-brain could worry at it some more, kind of like a dog worries a bone.
So off I went to do my morning errands, one of which was getting a haircut. So there I was, sitting in the barber's chair when, to stretch my metaphor terribly, my subconscious bit through the bone. It was such an "Eureka!" moment that I had to literally force myself to sit still lest the barber go bzzzzzzt with the clippers where a clipper ought not to bzzzzzzzzzt. It was such a big idea that not only did it get me out of this corner, but the next one is, I hope, far, far away. I couldn't wait for the haircut to finish so I could go home and get started. Once I got home, I immediately opened the document, did a little judicious deleting and went on a roll. I came up for air a hour and a half later with about 2 thousand good words and left that to sit for a bit while figuring out my next small step. Which will be much easier with a new major step to aim for. Who knew the barber's chair would be so inspirational?
And, speaking of barbers and bzzzzzzzzting, I wonder how many people think about how things feel when you can't hear them? A lot of people assume that when you can't hear, your sense of sight becomes really sharp to compensate, but the other three remain intact. Not so. All four increase to compensate. Smell and taste, not so much, I'll admit. But touch really is up there with sight with how much it increases to compensate. I think a lot of writers miss that when writing about Deaf characters. They constantly have the Deaf person with really good vision - or, more appropriately, visual awareness - but they miss the chance to talk about how Deaf characters feel things differently, more acutely.
Obvious example - at the barber. I can't hear the buzzing of the clippers and the snick-snick of the scissors. But I can feel it against my skull. And, let me tell you, it's an interesting feeling.
Another example: thunder. Try and imagine what it would be like to know how far the lightning is by whether or not you feel the thunder. If the lightning is far away, then you don't feel it at all. But if it's close enough, you can feel the actual air that would be carrying the sound of the thunder. Kind of similar to how windows will sometimes rattle and sometimes not. And if it's close enough, you don't just feel it on your skin, you actually feel it in your chest.
I have the opposite problem. I have no idea what things sound like without being told or reading about it or whatever.
I had high hopes for this morning's shower (a notorious thinking place for writers) but nothing. Well, there was a little niggle of something, but it didn't make it out of my subconscious in a, er, conscious way. If you know what I mean. So I left it there so my hind-brain could worry at it some more, kind of like a dog worries a bone.
So off I went to do my morning errands, one of which was getting a haircut. So there I was, sitting in the barber's chair when, to stretch my metaphor terribly, my subconscious bit through the bone. It was such an "Eureka!" moment that I had to literally force myself to sit still lest the barber go bzzzzzzt with the clippers where a clipper ought not to bzzzzzzzzzt. It was such a big idea that not only did it get me out of this corner, but the next one is, I hope, far, far away. I couldn't wait for the haircut to finish so I could go home and get started. Once I got home, I immediately opened the document, did a little judicious deleting and went on a roll. I came up for air a hour and a half later with about 2 thousand good words and left that to sit for a bit while figuring out my next small step. Which will be much easier with a new major step to aim for. Who knew the barber's chair would be so inspirational?
And, speaking of barbers and bzzzzzzzzting, I wonder how many people think about how things feel when you can't hear them? A lot of people assume that when you can't hear, your sense of sight becomes really sharp to compensate, but the other three remain intact. Not so. All four increase to compensate. Smell and taste, not so much, I'll admit. But touch really is up there with sight with how much it increases to compensate. I think a lot of writers miss that when writing about Deaf characters. They constantly have the Deaf person with really good vision - or, more appropriately, visual awareness - but they miss the chance to talk about how Deaf characters feel things differently, more acutely.
Obvious example - at the barber. I can't hear the buzzing of the clippers and the snick-snick of the scissors. But I can feel it against my skull. And, let me tell you, it's an interesting feeling.
Another example: thunder. Try and imagine what it would be like to know how far the lightning is by whether or not you feel the thunder. If the lightning is far away, then you don't feel it at all. But if it's close enough, you can feel the actual air that would be carrying the sound of the thunder. Kind of similar to how windows will sometimes rattle and sometimes not. And if it's close enough, you don't just feel it on your skin, you actually feel it in your chest.
I have the opposite problem. I have no idea what things sound like without being told or reading about it or whatever.
# posted by Steven @ 2:44 PM 
