What do I write when I can’t think of anything to write? What’s next in my in-progress Paris book? I started Blog # 19 about the Brain Bank with the same two sentences – and I wrote about the notebook. But now, let’s diverge a little. What would you do? Yes, reader, what would you do? What would you write? What would you say? Let’s remove the pressure on us – you and me. Let’s remove ourselves from the scene completely. Let’s use another person, another character. You are at a lull in a scene and unsure how to progress. You can’t think of anything – you and I have drawn a blank. What would Taylor Swift do? What would Batman do? What would Morgan Freeman do? What would your mother-in-law do? What would Scooby Doo do? Take a character, a celebrity, a politician, an artist, an elder in your community, a guy next door, a pioneer, or an adventurer. Research them if you aren’t already familiar with their personality, appearance, speech patterns, actions, and deeds. Know the person, become the person. What would they do? What would they say? What would they wear? Don’t get too stuck on the exercise. It might be a placeholding paragraph or section until you get your creative groove back. But, you never know – it might become a permanent part of the book - as American poet and author Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) said,
This method of characterizing the next scene – imagining another character – is similar to the approach that many creatives of all sectors use. For example, Anthony Doerr, American author of All the Light We Cannot See (2014) wrote,
Alex Tizon (1959-2017), Filipino-American author and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, wrote, “Most of us, when imagining an All-American, wouldn’t picture a man who looked like me. Not even I would.” It’s not always easy to do, as British actor Callum Turner says, “Imagining what a character will do in a given situation – it’s like an equation and working it out is a marathon rather than a sprint.” It has its surprises too. American comic and author Grace Helbig wrote,
Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), who lived for most of his life in Paris, said it well, “Everything you can imagine is real.” And then he said it better,
Have you missed the other 20 episodes? Find them in the “PARIS as I write” tab of this “The Stories in You and Me” Substack. MY PARIS WEBSITE AND ALL THINGS PARISIAN Photographer: Martina Nicolls PIP DECKS, the fun and engaging how-to guides for business.
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Sunday, 16 June 2024
NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: WHAT WOULD YOU DO? – Blog 21
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