Story Swatches
Between bouts at the keyboard, I stand up, stretch and pace, taking time to enjoy the weather.Previously, I wrote about the collected details and visual input that can contribute to the world-building of a story.
The Raven's Page
The Raven's Page is a place to putter and reflect about the rituals and discoveries that spark creativity.
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Palettes of a Story
Whenever I'm beginning a new story or revising an earlier piece, my mind tends to hop all over the place. To anchor a narrative, to visualize a map of where I might be going, I rely on sensory information. A list of visual resources that are particularly useful: photographs, art galleries and museums, ephemera such as brochures, postcards, old letters and stamps, tickets, old catalogs and ads,…
In Reverence of Watching
A young stag observes me in the morning light, perceiving me through scent, sound and motion. I gaze for a long time, then carefully retreat in a direction that hopefully will not trigger an impulse to lope toward the busy road.Days like these invite us to take heed, pay attention, deepen our awareness, and to take time to savor a vastness that is free of manufactured algorithms and impulsive…
Alternate Routes
Growing up in Alaska, August for me signified hunting trips and wilderness excursions.
SUMMER BOOKS
The perfect recipe for a hot July day: iced coffee and a good book, in the shade of a tree.All of my summers from long ago to the here and now are defined by the cathedral Wilderness and books. Pages flutter, trees creak, ravens and crows glide through the heated air. And the compact time machines, known as books, fit in the palm of one's hand. What great fortune it is to find an obscure path…
On the Edge
My visual index is populated with edges, precipices and rims.The sheer drop of objects and shadows, fascinates me: the weight of air above and below wings, the angle of a late winter slope beneath cold sunlight.Some of these lists includes: the abrupt decline beside a high northern road, a steep bank undercut by overflow, arcs of rain and bent grass.
FLIGHTS OF FANCY
Pattering rain, a crossword puzzle, an empty page and a cup of coffee sets the mood of the day.Dark clouds coincide with an electric wire as if signing on the dotted line.
Saturations of Gray
Color permeates much of my thinking, story scenes often arrive in rich Kodachrome tones.Yet, recently I found myself journaling through an overcast morning and realized that gray carries its own intensity. Gray seeps in: a mist, a smoke, a smudge, a dense gauze, a cloud-written sonnet, a drift that obscures blue and summons cemeteries out of past ashes.
Solitary
Walking under a grey morning sky, I pause to airlift snails off the driveway and tilt my head to listen to crow lyrics.Inhaling the mint and pepper smell of damp grass and admiring the weight of water drops on slender stalks comprises this quiet morning.
Sound Signature of Summer
When I assemble story lists, which are included in my larger notebooks, there is an entire category that is made of sounds: creaks, hisses, roars, whispers.
Camping Recollected
It's a different point of view; the ferns – jade veined, the trails of lake snails lettering muck, the camp-stove contrails, the iron lids over simmering light. It's a different brand of second sight; the balance between air exhaled and inhaled, as bats skim over pupil dark woods, and hurtle and trill and just clear the sheen of water.