Play-time for Bekah

Last week, I spent Monday and Tuesday at a writing conference taught by Orson Scott Card. And it was amazing. There were about 60 other nerds there that wanted to learn about writing, and Card did not disappoint. We had class all day; we had to write a story and read about 15 beginnings to other stories during our hour (and a half?) lunch; At night we paired up with another classmate and had to interview a random person, do research in a library or bookstore, observe culture in San Diego, and then come up with 5 complete story outlines to turn in the next morning at 9am based on our findings. It turned out pretty cool. We had to share one of our ideas in a group of 6-7 people, and after we read the information on the card (we were only allowed one 3x5 card per story, and we had to fill it completely) our group members had to discuss and critique our outline. Once we had finished reading our outline, the writer wasn't allowed to comment or explain anything further. It was interesting to hear the other group members comments, and it was also kind of funny what aspects of the story they decided to focus on--parts that I didn't even think were important. So I suppose it's always good to get someone else's perspective.

One of my favorite things that he does is his "1000 ideas in an hour" group discussions. We came up with a character together, went through all the twists and turns of character development, and analyzed all the different angles of what would happen to him if such-and-such a thing happened. There's a lot more, but it's all in my notebook in my room, and it's too late for me to expend the energy leaving the family room to go get it, and then feeling obligated to put all 15 or so pages of notes on this blog. You wouldn't find my notes interesting anyhow, because most of them are little snippets of information that only my muddled brain would understand.

Anyhow, that's what I did for fun last week. Besides painting a large palm tree on one of the walls at work. I'll post a picture of it as soon as it's done. The kids want a little castaway painted on the island. I don't think I'm that talented.

P.S. I bought shoes today that look like they were made out of a tablecloth. And I think I love them.