12 day writing programme designed to shift writers block.......
Day 1: think of ten titles of books you would like to write:
1) Infinity is not the problem
2) The Elephant Remembers
3) The snakes are uncoiling
4) Akisha's Kitchen
5) The Robed Robin
6) Route 22
7) The seed of light
8) The Jigsaw girl
9) Obelisk, Obselite
10) Virtuvian man's rotation
Well it took quite a while to get these titles out and I am almost certain that none of them will ever get written but it's kind of nice to think it possible.
If I went a little way to explain what they meant , to write that down then maybe a bit more confidence could be gathered about them.
1)Infinity is not the problem. Seems like everything would be fine and dandy for most modent day scientists if we could simply wipe away infinity as it is too baffling for intelligence and logic to comprehend. Well we night as well say there's no such thing as magic, but who would we be fooling. I don't really have the vocabulary to argue the case for infinity sufficiently but I'd love to be able to :) After all it does exist and just because we can't explain it shouldn't mean we want done with it.
If infinity isn't the problem like the title suggests...then what is? Where would the book go from here?
Hmm main character could be an angry at life kind of guy (incidentally a scientist) who feels things are beyond his control. what, when how to be explored but could go somewhere from here .....
2)The Elephant remembers: They have great memories Elephants and great hearing . If you believe in re-incarnation then you or someone you know could have been an elephant in a past life. Or simply a metaphor for these amazing animals. The title suggests somethings has gone wrong at some point....if they have great memories then HOW could they forget in the first place. I was once told by a doctor looking at an X-ray of my foot that I have bones like an elephant. Funny. Good job I have the thick skin of one too :) Anyway I liked the sound of this title.
3) the snakes are uncoiling. This one I liked because the pagan population that were wiped out by Christianity were thought of as the snakes. Made me think of Kundalini vortexes in the spine and the potential for a fully realised and awakened humanity. What bigger threat to those in power than an evolving and wide awake humanity. Might be tricky to write about without sounding like an wannabe guru or twat though.
4) Akisha's kitchen: Hmm...well I thought the name up Akisha ....like the sound of it. Good job I don't have kids maybe ...all gone a bit Jeremy kyle in the name dept maybe? Kitchen's: well everyone loves a good kitchen. Homely, relaxing good place to start a heart to heart. Busy places lots of sounds and smells .....view of the outside world like the garden....could be a good story that can involve lots of sensory explorations....and involve lots of different people talking about their lives...or not.
5)the robed robin: I always thought that they were very solitary birds but since moving back to Ireland I have had to re-evaluate this as im seeing a few together quite a lot. There are actually something like 2 million of them in Ireland...that's a lot of robins....a guy on the radio said that theres a tree he goes past in Kildare I think full to the brim with them. I want to see this tree. But the story well would be about the idea of a solitary figure...male/female...the robe...maybe a disguise or bit like a hermit...a solitary soul moving about from one place to the next. Im reading a book by knut hamsun called mysteries at the minute and think maybe something along similar lines would be a good way to embark in this tale. A fairytale-esque type of story. I'd like to write this I think.
6) Route 22. I'm bit fascinated by the number 22....and it is everywhere if you take a look. Route could be a driving route or another theme ....further pondering required. Where does it go, what happens there....etc
7) The seed of light. read a quote the other day that said something along the lines ' Where the wound is , that is where the light gets in' a bit of a dark night of the soul kind of story. With a happy ending.
8) The jigsaw girl: About a girl who decides to treat her life (where she has been who she has met and the lessons she has learned) like a puzzle that needs to be put together. Can she see any patterns? If she can read the patterns can she predict future events? Liked the idea that everything around her is for analysis from the bus number she gets to move around to the street names of where she has lived. Imagine seeing a pattern....then what would you do. Liked the idea that we can all use same method in deciphering our lives and surroundings.
9)Obelisk, Obselite. Why the fuck are there so many obelisks around? Our main character is on a mission to find out. Why are they there are remembrance stones and to mark out distances from say for instance st georges circus in se1 to the city of London? Eh??? All the way from Egypt to a cemetery in Highgate. I like the idea that our main character sees the obelisks as a major signal and sign of our unconscious slavery to something hidden and unquestioned. His mission (could well be a girl too though) is to get rid of them. Why....what would happen then? :)
10)virtuvion man rotated: Yes a blatant reference to da vinci's drawing depicting human proportions. The conspiracy that actually the other sketch of the figure behind the original was a woman but this has been doctored. We are all made up as same composites as stars ...and the man in the drawing looks like a star (5 pointed) rotated would look like an upside down pentagram. The fact we think with our animalistic nature more than with our mind. Controlled by baser physical urges than we should be. Hard to write this without getting very occulty and preachy. But liked the title.
So I did it. Thought of ten titles of books which may never get written. If you have any thoughts on any of this then I would love to hear them. Good, bad or ugly. I am ready :) thanks for reading through this.
Sue
