The other day I opened the shower curtain, so I could preheat the water before I took my shower.
There was a cricket in there.
Now everyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan of nature. I'm glad it exists. I just don't want to commune with it, especially INSIDE my abode.
However, it doesn't seem right that an insect should get a death sentence, followed by an immediate execution, just because it happened to stumble upon my domain.
Also, I am happy to confess I have an utter weakness for Jiminy Cricket. I get teary-eyed every time he sings "When You Wish Upon A Star". (Hang on a minute. I need a tissue, just from THINKING about him singing that song.) Anyway, my Jiminy fangirl-ness kept me from squooshing this cricket, because, you never know, you know?
So I did my humanitarian best to get JC out of my bathtub, so I could use the tub for its intended purpose: my shower. I don't think he really got that this was not a time-share arrangement. Or maybe he thought I was indeed going to squoosh him. Every time I tried to help him out, he did what crickets always do – hop in a completely unexpected direction. So I adjusted, trying to anticipate where he might jump next. I guessed wrong. I'm not even sure HE knew where he was going to go. But he still hopped. And I continued to be surprised where he landed.
After about forty-eleven attempts, something finally worked, and he ended up OUT of the tub. I didn't follow him, because I wasn't in the mood by then to extend our relationship any further. Especially since I was this damn close to revoking my "no squooshing crickets" rule, even if it turned out he was my beloved Jiminy.
It did make me think about how our characters, and even our stories, are like this cricket. We're trying to make them go one way, and they steadfastly head a different direction. So we "adjust", and try to scoop them into going where we think they should go. Surprise! They head off down another path.
But maybe that's the way it should go, only we don't know it yet. And we persist in trying to make things work the way we want it to, getting more and more frustrated the harder we try.
So maybe we should just let our stories head the direction they want to go, by Jiminy. It's not like the path is permanently etched in granite, so maybe a little meandering and hopping to the side and taking a detour is a good thing. It can help explore the characters a little more, which is always fascinating. It could open up new plotting vistas.
Even better, it might just be where we were supposed to go, even though we didn't realize it.
You don't want to know what I find in my tub every fall. It puts Arachnophobia to shame.
I let my story lead. My characters know who they are before I do. My first draft is all about getting to know them more intimately sometimes there are a few tiffs. By time revisions come around we're able to talk a bit more calmly.
I hope JC doesn't end back in you tub.
Posted by: Renee | June 09, 2010 at 01:24 AM
Renee, that's a great way to put it -- "my characters know who they are before I do". LOL I think that's where the "cricket" thing can come in, when I try to make them go here, and the characters know better where they should be going. Thank goodness they're patient with me in those drafts!
JC hasn't showed up again, so I guess he must have seen that exasperated look on my face! LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 09, 2010 at 08:25 AM
I'm sure you tied this into writing but I can't stop freaking about where that cricket is now and HOW you could calmly climb into the shower knowing he's now lurking somewhere else in your house.
I'm not a bug person. :)
Posted by: Terri Osburn | June 09, 2010 at 10:40 PM
LOL, Terri. I'm sorry I freaked you out! I'm not a bug person either, but crickets don't bother me. I won't tell you about this other bug I saw recently. . .but I can tell you I flushed HIM down into Spider Heaven. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 10, 2010 at 08:25 AM
If I post this and my orignal comment from a few hours ago is there...then I'm just blind and ignore me. LOL I'm certain the blog eats my comments but it's like trying to describe that noise the car makes to a mechanic...yeah, lady, sure it makes that noise. Or maybe comments to your blog are like your cricket hopping every which way! (I'm picturing you trying to catch them.) LOL Funny story!
Posted by: Melissa | June 10, 2010 at 10:28 PM
Not to worry! This is the only comment I've seen, but I'll keep a lookout for others. LOL My blog is HUNGRY for comments I guess! Loved your analogy of the mechanic -- LOL
That cricket nearly got the best of me. Thank goodness I got to use the experience for a writing-related blog post!
Posted by: Donna Cummings | June 10, 2010 at 11:07 PM