The other day I opened the shower curtain, so I could preheat the water before I took my shower.
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.
Donna, I have a gorgeous image of you draped in a towel using a large receptacle to chase a saucy insect. Could be a scene from a story, an insect match maker perhaps, though I guess it might evolve slightly differently in that universe! *grin*
I have a similar problem with flies, both in the kitchen and the bedroom. Long ago I discovered that flies have almost 3D vision and are much more agile than me. That meant that I needed to rely on superior brain power. I figured that the optimum trajectory for a swatting object is a 45 degree angle to the surface on which the fly rests, reducing to about 20 degrees as impact approaches. The fly instantly moves away from the swatter but keeps low above the surface. The superior speed of the swatter (a newspaper or towel) ensures a quick funeral.
I knew that my applied math studies would pay off one day..... but I digress. LOL
I would hesitate to fight with my characters over a plot issue like this and agree with Air Jordan. Think carefully before ignoring the cosmic visions that flow up from the subconscious. You don't know where they originate from. *smile*
Posted by: Quantum | December 02, 2011 at 05:50 AM
Q, I like your imagination! In reality, I hadn't even THOUGHT of using a receptacle. I was shooing the thing with my hand, and obviously not having much success. LOL
And my mind is boggling at all the math involved in swatting a fly! I hate that they can outwit me, so I do my best to hasten their demise, but clearly I need your maths skills. :)
The Air Jordan comment was actually a repeat of MY statement -- those pesky spammers! Still, I agree with your statement about the "cosmic visions that flow up from the subconscious" -- they truly are a gift. I love to see how they appear and where they go. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | December 02, 2011 at 08:59 AM
I love nature analogies. I am a biology major after all and ecology is my thing. :) (It took me a while to pin that down, but that's another story! LOL)
Yep, you've conviced me. If I can think of my story like a cricket, I can trust it knows what it's doing. Another analogy (just saw this on NOVA) is the Monarch butterfiles migration from Canada and all over the upper US all the way to a tiny area in Mexico. It's largely a mystery how these fragile little creatures know where to go, but even if you relocate them they will change their flight pattern to get to their destination. And they've never been there before! Amazing. Just think what we could do, or where we could end up, if we have enough trust to follow where the story wants to go. :)
Posted by: Melissa | December 02, 2011 at 06:16 PM
Melissa, I'll let you handle the nature then. Since you're a trained professional. :)
That is amazing about the Monarch butterflies! Especially the part about them getting to their destination even if you relocate them. That also speaks to their dedication, since they're determined to finish their quest, even if they don't know why they're doing it. That is inspiring--and you're right, imagine if we had that kind of trust. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | December 02, 2011 at 06:54 PM
I absolutely love it when I'm reading or watching something that goes where I never expected.
Have you see that old commercial where the father and son are watching the sunset and when it's over the son looks up and says, "Do it again, Daddy." That's exactly how I feel after reading a book that surprises and delights me. Of course, I can't really duplicate that feeling by reading it again (because I already know what's coming).
I love when that happens when I'm writing. It always makes me feel like I'm smarter than I actually am. LOL.
Posted by: Kari Marie | December 04, 2011 at 02:48 PM
Kari Marie, I love being surprised too, especially since it's harder to do as a writer/reader. When I was only a reader, it could be done more often than it is now, because I'm constantly analyzing everything. LOL
That commercial sounds so cute! And I love being surprised by my own writing. LOL It's great to go back to re-read and think, "Wow, who wrote this? Me?! Really!" LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | December 05, 2011 at 07:56 PM