posted by
nightbird at 09:19am on 30/10/2009 under post-apocalyptic americana, things i've learned from comedy class
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I'm so excited about these links I can barely contain myself. One thing about post-apocalyptic Americana is that it's a vernacular genre: it's deeply rooted in individual, local experiences and worldviews. It may incorporate mass phenomena or communications, but often it's very singular. (My big essay laying the whole thing out has stalled out in favor of NaNo, but I still have all the notes, and I know I'll want a change of pace once I wrap up the first draft of The Falling Woman. Expect a lot more of this at the end of this year and the beginning of the next.)
Vernacular photography is about personal snapshots. A lot of it is weird or strange or even a little distant, but I can never shake that oh feeling when you look at faces fifty, sixty, seventy years gone and just recognize who you see. Accidental Mysteries was the first place I encountered the phrase "vernacular photography," right around the time I was first introduced to the concept of outsider art. Now I've found another site to pore over: Square America, which is full of oddball vintage photographs. I was introduced to the site because of the Amelie-like In the Booth section. If you ever need to meet characters for a story, this is it. Your work is almost done for you, once you look them in the face.
Back in the writing part of my divided attentions, this is a great post about "guerilla writing," or finding the time to do work when you're on the go 28/7. I admire anyone who can use those 15 minutes of waiting around time so efficiently; I'm usually staring off into space daydreaming, which is useful and necessary, but not when I'm at my desk.
Speaking of which, on the train this morning I found myself wondering how improv is going to change how I do NaNo this year. One of the key elements to improv is making a strong, clear choice at the beginning and giving it legitimacy by committing to it utterly. Quick decisions and listening are what drive your storytelling. If I wind up agonizing less because of comedy theater, I will share my notes. For now, I keep running over different starting points and wondering which one will make for the strongest opening. November is almost on top of us, and I've been waiting for it so long I have no idea why I'm still surprised.
Vernacular photography is about personal snapshots. A lot of it is weird or strange or even a little distant, but I can never shake that oh feeling when you look at faces fifty, sixty, seventy years gone and just recognize who you see. Accidental Mysteries was the first place I encountered the phrase "vernacular photography," right around the time I was first introduced to the concept of outsider art. Now I've found another site to pore over: Square America, which is full of oddball vintage photographs. I was introduced to the site because of the Amelie-like In the Booth section. If you ever need to meet characters for a story, this is it. Your work is almost done for you, once you look them in the face.
Back in the writing part of my divided attentions, this is a great post about "guerilla writing," or finding the time to do work when you're on the go 28/7. I admire anyone who can use those 15 minutes of waiting around time so efficiently; I'm usually staring off into space daydreaming, which is useful and necessary, but not when I'm at my desk.
Speaking of which, on the train this morning I found myself wondering how improv is going to change how I do NaNo this year. One of the key elements to improv is making a strong, clear choice at the beginning and giving it legitimacy by committing to it utterly. Quick decisions and listening are what drive your storytelling. If I wind up agonizing less because of comedy theater, I will share my notes. For now, I keep running over different starting points and wondering which one will make for the strongest opening. November is almost on top of us, and I've been waiting for it so long I have no idea why I'm still surprised.