Today I’m trying to capture resoluteness in disinclination and disinclination in resoluteness. Disinclination made me think of a steep incline and having no energy to climb it, where resoluteness made me think of walking up the down escalator. Resoluteness in disinclination made me think of a round ball going up the incline, but continually rolling back down. Or a square shape trying to make it up the incline, but toppling back down.
It’s amazing to me how these very simple shape combinations can be so expressive. The slanted line with the circle made me really uncomfortable with the circle at the bottom left. It took on humanistic properties as I rotated it, looking like a slouching, depressed person when the line was vertical. Definitely a resolute disinclination.
2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 17
Today’s prompt is to write a refresh poem.
When Resoluteness is Disinclination
I need a reboot; time to refresh
I’m tired of the same old refrain
Disinclination needs a reframe
This sketch reveals more when seen less
With a new resoluteness and a green dress
this mantra must be rephrased
I need a reboot, time to refresh
I’m tired of the same old refrain
The repressed now expressed as be best
distresses my depressed referee
who attests to blinders being refuge
which progresses to a request for flesh
I need a reboot; time to refresh
This morning I was reading the opening chapter of an odd but interesting book called The Uncomfortable Dead (assoc. link) by Paco Ignacio Taibo II and Subcomandante Marcos. The opening note from the authors says that the odd numbered chapters, thus this first one that I was reading, were written by “Insurgent Subcomandante Marcos.” When you read about a novel having “voice” this is what they’re talking about. The character speaking in first person to open the novel jumps off the page.
Here’s an example that really stood out to me:
“Since we spent some time getting the horse to go where we wanted him to go, Don Manolo and me got to talking and I think we even became friends. That’s how I found out he don’t like to be called Manolo, but me, you know, all you gotta do is tell me something is “no” for me to go “yes,” and I don’t do it outta being ornery or nothing, no sir, it’s just the way they made me, or that’s the way I am, you know, contrary: Contreras. That’s what El Sup calls me, “Elías Contereas,” but not cause that’s my name. “Elías” is my fighting name, and “Contreras,” well, that’s what El Sup named me cause he said I had to have a fighting last name too, and seeing as how I was so contrary, a last name like Contreras was just right for me.”
Subcomandante Marcos
He does so much in that self-introduction. Through learning a fact about another person, he expresses his defining characteristic. He also expresses that he feels this part of his nature is out of his control, showing his outlook and attitude. He also shows that he has a superior who has renamed him, and he feels comfortable in his role as a fighter for him. The paragraph also shows how he speaks, familiarly with grammatical errors.
This got me thinking about my main character. What one word would she use to define herself? How would that come up in relation to something she learns about someone else? What is specific to her speech patterns that is different from everyone around her? What is she most excited about, emphatic about in the telling of her story?
Since I decided to write my main character’s chapters in first person, I’m going to spend some time thinking about how to make her voice this vibrant and how to make her come alive the moment she starts telling her story.
Experience Writing 