The Twelfth Day of Dauntlessness in Timidity

Timidity in Dauntlessness Maria L. Berg 2023

Today I’m trying to capture dauntlessness in timidity and timidity in dauntlessness. How can an image lack courage and confidence while being fearless and bold? Or how can I show fearless lack of confidence?

I think I’ll continue with abstract shape combinations. I’ll create one that I think of as being bold and another as being timid.

Dauntlessness in Timidity by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 12

Today’s prompt is a title prompt: (Blank) for (Blank). The blanks can be replaced by a word or phrase.

The Dauntlessness of Timidity

Who knows where it came from—
can pinpoint its exact arrival
a subconscious lingering memory
children can be so cruel
or a fear reaction from a parent
interpreted as blame
either way it came

And it is dauntless—
taking over when most unwanted
controlling a body like its puppet
changing pallor, making limbs shake
swirling emotions like a watery soup
so bold it presents itself as you
throwing calm, friendly you
to the wolves

Yesterday’s outline work went well. I got through T. L. Bodine’s Horror Beat Sheet to the end and now have a broad overview of where my novel is going. I’m so glad I did it. It made it feel less like the giant unknown and more like a bunch of fun scenes I’ve been thinking about, as in, “That’s doable.”

Today I’m going to take the beat sheet I created yesterday and brainstorm ten “better” scenes for each of the scenes in my outline. What will be more horrifying, more terrifying? What will make the scene worse for my character? What will make the scene more surprising for the reader? What will make the scene more fun to read? Lots of fun things to think about.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Eleventh Day of Surety in Confusion

Surety in Confusion Maria L. Berg 2023

For this morning’s photographic adventure, I stayed in to capture confusion in surety and surety in confusion. Confusion makes me think of spirals, and surety makes me think of straight lines and arrows. I made two new filters that I enjoyed this morning: one a pinhole spiral and the other a spiral made of straight line arrows.

Confusion in Surety by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 11

Today’s prompt is to write an odd poem.

The Odd Thought

The surety of my confusion
in flawed, clouded symmetry
a fraud of projected sanity
applauding lurid glee within delusion
of a tangled wad never coming to conclusion

The last couple of days, though I have reached my word goals, I have felt kind of lost. So today I am determined to create an outline. I’m going to brainstorm every scene I can possibly imagine starting with the Story Grid Horror Cheat Sheet’s Obligatory Scenes and Conventions. Then I’m going to work through the Outlining sections of Novel Writing Blueprint Workbook (amazon assoc. link) by Jill Harris. I really like this workbook as a journal and it has great examples and suggestions.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Tenth Day of Hasty Restraint

Hastiness in Restraint by Maria L. Berg 2023

For this morning’s photographic adventure, I set out to capture hastiness in restraint and restraint in hastiness. Hastiness made me think of running, and tripping, dropping things, making mistakes. Restraint made me think of rope, tied hands. For today’s images I hastily revisited a fringe curtain filter.

Restraint in Hastiness by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 10

Today’s prompt is to write a character poem.

Down the rabbit hole again

Always late
always dashing
the date always important
time restrained on a
golden chain
to his waistcoat

Is he late for tea?
croquet with the queen?
Why didn’t he plan ahead?

He never learns
and the minute hand turns
and he’s late, he’s late
he’s late!

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Ninth Day of Appraising Neglect

Appraisal in Neglect and Neglect in Appraisal by Maria L. Berg 2023

For this morning’s photographic adventure, I set out to capture appraisal in neglect and neglect in appraisal. With neglects first meaning being to pay little or no attention to, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try to pay attention to something other than what I was taking a picture of while I took the picture. In other words set up the shot but then pay attention to something else while I pushed the button. Appraisal is a tough one: “the act of estimating or judging the nature or value of something or someone.” What is the shape, color, and/or line of estimating something’s value? I cut two different filters with combinations of shapes. The first one was a bust, but I love this second one I used for these shots.

Neglect in Appraisal and Appraisal in Neglect by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 9

Today’s prompt is to write a direction poem.

Over at dVerse Poets Pub for today’s MTB prompt, Björn presents an interesting challenge of limitation that I’m adding to today’s poem. Inspired by Canadian Poet Christian Bök’s poem “Vowels” which Bök describes as “an anagrammatic text, permuting the fixed array of letters found in the title”, we are to:

  1. Select a title of one word containing not more than 3 vowels and 4 consonants.
  2. Try to find as many words that are using only the letter in the title
  3. Combine this into a poem of your own
  4. Do not use any punctuation in the poem

Direction

Do not die
in tired ire
nor erect connection

Do not dine
on onion diet
one odd noon

No connection
rooted to creed
or rite enticed

No one crooned
or recited diction
nicer on ice

Yesterday I made it to the library just in time to pick up my hold on Writing in the Dark (amazon assoc. link) by Tim Waggoner, and I’m glad I did. Each chapter has exercises and advice from horror authors.

Today I enjoyed chapter eight “The Horror Writer’s Palette,” and chapter nine “The Horror Hero’s Journey.” In chapter eight he defines the five primary colors of horror’s emotional states as: Dread, terror, horror, shock, and disgust. He defines Terror as the emotional and intellectual reaction to a threat, and Horror as the immediate non-intellectual reaction. I thought that was interesting.

In chapter nine, he discusses how the hero’s journey plot doesn’t fit horror, and outlines eight variations on what he calls “The Poor Bastard’s Decent into Hell” plot structure. I’m going to call it, “The Suffering Everyman Faces the Unknown.” My story fits most closely (for now) with The Suffering Everyman Escapes with Severe Wounds and Scars, meaning she survives, but at a high price. But it’s still early yet. I may change my mind.

This is my kind of craft book. I recommend it for anyone thinking about writing horror and looking for some tips and insights.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Eighth Day of Imagination in Reality

Imagination in Reality (neighbor’s security light in four directions) by Maria L. Berg 2023

For this morning’s photographic adventure, I set out to capture the reality in imagination and the imagination in reality. That reads like the definition of what I do every day, so it feels wide open in terms of shapes, line, color, and composition. I cut a filter using a combination of shapes and headed out as the sun was rising. After capturing my fun design, I enjoyed combining it with nature.

Imagined Reality by Maria L. Berg 2023
Reality in Imagination by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 8

Today’s prompt is to write a sentence poem. This made me think of the American sentence, Allen Ginsberg’s response to the haiku, a sentence of seventeen syllables.

In My Reality

Imagination combines light, abstract, and maple leaf into one.
November 8, 2023 7 A.M.

Yesterday, a scene that I started in my hand-written morning pages inspired me to type my day’s word goal in one sitting which freed up some time for reading. I love how my morning pages are taking straight into ideas for my novel which turn into parts of a scene. I have a lot of novels I want to read, so I hope today’s scene I started in my morning pages flows like yesterday’s.

How is your novel coming along?

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Seventh Day of Hesitation in Resolve

Hesitation in Resolve by Maria L. Berg 2023

This morning I set out to capture the resolve in hesitation and the hesitation in resolve. Resolve is a firmness of purpose or intent, determination to follow some course of action. The first part made me think of a brick, the second part made me think of motion. Hesitation is a delay due to uncertainty or fear. So how do I show delaying throwing a brick due to fear and uncertainty? I guess I start with a brick shape.

Resolve in Hesitation by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 7

Today’s is the first Two-for-Tuesday prompt. I can write to one prompt, both prompts, and/or combine them:

  1. Write a big poem, or…
  2. Write a small poem.

It is also Poetics at dVerse Poets Pub. Lisa provided three options for exploring time travel. I chose Option 2: Choose your favorite Time Traveler and write a poem about them, one of their adventures, or possibly riding along with them on a new adventure.

The Time Traveler’s Friend

Given the biggest chance
to change one small thing
I hesitated

I lost my resolve
as he dissolved
seconds passed

If there was a big change
and we were all saved
I’ll never know

Today in my morning pages I found myself slipping into a scene. So that’s fun that I’m in noveling mode and thinking about my novel when I get up. I realized that the scene I wrote yesterday was a little premature. I want my entity to be a little more subtle at first, so that informed where I want to start today.

I also found some books for research into brainwashing and mind-control which are aspects of my supernatural entity. I started reading this morning and found Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to Social Media (amazon assoc. links) by Joel Dimsdale informative for its chart of Features of Brainwashing and Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control interesting for its vivid description of symptomatic behaviors.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Sixth Day of Conviction in Disbelief

Conviction in Disbelief by Maria L. Berg 2023

After capturing the blue depth effect with my outside lights yesterday, I couldn’t wait to get out there and do it again in an attempt to capture conviction in disbelief and disbelief in conviction.

Both conviction and disbelief have multiple meanings. Conviction being about belief but also guilt, or being found guilty, and disbelief being the inability or refusal to believe and also amazement and astonishment. Conviction makes me think of vertical lines in a box. So I started with that simple concept. Then to put a little disbelief in my conviction, I added a thin copper wires to the center two openings.

Disbelief in Conviction by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 6

Today’s prompt is a title prompt: Better (blank).

Better Conviction Than Disbelief

or better disbelief than conviction?
Both choose security over grief
Both will reject uncomfortable thoughts
Better conviction than disbelief

when promoting that you are always right
and putting free thought on restriction
but when fed delusions forced as truths
Better disbelief than conviction

when finding questions in every answer
and more research doesn’t bring relief
but deep in your gut you don’t need more proof
Better conviction than disbelief

unless only using easy ways out
and running is the same as friction
then there is no answer to which one is
Better: conviction or disbelief.

Yesterday, was the first day that the words weren’t the priority. I got a special visit from my niece and got to help with some sewing and a college essay, so by the time I was ready to work on my novel, I was tired. I was glad that the NaNoWriMo write-in was recorded, sure it would inspire my words on the page, but sadly, it only pulled about three hundred words out of me. It was only when I stopped trying to generate new scenes, and went back to my story I had written so far chronologically that the words began to flow. I think I’ve gotten to the point where I have enough ideas that I want to see the story unfold. Though that doesn’t mean I won’t try writing an ending first.

I played around with writing in present tense yesterday, and I kept slipping into past tense as I got into the flow. If I do decide that this novel wants to be in present tense, that will have to be part of revision, because I would be revising a ton of past tense passages anyway.

Part of the personal reward system I’m trying out is I get one word from a magnetic poetry kit for each one hundred words written, and one for each morning page written. Here is the poem from this first week:

That last line off to the right is the unused words. I used the Mustache Poet kit as you can see. I may need to come up with some big goals to reward myself some new magnetic poetry kits (amazon assoc. link). There are so many that look fun. Though it may be time to finally get the Original edition (amazon assoc. link), and/or the supplemental The Poet edition (amazon assoc. link).

Today is the Global Write-in Crawl closing event (noon Pacific time) but other than that I’m going to motivate myself playing Clue. I found a Clue the movie word crawl and I found the 2013 modernized version of the Clue board game (amazon assoc. link) at my local Goodwill (it has both the original mansion mystery, and a beach boardwalk mystery when you flip the board over), so I thought I would try to combine them to have fun while really getting into my novel today.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Fifth Day of Enduring Shortness

Endurance in Shortness by Maria L. Berg 2023

This morning it stopped raining long enough to go outside to capture the shortness in endurance and the endurance in shortness. With endurance being the ability or strength to continue or last, and shortness being the quality of lasting a short amount of time, how could something be both at the same time?

I thought about the top I wrote about in my childhood toy poem, how it endured endless play (and abuse) through shortness of motion and attention. I made a bicone filter, cutting one half with jagged lines and the other with smooth. And this morning I created my blue depth effect without any mirrors!! Very exciting.

Shortness in Endurance by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 5

Today’s prompt is to write a book-based poem. This morning, I read a passage on revision that really spoke to me, written by Robert Graham in The Road to Somewhere: A Creative Writing Companion Second Edition edited by Robert Graham, Heather Leach & Helen Newall (amazon assoc. link). It was presented as an exercise called “The Things You Make Them Carry.” He says, ” At the beginning f the story, the writer is giving the reader things. . . . as they climb the hill you are sending them up. You don’t want the reader getting to the top and being pissed off about the things you made them carry up the hill for no reason. . . . go to what amount to the top of the hill . . . search for and remove all the extraneous information you have burdened them with. . . .”

Only the Necessary Endured

Reaching the summit, so much left behind:
the over-burdened plan first to go;
fear of failure had to leave my mind;
shed heavy doubt fell below;
those regrets were a grind
wants and needs in tow.
Each dropped along
the way to
empty
me

Yesterday, I had a desk cat companion like the image above for most of my writing day. Sure, he didn’t come in and join me until after the thunder, but hey, he stayed and it was really nice. Hopefully the lights won’t have to be flickering and rain pelting the windows for it to happen again. I’m just happy the power stayed on.

How is everyone’s writing going? So far I’m reaching a little over 2,000 words each day. I tried my main character in first person yesterday and liked it, so I’m going to be writing this draft in first person with B-story chapters in third person. I’m glad I made this decision early and can easily make the changes.

Then, this morning, I was thinking: wouldn’t the immediacy of horror and terror be more acute in present tense? I took a look at the horror novels and stories I’m reading and they are just about half and half present and past tense, so for today’s warm-up I’m going to try re-writing my opening in present tense and see which I like better.

Happy Reading and Writing!

The Fourth Day of Significant Insignificance

An Insignificant Battle for Significance by Maria L. Berg 2023

Today I set out to capture the insignificance in significance and the significance in insignificance. To make something significant is to give it importance, consequence, meaning. Giving part of an image significance is a matter of composition. An object can be significantly larger or smaller than the other elements. It can be the brightest, or sharpest element. To make elements insignificant, they would all be the same, dull, uninteresting.

Significance in Insignificance by Maria L. Berg 2023

I enjoyed playing with my jagged line filters in the mirrorworld yesterday, so I thought I would take them outside this morning. However, the significance of this morning’s rain made my plans insignificant. Instead I added the wired fairy lights to the mirrorworld.

Insignificance in Significance by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 4

Today’s prompt is to write a catching poem.

I Couldn’t Catch the Insignificance

of the overwhelming coincidence
forcing us all to timidness
with a whiff of strawberries

disturbed tantalizing exquisiteness
revealing the insipidness
of flavor memories

unaware strangers gorged with willingness
now electrical skittishness
with the guilt we carry

entangled in past-present incidence
avoided through keen diligence
like coal-mine canaries

we face forces of wild vindictiveness
recognizing coincidence
deep in our libraries

I couldn’t catch the insignificance
of the fates’ cruel impishness
among the strawberries

This morning I watched another lesson of R. L. Stine’s Masterclass. He said that to be really scary you need to write in first person POV. This got me thinking that after my opening scene, I could switch to my main character’s POV. It’s still early enough in the writing that I could try it and not have to change too much. That could be a good warm up exercise this morning to see if I want to tell this story with first person for my main character and third person for my B story.

Happy Reading and Writing!

A Third Day of Artistic Incapacity

Artistry in Incapacity by Maria L. Berg 2023

Today’s incapacity was that I woke up after the sun, and almost all of my lights are outside, so to capture the artistry in incapacity and the incapacity in artistry, I had to perform my artistry with some lights slung in the mirrorworld that I haven’t played with in a while.

When looking at the definition of artistry I found: artistic workmanship, and artistic ability. Artistic surprised me with: conforming to the standards of art; satisfying aesthetic requirements. When I think of being artistic, I don’t think of conformity and requirements. This intrigued me.

I found this interesting article from the National Library of Medicine called Social Factors in Aesthetics: Social Conformity Pressure and a Sense of Being Watched Affect Aesthetic Judgments. It begins with this quote from Duchamp:

I thought to discourage aesthetics … I threw the bottle rack and the urinal in their faces and now they admire them …

Marcel Duchamp

Doesn’t sound like he was conforming to standards of art, or satisfying aesthetic requirements. Of course many would argue that he didn’t show any “artistry” either.

To conform to standards and requirements one would need to know what they are, however from the results of the experiment and the statement of Duchamp, one can see that those standards and requirements are easily manipulated and are not standard at all.

I did a study of the emotional nature of art in my post Kandinsky and the Inner Tension of the Point in March of this year. Reading this post made me want to revisit my Kandinsky inspired filters, along with my point and line filters. A lot to play with in my limited palette.

Last year on the seventh, I looked at Artistry as contradictory to Artlessness and became interested in Artlessness’s many meanings. I love how these studies of contradictory abstract nouns evolve and always fascinate me.

Incapacity in Artistry by Maria L. Berg 2023

2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 3

Today’s prompt is to write a problem poem.

The Art Critic’s Dilemma

I found an incapacity
in artistry—to be defined.
The problem lies outside
the artist’s will or skill,
but in standards and requirements,
aesthetics for which to conform,
if only known and agreed upon.
Science shows conformity molds
to social pressures, thus
artistry may as well flow
as a viscous liquid
like glittering, silver,
poisonous mercury, dripping
from a cracked thermometer,
incapacitating an already feverish
artist in emotional expression,
whose artistry will not conform
to the aesthetic norms
lacking standardization.

This morning I checked in with the Global Write-in and was happy to find a vocal stop in France, so I could hear the fun prompts based on fairy stories. One of the prompts inspired me to explore my supernatural entity’s weakness and how it is discovered. And I had over five hundred words before I got out of bed.

While eating lunch I enjoyed reviewing lessons five and six of R. L. Stine’s Masterclass. He recommends coming up with your ending first, and for his books it has to be a happy ending, so I had some fun exploring what would be a happy ending for my main character, and what would be a happy ending for my supernatural entity. I have a lot of fun, twisty ideas to play with.

Happy Reading and Writing!