Nov. 18: On Making Connections

The reading for today talks about making connections, connections between ideas, places, musings, etc. According to Mr. White these connections add texture and intrigue to the story that you are telling. He suggests taht in order to insure that your story has such imaginative connections then your story should have plenty of variables and/or loose ends to connect. One of the ways to do this according to Mr. White is to, "turn off (or at least lower the volumne of) the logic center of your brain, and allow for a certain degree of free-associating." In order to do this you need to allow your subconscious to make "connections among seemingly unconnectable ideas."
For Further Reflection:
In this section White uses as his example of a writer using "his soul" to connect things, a poem by Walt Whitman entitled "A Noiseless, Patient Spider".
For Today's "Try This" assignment:
Examine a recently completed essay, poem, or short story and pinpoint the connections you've established in it. Did you compare and contract one idea or individual with another. In my case if I were to take time to write about this it would be in regard to my major writing project right now which is writing a 50,000 word novel in one month. As a part of November Is National Novel Writing Month the website by the same name has an annual challenge which challenges writers and would-be writers to write 50,000 words of a potential novel in the month of November (30 days). Part of what I am writing has a number of different connections and comparisons beginning with the title "Knights of Rhodes" which actually refers to an off-shoot of the Knights Templar after the fall of Jeruselem in the 1400-1500. When a portion of the group relocated to the Aegan island of Rhodes (part of Greece). There is even a medival castle still found in Rhodes that was built by these knights who operated from there as mercenaries. The comparisons are many; between siblings of two different generations, problems with teenagers and aging parents, pre and post relapse recovery, and possibly even more that I really have not explored completely.