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“You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” ~Frederick Buechner
“A novel is never anything but a philosophy put into images.” Albert Camus Peering into one metaphor alone is like looking though a prism of possibilities. A well-chosen and well-placed phrase provides a dazzling vista of interpretation. For example, a recent conversation on ‘a castle’ included multiple ways to focus a setting through metaphor and theme. In the movie The Secret of Moonacre there are two distinct castles, each a reflection on choices. The choices were made hundreds of years earlier but continue to enslave the descendants as each generation takes up a personal decision to perpetuate the feud. One castle is in ruins; empty, cold, a shadow of its former life. It is a place of sorrow and lost opportunity with only three inhabitants left. The other castle is stark, cold, grey and brimming with people. Busy, bustling, overflowing inhabitants filled to the brim with anger and revenge. And a closer look reveals a castle in decay as well. Both castles have become mirror images of heart choices. The reality of this concrete metaphor unfolds with greater perception as the story shows all its secrets and mysteries. Journal Prompt: Choose the place that is most important to your character, or most central to the story question. Costume it from a variety of styles: old and decaying, ordinary, flashy, sophisticated, copycat or with a brand new coat of paint. Which version becomes a metaphor for your character’s heart?
 Often when we encounter a new idea or challenge it excites us. The joy of discovery and the puzzle of understanding with insight grips our imagination. We’re eager to share our delight. Our amazement. But then another mystery follows. Others don’t find it as interesting, even those closest to us, whether personally or vocationally. Or they’re not willing to put in the time and effort necessary to comprehend all the implications. Perhaps solving the mystery is only a prelude to years of painstaking research with personal risk, as so many doctors and scientists have done to find medical cures. In the movie Avatar, after years of study the scientists make an astounding realization. They realize that the indigenous people connect within their world like a neural network. They have achieved an inter-connection between all living organic matter, which is far beyond mankind’s achievement. They rush to stop destruction, desperate to protect the people and the science. But then they face rejection and ridicule, and finally are confined to jail to get them out of the way. This mystery costs them everything. Their breath-taking words split open the wide gulf of difference between values and beliefs. Journal Prompt: Your character has discovered a truth that can bring healing to mind, soul or body. How does he communicate that discovery? How does he react when others reject his gift of life?
 Personal, public and cultural memory have the potential to loom over current decisions and negotiations in either positive or negative terms. If the memory is old enough to be considered history, it can turn itself into a legend that may or may not have any bearing in reality, other than as a name or a place. And yet we often use these memories as measures against others and ourselves. That is, if we think one is valid. Or, if we consider it as impossible and only vivid imagination, we will make a concerted effort against it. However the legend may contain truth that unlocks hope. In the movie Avatar, Jake has lost all possibility of negotiating a peace. He has completely lost the trust of the people he now loves. Desperate for a solution he remembers the story of the Toruk, the mighty predator of the skies, caught by a leader at times when the people were in danger. The previous Toruk riders brought them victory, so Jake sets out to become one, not knowing whether the legend was real history or story, or a mix of both. But it is enough to give him enough courage to try. Journal Prompt: Under what conditions would your character be willing to turn and trust in a story, or legend, or person, that may or may not be true? Under what conditions would you?
 Ancient travelers observed nature to guide them to their destination. They depended on the position of the sun, moon, and stars as reference points. They tracked the wind. They examined ground and foliage to trace water sources. Today we have computerized maps and guidance systems to talk us through strange surroundings, or we can access quick text messages to ask others who know. Avatar’s world unfolds one view of technology overload. The military is completely dependant on their machines from breathing livable air, to industry, protection and travel. Without their machinery they are virtually helpless on this strange planet. And yet they see themselves as conquerors, as an advanced people, who openly disdain the native population. But they are locked in their steel worlds and unable to navigate or explore without taking life risks. They pre-set their radius maps, emotionally and physically, and stay hostage in a false sense of safety. They follow programmed sight. Until they reach the floating mountains with magnetic force that sends all their instruments askew, and they have to fly by eye sight. Watchful. Careful. Really seeing the land around them. Involved in beauty and danger side by side.
Journal Prompt: Choose a travel destination for your character. Is it familiar territory or new? Will she jump in her car and just go? Or pre-plan every step for every possible emergency. Are her precautions common sense or anxiety ridden? Examine her attitude as she approaches each marker en route, and show your reader how she perceives her trip.
 “Tell the truth but tell it slant.” Emily Dickinson Metaphors also incorporate juxtaposition to catch our wonder. The movie Avatar brims with such metaphors creating not only a visual panorama, but also a breathtaking palette of concepts. The floating mountains startle us. Our perspective struggles to grasp solid rock weighted familiar assumptions with transparent air. We need mountains to stand firmly on the ground, don’t we? So we can admire their grandeur, scale their heights and conquer the elements. All are still possible in Avatar’s world, except that if anyone falls, they fall into air. Both the beauty and the danger are heightened to an unimaginable level. Sometimes we become so familiar with the language and the images we use in our writing that we sap their strength. We know to avoid clichés, but often we settle for ordinary when with a metaphoric dab we might shatter open new possibilities. What about some rock hard assumption we make for our characters, or ourselves, whether positive and negative? What could happen if we released them into air? What consequences could follow? Journal Prompt: Make a list of natural elements that we expect to be free-floating. Now ground them as with the weight of a mountain. What new concepts do they provide? Repeat using personality traits in yourself or someone you know well. Then apply the change to one of your characters.
 Mystery opens a trail into questions. It catches us sideways with curious glimpses. When we’re too busy or pre-occupied to notice, it often nudges a little harder, or makes us stop a moment to consider a possibility. In the Season Five of Doctor Who the story thread of a crack in the universe (that erases memory) takes a backseat among all the chaos and adrenalin in continuing episodes. Yet in each one, following its introduction, somewhere The Doctor manages to ask, “Do you remember what was in your room when we first met?” Or suddenly he’ll hesitate, look quizzical, then murmurs, “Why don’t you remember?” He doesn’t expect an actual answer and his companion regards him clearly confused as to why he is even asking such strange things, especially now in the middle of dire threats. But it makes the audience remember, and we sit up, take notice, mull the possibilities, and come up with more questions. It must mean something but what? What does it have to do with this episode? Where’s the connection? The storyline here is completely different. Or is it? When the finale comes at season’s end we discover the intricate puzzle woven throughout and that all the pieces fit perfectly. And then I wonder how many people were prepared? And can it come back again? What other thread throughout the series will re-surface? Journal Prompt: Whether you’ve watched the series or not, make a list of causes that could create such a crack in the universe. Approach it from different perspectives such as science or history, legend or architecture. Play with at least three different threads and set up cause and effect scenarios.
 If memory holds our emotional reservoir, both personal and public, what happens if it is erased? There are many real situations that cause partial or permanent amnesia: trauma—emotional or physical, stroke, surgical procedures, and aging. Do we become a different person? Can one lost memory impact all who we are in our character? Why do we struggle so hard to hold on to them even when difficult or painful? Then as writers we can add in all the fantastical and sci-fi versions too. Think of Farscape with Scorpius chasing astronaut John Crichton across the universe to extract wormhole technology from his mind. One of the story threads for Season Five of Doctor Who is his realization of a crack in the universe. The Doctor began to recognize that if it reached a person they would no longer exist, as if they’d never been born. He tried to convince a young woman to hold onto the memories. If she could keep hold of them then the missing person would still exist in her heart. Journal Prompt: If you knew that a special memory would be erased forever, what would you do to hold onto it? Write a scene where your character discovers what you have done and reacts to it.
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