so let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Thanks, Alex
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the November 2 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Douglas Thomas Greening, Nick Wilford, and Diane Burton!
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional!
November 2 question – November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?
I’m so happy this question is easy to answer. I’m just not up to thinking right now. I’ve never participated in NANORIMO. The simple reason is I don’t want to. I don’t write the way participating requires. I don’t want to write that way. If I did write that way, nobody would ever want to read the product–even after major edits–including the author, so there’s no need to consider signing up. I always wish everyone well, and I’m pleased to cheer them on, but I’m a sideliner for this event, and I’m sure I always will be.
Now, talk about a total shift of topic…
There are two things that significantly change the way I see the world. One is writing. The other is travel. And on this trip I combined both interests. For ten days in Sicily I explored an island that’s steeped in history and offers up a chance to see some spectacular examples of civilizations that extend from the prehistoric through the Greek, Carthaginian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and Norman invasions–yes, Sicily has long been a target for conquest.
I’m listing to an archeologist read a bit of Euripides. Without a microphone her voice could be heard at the top of the theater.
Your face is going to go blank on this next image. With all of the beauty in Sicily why did I post one of an ancient pair of manacles? Great question, and I asked almost the same one. Why were these displayed alongside such amazing works of art in a museum? They’re iron. Iron rusts. Unlike marble or pottery shards, anything made of iron is pretty much gone by the first few decades after being tossed. These manacles are extremely rare, and they offer up an image (author alert) of what it was like to be a captured slave of the Greeks.
Moving right along into the 4th century A.D., here’s the Villa Romana del Casale. The abundant mosaics are almost as brilliant as the day they were created, and that’s because they were buried very quickly by a landslide and preserved by layers of earth for many centuries. I’ve added a link to a more complete look at the villa because the mosaics are nearly uncountable and incredibly beautiful. This very famous one caught my attention.
Obviously, I still have one foot in Sicily, and my head is filled with so much that I saw. How can I use all of what I experienced in a story? Let me think.
Quote of the Month: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
– St. Augustine
