Maybe I should have called it nekkidpeoplereading?

 I finally decided to get a tumblr account.  I once had an idea that I'd like to collect lots of small pictures--classical paintings and casual photos, whatever--of people reading. Put them in an arrangement on the wall.  A wall full of people reading. It appealed to me but was too much work. Plus I don't have an excess of bare wall space around.

Then I thought, tumblr. I could do that there.

I spent awhile looking at templates, frustrated. The one I finally went with was not one I'd even considered at first. And yet, the more I noodled around with others and was dissatisfied, the more frustrated I got--well, suddenly I clicked that one and went, "Wow. That works." Mind you, it didn't "work" for me the first time I skimmed by.

This happens in writing, too. I dismiss an idea for any number of reasons, mainly because I just don't like it.  But something brings me back to it, and suddenly it clicks. It works. In fact, it's brilliant if I do say so myself! (Or that's the way it feels in the moment.) In other words, in writing (and I guess, tumblr?) no doesn't always mean no.

Then there was my idea. I was going to go with people reading or people-reading or reading-people or something like that--but those names were taken.  Yes, these are generic titles but that didn't bother me. I wasn't trying to be original. (Why not? Too much trouble? Maybe. Maybe it was too much trouble for something as inconsequential as tumblr account, or seemed so at that moment.)  But that made me think a little harder.

Not a lot harder, mind you. Just beyond the first obvious thoughts. And "a book in the hand" popped into my head. It was snappier, at least. Familiar but not identical to the source phrase. I went with it.

Again, this is a writing lesson. I've taught it; I've lived it. Don't go with your first thoughts because no matter how much they satisfy you, they are most likely obvious. It's your second thoughts, your fourth thoughts, your twenty-seventh thoughts that bring that bolt out of the blue, that spark of "something different" that your story needs to go beyond the predictable.

[And no, I don't think "a book in the hand" is earth-shattering, but it's the process I'm looking at, and the process works.]

Finally, "a book in the hand" brought me a more narrow focus, a more narrow premise.

As I went through tumblr and found a few things to reblog in my own stream, I started out including quotes about reading or books, as well.  I alternated quotes with images.  But then I realized, no, these quotes are about reading and they are about books but they aren't about "a book in the hand."

And here is something about writing that some of us never learn. (Yes, I'm looking at myself here.) A broad premise, or an execution that spills over the edges and goes beyond the premise, is more difficult to write. It's more difficult to make work. If you get an idea for your story that goes off in some wildass direction away from the original plotline, there is a very good chance that you will spend a lot of time and effort writing in circles trying to find a way to make it fit, when it simply won't. Your premise, your idea, needs to be the spine of your story, and to support your story and allow all the lovely twining sinews and muscles and organs that make it come to life and move, the spine itself needs to be strong and straight.

And that's what "a book in the hand" was--the spine I had to mold to, twine around (hopefully in sometimes unexpected ways), but the thread that holds it all together.  I have one image I like a lot right now that I am probably going to delete because as lovely as it is, it really doesn't quite fit.  And oh so many images I love and would ordinarily share through a reblog, but they may be gorgeous but not about books and reading, or they may be of books but no people in the frame, or...

They don't fit.

And each time I make a choice to "like/heart" something without reblogging because it doesn't fit, I am again exercising the judgment writers have to use every day.  It's not just about "is it fun" or "is it pretty" or "does it make me say wow."

Does it make my story stronger? Does it make my story better? Does it work?

And that's how the past few days on tumblr have been emphasizing basic writing techniques even though I made an early decision to keep it simple and only photoblog w/o words.

And now, without further ado, abookinthehand.

Don't expect much. It's just a lot of images. Tell me if you spot the one/s that doesn't fit.

[Maybe I should have called it nekkidpeoplereading? Even narrower focus, wider audience?]

from buried in books