Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Undercover Plotter
Sin, don’t freak out. I do plot. But I’m sneaky about it. I suppose that makes me the ultimate pirate plotter! As I mentioned before leaving for RT, I discovered my muse has a phenomenal adverse reaction to actual organized plotting. I have to be sneaky or he just plain old mutinies on me. (Damned pirate muse!)(Tiffany? Sorry, I try to write short but it never works out. Bear with me!)
I find myself amazed at the organizational skill of such writers as our Bo’sun Terrio, who has it all color coded and on a wall. I fear if I did that my muse would slit my throat, cackling all the while. (He cackles quite effectively. Though he snickers better.)
I consider our own Haleigh and the degree she is working on from the Seton Hill in Pittsburgh. (That’s where it is, right?) Gods. What would happen if I made an actual study of plotting methods, etc? I managed to slither through several junior colleges…let me see…four! Yes, four, over…uh…twelve years? No more than that… But I finally emerged with an Associates of the Arts in Language and Literature. If I had actually had a plan and followed through with it… Would I have graduated earlier? Or never?
I never managed to finish the Associate of Sciences Degree in Desktop Publishing. One class short, but it was a terribly boring class and I’d decided I didn’t like working with people on websites by then. So I tossed it. Call me fickle. But I was glad I figured out that I’d end up in jail for shooting some customer who wanted me to change the background color for the fiftieth time because that shade of pink wasn’t just right. So I think I made a good decision.
Besides, it all changes so bloody fast, why bother. I swear, everything I learned was out of date before I left the school anyway!
OK, where was I?
Oh, plotting. So. As I’ve mentioned, I took the W Plot Diagram online course and I swear, nearly had anxiety attacks. It was amazing how totally lost I was from the very beginning. (A goal! I needed a goal, a tangible goal!? I’m a panster, I don’t need no stinkin’ goal!) (Now, read that with the Mexican accent from Sierra Madre and you’ll get my sentiments better.)
I did discover the W Diagram worked great as a platform to write a synopsis from, so not a total loss. And I clued in another writing friend who is about as…dare I say it…? Yes, I will. She is as anal as they come. Has to have it all figured out to the twelfth degree of heaven as she writes or she panics. She fell in love with the W program and is merrily scribbling away.
Good! Nothing is wasted.
I hear of this EDITS system. Using multi-colored highlighters to mark every POV and step of the book as you edit. (Have I got that right?) And I can hear my muse sneering in my head. (Yes, I can hear him sneer. He sneers quite loudly.) I can imagine myself sitting with my manuscript on a table, a pile of unused highlighters at my side as I stare out the window, admiring the butterflies. (I do know myself well.)
Bonnie needs a walk!? Sure, let’s go climb Everest! Got that Hierarchy of Avoidance down pat, Donna! (Though my avoidance is never actually useful stuff, like cleaning or organizing. More like plucking my eyebrows, watching reruns of Bones, NCIS or some true crime thing on Discovery… A useful HOA might be nice!)
So, what to do? Well, I like to write a loose outline of my plot, in paragraph form. Before this comes, there is the daydreaming about the world I want to develop. Followed by the bedtime story as I lay in bed, waiting for sleep to take me off. I watch the story in my head, tell it to myself…reach a certain place where it’s time to write it. But first, I sneakily, stealthily, write a sort of pre-plot blurb. A long blurb.
After reading Lori Perkins book, The Insiders Guide to Getting an Agent, I realize I’m actually writing a loose proposal, of sorts. I may start calling it that so the muse doesn’t cotton on to what I’m doing.
For example. After I finished writing The Kraken’s Mirror… I started down the path of ‘what next’ and found another story. The story of the captain of the ship Emily takes refuge on. The story of Captain Jezebel. Where did she come from? She wasn’t a native of this strange Tortuga, nor were most of the officers of her mostly female crew. She’s a very intelligent woman, but extremely closed off emotionally. Has a dashing lover, who falls over himself to get a smile from her. She’s very, well…stoic.
About this time, I’d been to that steampunk convention I raved and ranted about. So…I put the two together. Jezebel is an escaped inventor from a dark steampunk world. Yeah! I liked this. And the next story is about those roots coming back to haunt her. Given her lover, Captain Michael March, a chance to finally be the hero he longs to be for her.
Emily will be back and I get to incorporate all sorts of steampunk details into the book. I’m enjoying the plotting.
Hell, did I just say plotting? I mean…uh…the proposing I’m doing as I figure out some light structure for this book. I think me muse enjoys this aspect of my process because he gets to hear the story being told, gets to chime in.
It’s like we are sitting on a beach, it’s dark and there is a fire merrily snapping before us. Amidst the wonderful wash of the surf, we roast marshmallows and I tell him a story I’m thinking about and he brainstorms with me as we make s’mores.
We pass the rum bottle and together, find some wonderful places to frolic.
Just don’t tell him it’s plotting.
So, we all have our techniques. How organized do you need to be? Is it necessary to be organized to the twelfth degree of heaven? Or is roasting marshmallows enough for you? Any favorite tricks? Walk the beach with me, pull out a dry twig and have a marshmallow… Just don’t use the word plot in front of my muse, please. He has a pistol and he’s very good with it…
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Books by the Crew
59 comments:
Chance, great post. I will TRY not to use the P word. LOL My muse isn't overly fond of the word either!
I'm a pantser, although I suspect I may have to become less of one as time goes on. Or, the other thing I've noticed, my muse has kind of learned how to be a wee bit more organized during the initial free writing, so there's more structure from the beginning.
We all know how fickle my muse is (Endora -- she'll never change!), so if I plot things out too much she's bored. I usually have to plot some things during REVISING, and I keep a Word doc filled with notes on each chapter -- kind of a map of where I'm sailing. :) I did this recently for a different book I'm revising, so now I know what I need to do -- but Endora won't cooperate. Now that she knows everything, she wants to work on something else! LOL
Maybe you better hand over some of those marshmallows!
I *organize* my writing only the distance of headlights shining at night. (There's a famous writer's quotation with headlights and driving at night.) I plot the distance between my car and where the dark meets the further most part of the light. It's not far, but it's sometimes good to have an idea what should be going on in the section. (Not always, of course.) I've been re-writing A LOT lately--perfectionist that I am--and I am enjoying *organizing* a plan before I start putting words to the paper. I don't have to know every single thing first though--in fact I can't know the whole thing or I won't want to write it.
I don't know how some organized writers can plot the WHOLE book in one sitting. Exhausting. And where's the magic? What discoveries are left? It doesn't bother them though; and they're successful, so who am I to say anything?
Me, I just need an inciting incident and a character, then I need a Black Moment...basically I need a point A to start from and a point B to write to. But when I get in the middle, things sag and unravel so I have to do more point A to point B in miniature to keep me going.
You did get the school right - thanks for the shout out! I used to do graphic design - I made wedding invitations and had a whole business going. Then I realized that brides are insane, and if I didn't shut down, I was seriously going to hurt one of them :)
I love the idea of proposing instead of plotting. I often find that if I write out my ideas in a narrative (like how you'd write a synopsis) rather than bullet points or outline style, it feels less obnoxious.
I do a lot of plotting, but I can't plot the whole book in one sitting. That's crazy. It takes me months to plot out a book, and even once I have my "plot," all I really have is the inciting incident, first turning point, and black moment. From about 20% in to about the 80% point, I have no idea what will happen. Mostly because I don't know the characters and story enough to know what the various options will be. For me, that has to all grow organically.
Donna - I imagine having a witch as your muse, can be difficult. You cross her up and you don't just get sneered at, she might *poof* herself away in a fit of pique!
Which could be helpful depending on where you are in the writing!
Perhaps those of us who admit to a muse, admit to the reality of being creatively ruled by...our creativity!
Which doesn't like to be pinned down.
But wow, the organizers! They have very well disciplined muses! Even if they don't admit it.
Bring Endora down to the beach for s'mores anytime!
Oh, yeah...I totally get the 'now that she knows everything she's bored' stuff.'
I think that is why I leave myself so totally free to switch things around. I swear, with a pirate muse, if you plot the course, he gets behind the wheel and finds 'shortcuts' or more 'scenic' ways to get there.
He likes to be seduced and coaxed into going whichever way I sorta point. Likes the 'shoot for the horizon' and see what is over there mentality.
We actually work together quite well!
I don’t have to know every single thing first though–in fact I can’t know the whole thing or I won’t want to write it. Yup, Hel.
I totally get this vibe! It is like Endora...if you know it all, it gets bored. Now, folks like the Bo'sun find the excitment in how ya navigate the placement of all those single things.
I start listing single things and I get sweaty and all but panic stricken. I CAN'T DO THIS!!!! just rules me. And the muse has stalked off, bored, pissed and uncooperative.
And though I can write without him, I will get stuck. I like his brainstorming ideas, though they often involve rum and naked women...
Men! ;)
And I love the idea of organized to the point of headlights.
Sometimes, I'm organized to the point of what I can see if a thick fog...without headlights!
Hal - Yup. Problem with having customers is...having customers. When I was working on the degree, I opted to work on the school newspaper instead of taking on a client with a group. (I also don't like working group projects!)
Clients are insane. And I cannot imagine how it would be to deal with bribes all the time!
It would make a great book though... ;)
I'm impressed that you have your black moment figured out before you really put the pedal to the metal. I usually have some nebulous thing... "He does something stupid and she..."
Though in the case of the second kraken book, it's gonna be "She does something supid and he..."
I have a lot of nebulous thoughts floating about in me head fer this one...need to buckle down and actually do some writing!
I do like the proposing aspect... It's a bit less daunting and leaves room to play around more...
Besides, it all changes so bloody fast, why bother. I swear, everything I learned was out of date before I left the school anyway!
This is why, when people ask what I studied in school, I say…
“I studied Antiquities.”
Man, so true, Julie! Especially with anything techie!
It's like buying a new computer...it's not the newest and greatest by the time you have it home and up and running. Sanest thing to do is...quit looking at computer ads once you've committed.
Endora is having a hard time staying away from here today! LOL You pirate wenches are WAY more interesting than trying to put revised wordage into my manuscript! :)
Chance you know me - I love to organize, but I do it to put off writing rather than to really figure the story out.
After all the organizing I did on my current WIP, I figured out why I was stalling - I had totally missed my heroines goal and motivation beyond just not wanting to love the hero. I've taken a few days to just do a quick look at the GMC of the hero/heroine and came up with what I think is missing in the story.
It really changed major parts of the story, but solves so many of the holes I was finding that kept the story from being compelling.
I'm trying to cut down on organzing and think I've found that with just a short "brainstorming" session on each character for GMC. I like to think of my plotting & organzing now as just "brainstorming".
Hi gals! :)
I am a plotter. I don't completely plot to the nth degree, but I definitely have the emotional arch and the action arch of the story (internal and external plots) down before I go. I also do a basic sketch of the different scenes in the story, at least the ones I can think of at the beginning, before I start. I adjust as I go, I actually completely adjusted an element a few weeks ago, but for the most part, I have the general idea.
No baby yet, in case anyone's wondering. But my kiddo just said that today was going to be Ryan's birthday, so maybe he knows something I don't.
Sorry, Donna. Endora can help out me muse with getting the marshmallows lined up fer the fire... Stay and play!
GMC is popular. *LOL* Scapegoat and Marnee both subscribe... I'm into emotional arcs, but I suck at the action arcs because I'm never good at giving my characters "real and urgent goals" of things to do. I always think it must be something spectacular. I think I'm going about it the wrong way. This is why I couldn't be in PR because I don't know how to spin stuff.
It's all about the spin. Some of these goals aren't anything more fantastic than "I want to go on vacation and have a great time" and then there is nothing but hassles, delays, dead bodies, and problems that keep the character from vacation and a great time. However whenever I think, "His goal is vacation", I immediately go, "That's not good enough. No one will care about that. His goal should be world peace."
Scapegoat, I can totally see you as needing a more cohesive set of goals to aim for. When I was tasked with defining an initial goal for my heroine in my urban fantasy book, I totally blanked. I mean...not be killed by the villain and kill him in return seemed concrete enough for me! But nooooo! I was told I needed a goal she could gasp and hold. Like a house on the beach.
Blech.
That's about when my muse snorted, snarled and stormed off.
But yer an organized wench and need a real vision of where yer going. Good fer ya that you found it! I can see you and Terrio totally meshing!
Even if you are skinny, young and blond so we should hate you on principle.
Marn! Still on baby watch! Or waiting... That little bugger, perhaps, isn't a plotter and is looking to surprise you!
Some do well with plotting, some don't. As I said, I don't call it plotting. But the Bo'sun claims I plot.
She lies.
I propose!
All hail those who are so organized! Really, I wish I could claim some of that. Any of that. Just a little bit of that...
Sigh.
Hellion - Ya want ta be a save the world girl... I try to write things that don't involve saving the world, but somehow...darn it! Always it seems to rise to the surface!
But it's all in how you define the world.
Having a good vacation may be the goal of that person's world... And every person's life is, in and of itself, a world of it's own...
I know you have no patience for tha sort of stuff, but...it works. Doesn't have to literally be save the cheerleader, save the world (I never watched that show, btw, but I got the gist of it.)
It's more like If she doesn't get the rest on her vacation and the tan she's dreamt about, she's going home with murder on her mind and will make everyone's life hell in the office... Well, that's a world you can save!
I know, it's very new agey. Sorry.
not be killed by the villain and kill him in return seemed concrete enough
To kill someone (for revenge) IS a concrete goal. It doesn't necessarily come across as a happy or honorable goal, but you have to remember to mention WHY you want the guy dead and have a better explanation than "he's an asshole."
His goal should be world peace. I do love that statement. It is riddled with a sense of nothing else is worthwhile. Only world peace. And makes me think of Miss Congeniality...
I say keep the goals reachable. Unless he's the president of the world, world peace may simply be out of his reach. But peace in his office, or even at his desk...or while on vacation...that should be in reach!
Well, I thought it was concrete enough! Problem was, she reached that goal half way through the book, so I had to redefine who the real villian was and scramble to articulate what she wanted from killing the villain in the first place...
And in dealing with her lack of a goal after that, I found her real goal...
It was very esoteric. And therapuetic.
No, I actually don't want to be a "save the world" girl. My problem is that I think I should have a hero who WANTS to save the world because those are the only stories people are interested in hearing about. Saving the world would be a "BIG" story. Being a dirt farmer in Kansas isn't big. Teaching isn't big. Taking a vacation isn't big.
In my head.
But it's just a matter of perspective. It's about PR spin. I'm really horrible at resumes because I hate writing things that sounds like I'm a pompous windbag who thinks she shits gold. But that's how you have to spin resumes.
You don't have to keep the same goal for the whole book. There are plenty of articles and craft books that talk about how goals can change mid-book--they achieve the goal, then they have to deal with the fall out of achieving it: is it what they really wanted? How did everyone react? What do they do now they've achieved their goal--what do they have to live for now?
Ah, see...I suck at reading the craft books...
I can see that you don't want to be the save the world girl...but you think you should be the save the world girl.
That that is what they want. I get it. And yeah, PR is all about making it look like it's all about huge goals and greater good.
But it's also about acknowledging that we all want a good ice cream sundae, too. Less grand goals are so in reach!
Glad to hear I can switch goals in midstream! i think the trick with that book was connecting with the less concrete goal in some thready way from the very beginning... It was a fun thing to figure out!
Me muse enjoyed playing the shrink at the beach...
And I'm off to meet the demands of the dog. Because saving the world to her means getting out to pee and poop and sniff and maybe...just maybe...dig.
Be back in about an hour.
I wish I could plot more ahead of time -- but, going through these revisions, I see all kinds of clues my brain leaves for me -- kind of like "literary breadcrumbs". I wouldn't be able to have those if I plotted out ahead of time.
But boy, it sure would be easier when revising! LOL
I wonder about revising. I'm taking a big six week class with Terri, starting next month and am hoping it will help me figure out how to not find the entire thing so intimidating.
I imagine plotting would help, but...like you said, those breadcrumbs... I figure what I'd find if I plotted was the ruins of the plot scattered in the chaos of the muses target practice. And he'd be right, it would be a better book without it.
So far, with my skillset, that is just the way it is.
I'm so late! Still struggling to get this damn project done but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so I'm taking a break.
Figuring out I was a plotter and then finding the method (storyboard with post-its!) that worked for me is the best thing that ever happened to my happy little writer self. I can't imagine writing without doing this, though I was about 80 pages in when I figure this out so I wonder if I'll need to start writing and then stop once I have a grasp on what I need and plot from there.
If I have a muse, she's very happy with the way we're doing this. However, there are nights when she gives me gorgeous, funny, or heartwrenching sentences of beauty. Then there are the nights she gives me stilted "He did..." and "She did..." and it's all ugly stuff.
I have convinced myself I can fix it all (with some help, of course) in the revisions. And I think the storyboard will help there too. Plus, the synopsis is right there on the post-its. Really, it's a nifty little tool.
I sure wish I could see myself using it. Really. Perhaps my skillset will develop and my muse will grow up and be willing to let me tinker with it, in time.
I could be sneaky and call it something else.
An art project?
I think your muse loves the board and is happy with all the colored paper...
I think it's important to find out if you're a plotter or pantser, so you can go that route when you write, instead of trying to do it the way everyone thinks you should.
However, just because you know what you are doesn't meant the writing will be a whole lot easier. LOL I feel like I'm doing the stilted thing in my revisions and it's killing me.
Sometimes it's hard to know whether to use a scalpel or a sledgehammer. Or finding out afterwards I DID use a sledgehammer when I should have used a scalpel. LOL
Okay, I'm back to it. Thank God for this little oasis though. :) Which reminds me -- did everyone else get off at the last stop in Tortuga? LOL
Yeah, I know. Partly dead blog day. After such a stellar week, it's a bit disappointing. But it's also the Friday of summers first three day weekend!
Mostly dead?
Bring out yer dead! Bring out yer dead!
I ain't dead yet!
Mostly.
The sledghammer verses the scalpel...hmmmm! A debate for the ages!
I tend to slash, hash, scribble, slash, arrow...arrow...scribble, scribble, scribble. Slash, toss, retrieve...scribbble. Hash. Slash.
Sip of rum.
Bigger sip of rum.
Giggle.
Have hysterics.
Take a nap.
I have such a bad habit of using the sledgehammer when I should have used the tweezers. Almost always make it worse instead of better. Hence, the revision class in June.
That's why I have forty-eleven versions of my manuscript in Word. LOL I'd never be able to do revisions if I didn't have every version available to revert to, if necessary.
What if she advocates the sledgehammer? ;)
Man, where's Q? Did the code thingy scare him off? Darn code thingy!
Neither a plotter nor a pantser be!
I subscribe to the chaos theory of writing....I think.
Its well known that small innocuous looking non-linearities in physical theories can lead to totally unexpected chaotic behavior under certain conditions. For example a butterfly flapping its wing in Hong Kong nucleates a hurricane in California ... if the conditions are right.
Now thats exactly the effect that a writer should aim for. Seduce the reader into thinking all is plain sailing, then BAM. The story spins out of control with unpredictable consequences for a while.
The nice respectable girl cooking and looking after hubby stumbles into a secret life in the red light district after helping an old lady cross the road..... you get the drift.
The trick is to introduce the non-linearity into your writing or thought process. Thats not so easy, but personally I favor seducing my muse with scotch. Just like walking through mountain passes in mist, when the mist clears momentarily one can often glimpse a grand vista, a Shangri La, or possibly the road to hell.
Yep non-linearities are definitely worth cultivating.
If all this sound like clap-trap, don't worry.
I have been seducing my muse! :wink:
Normal service will resume on Monday! :lol:
Man, where’s Q? Did the code thingy scare him off? Darn code thingy!
It defeated me for a while. Kept complaining about my cookies!
No-one else complains about my cookies. :LOL:
Ah, I love chaos theory! My DH wrote his master's thesis on how it comes into play when project planning!
I find the very idea of causality (did I spell that right?) somehow very inspirational. In a world where nothing is really predictable, everything is possible.
Makes me smile and feel so blessed!
Good to see you, glad you fought your way out of the cookie ban!
Q - I think that's the first scientific spin of yours that I've totally understood. LOL! Maybe we both have been dipping into the scotch!
That is right though. Let the reader think one thing, get her/him all comfortable, then KABLEWEE! Jerk them right out of that comfort zone. Whatever they thought they knew, they didn't know. Basically, never be predictable.
I like it! And it's a nifty goal for plotting. I knew my story had to escalate and need a hint of exaggeration (thanks to Hellie) so I employed the non-linearity stuff (without knowing that's what it was) and I think it worked.
Ah, the mostly dead blog... Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend planned!
I did like my cartoon illustration. I'm gonna save that one, might use it again sometime!
Now, time to rock my dogs world again!
Yeah, that's what I'm good for: exaggeration.
Q, I can't believe anyone would complain about your cookies!
“Yeah, I know. Partly dead blog day. After such a stellar week, it’s a bit disappointing.”
What?
So sorry that you’re disappointed, Chance.
What can I say? ‘Cept you know that I’d rather play with yor charming self all day. But I can’t. RL responsibilities.
Maybe it will cheer you up when I tell you …
I have been reading every word … I just don’t have any words to give. At least … no Useful ones!
Plotting vs. pantsing ? Hell when it comes to writing I’m just trying to not look too clueless as I try to figure out WTH you writers are talking about.
GMC?
That’s a truck brand right? :O
I don’t plot or pants, Chance. I farm. I plow the fields of my memories. I plant seeds … and the truth is most of the time I’m not sure what kind of crop is going to spring forth from my labors.
Often times The Things that I end up harvesting are not the things I thought I planted. Gosh darn it. But I guess that that’s what happens when you’re a farmer.
I am not a writer. Chance. I don’t plot. I don’t pants. I don’t have any fiction looking for an outlet. Its just that sometimes … sometimes I surprise my farmer self … and I end up with a crop worth writing about.
Hel - Exageration? I didn't say it!
You're good at pointing out the obvious needs...
Julie, you usually have some lovely bouquets of wisdom and wit to place in the discussion. Never feel out of it because you don't write.
Because we all know you're lying through your teeth.
Because we all know you’re lying through your teeth. LMAO
I swear ... you sound like my older sister. Next thing yah know you'll be telling me 'you have a responsibility ..."
Chance we both know if I had My Way , I'd be posting in Me voice. As in me speaking for real in my real recorded voice!
You could do that! What do they call it? An audio blog?
Really, when you die your heirs are going to lift up the bed and find an entire stash of books, all by you. You'll be the next VC Andrews, with ghost writers working to finish the stories you left hanging...
My feelings about World Peace, hellion.
World Peace is like Great Sex. Everybody says that they want it. Everyone has different ideas about how to get it. And nobody … Nobody… wants to get stuck paying for it!
Happy Memorial Day weekend y’all! Good luck Marn’.
Oooohhhh Chance. If only you knew why ...
Speaking of which:
The creature met with the Number2Head of All men who have no sense of humor to discuss the thing that didn’t happen. Sometimes there is no Justice. And the most you can hope for is Just--A-Resolution. Sometimes. That is enough.
Thats code for: shit happens.
Hey, not today. Today magic happens! I had an agent contact me.
CONGRATLATIONS!
And I am Not Surprised.
Ah, yer sweet! I was...and I wasn't...
That is the bummer of blogging on the Friday of a GREAT TRAVEL WEEKEND. It's hard to get bodies to the computer to comment. It's like kiddies on the last day of school--they're already on vacation.
Now 2nd says I like to point out the obvious...so not only am I prone to exaggeration, but I'm Captain Obvious...I'm going to include these on my resume. This is some killer skill traits right here. *LOL*
Hey, Cap'n...these are important skills. So many people be in denial of the obvious...they need some one ta point stuff out!
"Cliff ahead...we're all gonna die."
"Good to know! I'll take it under consideration."
Exageration jus' means ya got killer descriptive abilities...
(think that worked?)
That's my nickname for Kiddo, who gets it from her grandmother. You are not Captain Obvious. People who point out the obvious are those ones you drive alone with and they insist on reading every street sign and billboard as if you are totally illiterate. Or they'll suddenly say, "There's a bus there" as if you are also blind.
You, my friend, do not do this. You are safe on this one. (Not that I mean to rob you of a killer trait to put on your resume.)
True...I think Hel saves her observations for life saving times.
As a critque partner and as a captain.
There was a very important time once where I did not point out the obvious.
I was 22, and I am and my three friends were in California. We were lost in downtown LA at rush hour. The sun was setting. The driver was freaking out about not going into EAST LA. The navigator couldn't figure out which way was West by the map; our other friend was the parallel parker and didn't know N-E-S-W from anything.
Now I saw the setting sun to the RIGHT of us, which would be WEST since that is where the sun sets, but I thought this was an OBVIOUS tidbit of information and did not want to insult my friends, two of whom were summa cum laudes. That and well, I thought I might be corrected. I said nothing. The driver miraculously saw a sign that said, "East LA to the left" and she turned right and we got back on the right highway and got the hell out of dodge. Drove right into the sun. Later when we had all calmed down from the near catastrophe, I said, "You guys did know that the sun was to our right, and that would be West, right?" and everyone goggled at me.
None of the others had remembered that.
We could have really used a Tom-Tom back then. That would have been dead useful.
Ah, yes, back in the dark ages when the LA freeway signs were so bitchy...everything was the Orange Freeway, or the San Diego Freeway or whatever instead of numbers. They were purely idiotic.
It does tend to be useful when one lives on the coast to know that, for the most part, the ocean is to the west... Monterey Bay tilts a bit so it can be a bit not quite west. It's a bit southwest. Dead of summer, the sun sets over the hills to the north of the bay...
Post a Comment