The work that follows is an integration of two concepts, the Field Paradigm discussed in an earlier post, and the web site known as
750Words This is a draft for tomorrow's post:
Today is Fri, 23 Apr 2010
Welcome Eric Inglert!
Copy and paste the following story synopsis into your blog post.
Expand your story by editing your post and filling in the spaces between your story points.
Story: 750 Words
Setup: The author is green. He is sitting across the table from his book agent, who is much younger, and much more, and all of that . . . and who does not seem possessed of pathos. The meal is long past and so is the deadline for the author's manuscript. The author is as conflicted about how to end the evening's meeting as he is about ending the manuscript.
Plot point 1: Stepping into his apartment alone, again, and tripping in the dark over "her" cat, again . . . he picks himself up. Listening to the answering machine over the persistent meows and the sound of mixing wet cat food into the dry mix -- just the way her cat likes it . . . suddenly, he freezes . . . "Oh, damn I got the answering machine again . . . sorry Dr. Jones, this is Patty from school. I don't know how to say this but I have been trying to reach you. The board voted tonight to eliminate your program. The dean wants a meeting with you tomorrow at 8:00 to discuss how you are going to inform the rest of the faculty. I'm sorry to have to tell you this on the phone, but even the tenured faculty are being let go. Please call me as soon as you get home." He calmly lays down the cat bowl, makes an about face toward the kitchen sink and vomits. Her cat smirks in an uncannily familiar way
Confrontation: The two week extension was too hard fought for to give up on now. Yet, no new ideas present. The author spends all his hours reading other's works. He is searching, not just for a way to make meaningful his work, but so too make vital again his life. Since his tenured position was so deftly administered out of existence -- eerily reminiscent of how her lawyers last year cut him out of his marriage to that woman -- he feels the only way out is to finish the manuscript. At his last interview, he was asked for an advanced reader's copy of his manuscript -- so that the committee could make its final decision. He could finish the year on a high with a great new academic position, better than before, in a great new place in the Pacific Northwest -- or, he could not miss the chance and rot in this apartment. So much is riding on just finishing the damned thing!
Plot point 2: The author is in his office. Several colleagues have popped into the doorway, making it impossible to continue cleaning out his files, let alone keep his eyes dry of memories. The manila file folder stacked on top of the cabinet falls to the ground spraying the contents across the floor. Bending down in a grunt of expletives, the author sees the printouts from the journaling grant project he did with students a couple of years back. What a great creative time that was, and how he was going to miss the classroom . . . and then the Eureka moment. His current manuscript was started back in those heady, fertile days. And, all that work was online in the "cloud." Dropping down on the floor amidst the prints from the blog he begins to read . . . not stopping until the janitor opens the door next morning. He runs out of the office, no closer to moving out, but he is much closer to moving on.
Resolution: The author stares at the computer reading through his archive of journal entries. His face brightens as the kernel of an idea long ago husked away opens before his gaze. He highlights the germ, copies it to his memory and plants it lovingly into the final draft. The manuscript is done. He leans back relieved as the printer churns out the pages for him to read.
