Hm. I could do something like, "When Famous Name died in Premature Year, no one could have guessed that the death of such an obscure and insignificant young man would lead twenty-five years later to Event Y."

Yeah, I like that. I also think "What if" is okay and in the sci-fi tradition of describing alternate histories, but the "When So-and-so died" is grabbier.

Write whatever you have, MM! A scrap of dialog, a scene, an outline, whatever is in your head that is making you think the story could work. It doesn't have to burst full-grown from your forehead.

Pay no attention to the ideas I keep shoving over into the corner because I need to focus on doing laundry and unpacking. I want to read yours.

Is anyone interested in taking a look at my essay that's sort of about sex, but without very many Dirty Parts...it's for the feministing yes means yes anthology(Well, if they accept it) Deadline's in March, but I want a few weeks to polish it. Thanks!

Erika - if you want my take, my e-mail profile is good.

Cool...I'll finish writing the draft over the weekend and send it Monday. Thank you!

Has anyone heard of a book on screenwriting called Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder? My local RWA chapter is having him in to give a workshop, and I'm trying to decide if it'd be useful to me as someone who's not a screenwriter and has no aspirations to ever become one, but who is trying to write a page-turning adventure story.

You know what helps answer a question like that? Ask the person giving the workshop. If he is not a total jerk, he will answer honestly. And if he is a total jerk, there is a reasonable chance his reply will reveal it.

I haven't heard of it, Susan, but I don't know much about screenwriting either.

I think in terms of building a three-act story, though, the workshop could be really valuable. Because ten to one, he's not going to talk about script format but about story arcs.

Two verses about fear.

Why I Do What I Do
(and what it’s doing to me)

He said, "Two people I know were killed this weekend."
And I just nodded.

I asked him how it happened,
but not who, for fear I knew.

Thoughts On Introversion

He called with the invitation.
I declined, of course.

And then I lied with the reason
So he'd have something reasonable to say to them.

It wasn't until later that I realized
I couldn't go because I was still working.

But I'd given an excuse
Assuming I couldn't go because of fear.

Polgara mentioned elsewhere that the Library of Congress has posted some of its photographs on Flickr

How would people feel about having a round of drabbles based on 10 or so of them?