I started to try to write this as something lyrical and poetic, but the truth is my brain is on overload.
This week I've talked with some folks who lived in this area during WWII, recalling life with food, gas, and clothing rationing.
Blacklisting if you refused to work for the government on their terms. (this blew me away)
Cotton trucks loaded with a crop that brought only pennies per hundred pounds.
Weekly or monthly trips to town to spend a quarter.
Movies for 9cents.
A hamburger for a nickle.
Party-line phones.
Asking neighbors for gas-coupons in order to make a trip to a funeral in another city. Using farm-use-gas to get back.
Gold stars in windows for sons/husbands/brothers lost in battle.
There is so much more in the tapes that needs to be absorbed and integrated into the story. I can feel the characters growing, becoming multidimensional. Real. I can feel the town growing, changing, shifting around me, so much more - and less - than the town I know now.
I only hope that my storytelling skills are up to the challenge.
And among all this madness there were the job interviews. Roller coaster week. Nothing poetic or lyrical to it. I'm pooped.
To me the best part of a longer piece is the depth of necessary research to get to know the subject. I LOVE that part of it. Do well on the job hunt.
ReplyDeleteWM: For me it's a draw which I like better, research (love Love LOVE!) or bringing a character to life. Once I have a scene/action I start asking who that character is, why would he/she do that thing... or NOT do that thing... Sometimes the characters don't want to be known. Sometimes they spring fully grown & spittin' mad right off the page.
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