09 November 2006

Savory Nuggets


This title comes from the phrase used to describe the cat food we used to feed my cat Fiona. Since then, the cat has moved on and so have I. She was a good cat for a time. I realize a lot of people have no love for cats, but I'm actually not that interested in what they have to say--I've heard it plenty. Nor am I terribly interested in espousing the virtues of cats in general and collecting figurines--except when it's just plain funny. I'm just not that interested in generalizations about entire species. I like specifics. I liked Fi, anyhow. And she did send her spirit out to us so we had to go find her at the Humane Society. It's not like it was a random decision born of cat love. It was just something that happened.

The following may or may not be savory but it is a nugget. You see, I am a fiction writer. But I am way out of practice. So I am going to force myself to write story ideas and plots every day. OK, every chance I get. Here's what I've done so far:

How do I write a story? I need a character, I need a something like a problem, I need a setting, I need a beginning middle and end, I need a rhythm and a voice and "the love." And kick-A dialogue.

Character: the boyfriend. Why the heck not? Not mine or anything.
A Something: He has to take his girlfriend's cat to the vet, but he secretly hates the cat.
A setting: They live in the exurbs. He lives in a condo, she lives an apartment her parents are paying for.
The beginning: In the vet's room waiting for the vet, the cat on the table.
Middle: something is wrong with the cat and he has to decide what to tell his girlfriend OR the cat pees on him OR the vet asks him if he's been abusing the cat
End: He realizes why he resents the cat so much, because it symbolizes the loss of his autonomy or something, but this realization probably propels him to a new awareness of l-ove.
A rhythm: Jazz, the cat's name
A voice: a man that is trying very hard to not throw a cat off a bridge
The love: What is it about this man???

Feel free to answer my last question or suggest some more details.

1 comment:

Steve said...

This is exactly why I could never do fiction writing, too many things to make up, haha. I have thought and slightly dabbled with short stories though. I even starting writing a novella or something like that of a zombie invasion in DC, hehe. But I'm not even sure if I still have the draft anymore. :) So maybe you can work zombies into your cat/bf story!!!!