26 July 2006

A Short Story Note

I'm currently working on a short story involving legendary
medicine plants. The plant in question was known as the
"rattling plant" by the Mi'kmaq, and was mentioned in a
folklore article, written in the 1890s.

I'm attempting to interweave a number of elements into
this story, including animals, birds, plants, a legend-like
character I've created, humour, and dreaming. Yet, despite
so many elements, the story seems to be going together
in a straight-forward, easy to read, manner.

I'm experimenting with a sharp contrast approach to
the story; that is, I'm switching rapidly between different
elements within the story. For instance, I will be building
up some tension between the main character and the
mystery plant when, suddenly, I will switch to a bird or
animal and tell you what it's doing (often, in humourous
fashion). This releases the tension, but leaves the reader
wondering what's going to happen next.

I'm doing this story as part of a short story collection,
concerning my experiences with plants and various
characters over the past thirty years. The stories are
a combination of fact/fiction arising, in the main, from
my personal journey with plants and life.

All the best!
Laurie

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