Calling it "Totem"

"An animal, plant, or natural object serving among certain tribal or traditional peoples as the emblem of a clan or family and sometimes revered as its founder, ancestor, or guardian."
-American Heritage Dictionary

Right now, Jenny's thinking about the title for her novel and titles in general. Okay, I can springboard off of that.

"But wait, didn't you just write a post about discovering the title for your thesis?"

You got me there. Still, I feel prompted to write more about it. Sue me.

One of Jenny's questions about FJR is negotiating the balance between having a title that she likes and having one that everybody else likes. It raises another question - what's the purpose of a title? On one hand, you have a title so that people can call it something more specific than "the story about the guy who..." On the other, titles work as a key to the piece. They help readers unlock it.

Then, too, there are writers who use the title as a guide for what they're writing. For me, titles are less about creating and more about discovering. My main question for myself when I title something is, "What's the single most important part of this piece?" Once I have that question answered, I not only know where my title will come from, I also have a clearer picture of what the story needs to do. This means I know how I should write it, or how I should revise it, in order to make it do what I want it to. Put metaphorically, with the way I write, titles are like the totems for my pieces. The symbollic guide.

For now, the working title for my thesis is Totem, not so much because I'm set on that being the final title, but because it clarifies my goal for me. The idea of a totem is one thing that anchors the pieces I'm most sure will be in my thesis. It starts with Albatross and ends up some place I haven't figured out yet, but my line of sight is getting clearer. Finding the right title is like adjusting the focus on a set of binoculars, it takes some fiddling, but it helps make what you're seeing clearer.

Now, this isn't to say that once I have the title down, the rest of the story is suddenly fixed. If that were the case, this whole writing gig would be much too easy. However, I find that if I don't have a title for the piece, I have a terrible time pegging it down. Without a title that clicks, I have no guide.

So Much For Being a Slacker

Katherine read my syllabus and Assignment 1 course calendar (i.e. 1st four weeks) made notes, and sent them back. Now I've got revisions to make on those documents, and I've got to make them pretty quick since classes start next week.

Also in preparation, I'm taking a brief class on Wednesday about how to do things on Blackboard as an instructor. Blackboard is the university's online platform (or whatever the right word for it is) that lets instructors put up things like assignment guides, notes, reference materials, and discussion forums for use in class. It's pretty cool, in all honesty, and now I'll be able to structure it for my class. I just have to learn how, first.

I also have books to buy for the class I'll be taking. Scottish literature. I'm not incredibly excited. Though, I noticed that one of the books will be Trainspotting, so that could be cool. Now if only the bookstore would have the books, we'd really be in business.

Then, to top it all off, Jenny just told me I have to write something this month.

*Sigh* I guess that about does it for wearing PJs all day and doing little beside watch TV, read, and play with glass. Ah well, all good things must come to an end.

January Doldrums? Bar Book?

I just got off from the bar about an hour ago and I'm not quite unwound enough to try to sleep. My hope was to make the rounds and catch up on everybody's blog. Imagine my disappointment in finding out that nobody's updated lately. What slackers!

It seems the only way I can catch up on the latest blog updates is by updating my own. So unfair.

A month or so ago, one of the bar regulars told me I ought to write a book about the bar. I must admit, the thought intrigues me. Thanks to my new habit of jotting down notes and quotes during my shifts, I've accumulated over a dozen pages of material already and I can't help but think that there must be some way to assemble it all into something. I wonder... is it a non-fiction book? I could compile all the quotes and divide them into sections titled things like, "Unclear on the Concept" and "Gender Politics."

Maybe I ought to sit down with Juan and tell him I've decided to throw out my original thesis plan and replace it with the bar book. It'd be rather more humorous and significantly less bloody.

Joking aside, I'm beginning to think more seriously about the bar book, if simply because it would be gratifying to put it all together in writing. I'll keep you posted.

Naming the Thesis

My thesis is providing entertainment for many people I know, with frequent questions regarding what it's about, how it's going, etc. A few people have read some of the stories which will be included in the thesis. They've commented on the bird theme. Heck, one of the stories is titled Albatross after all. Jenny's even proposed titles like Pieces of Birds for the thesis.

All this time looking for a unifying element, and could it really be just that easy? Granted, there are some stories I've originally planned to include in the thesis which have no avians in them at all, but that'll work itself out one way or another.

I was just cruising some of my favorite bead-related blogs, and read this post by Luann Udell. In it, she mentions finding inspiration in different images of horses. She's got a horse theme going for her, guiding her even? As we know, I've got a bird theme going for me.

I once had a conversation with a woman named Tempest about how my creative totem/guide is an American Kestrel, a falcon which has long been one of my favorites - I admit one of my reasons for liking them is their small size which, at 5' 2", I identify with.

Now I'm wondering whether or not Totem, or something like that, would work as a thesis title. In Albatross and Strong Heart, my two solidly bird-related stories, the idea of bird as guide fits well. I also like the idea of the fairy tale tie-in, with the principle of the magical guide and the fact that those guides were often animals.

It might work.

From Jane: Blind Rewrites

"Often, the key to a good rewrite is a clean new page."
-Jane Espenson

One revision strategy I'm sometimes fond of is a blind rewrite. While I was reading Jane Espenson's blog today, I read this post from a couple of days ago.

Now, when I tell people to do a blind rewrite, I can start tellling them that Jane thinks they ought to, too. And who's going to argue with that? Ha! (Right, I know, wishful thinking - people will always argue - but, I'm trying to be optimistic here).

It's In Writing

Of all the things I've ever written, a syllabus and the first chunk of my course calendar are among those that have left me feeling strange. Suddenly this teaching gig is much more real and concrete. I now know that on Wednesday, January 23 I'll be talking to my class about essays by James Clifford and Stephen Greenblatt, and assigning them MySpace as homework.

So, I've got the rough drafts of my syllabus and calendar (January 14-February 8th) off to Katherine who'll make notes on it and send it back. A couple of revisions later and bingo-bango, I've got the first four weeks of my class. Far out.

I think what I've got so far will be fun. I'm leaning on another professor's first formal paper to guide my first few weeks, and he titled it "My Language, My stuff, and My Culture." We're diving right into some anthropological stuff here, i.e. my undergrad. minor, so I feel pretty comfortable with it. I can even bring in some pictures of ethnic tattoos and talk about scarification. Hoorah!

I Hereby Resolve To...

Now's the time for everybody to make their lists, decide to do something new and improved with their lives, and look optimistically forward to how much better things will be once they develop that new habit of keeping up with washing the dishes. Were I resolving things, that would be near the top of my list. Oh dirty dishes, how you do accumulate.

"What's that? You're not making resolutions?"

No, dear reader, I am not. While I love Jenny's approach of making resolutions by building on your existing accomplishments and accentuating the positive, I will be offering no list of my own.

I can't imagine planning out my whole year all at once, after all I even break down my monthly goals into weeks. Also, the idea of resolutions implies a certain knowledge of what one hopes to accomplish in the new year. My priorities are still in the midst of changing and I don't know that what they are now will match next week. In short, this whole grand plan thing overwhelms me. So, instead of making myself accountable to New Years Resolutions, I'm going to substitute with January's monthly challenge.

Last month I had big plans for being incredibly productive and for revising things. Those plans fell through in a big way and I didn't hit most of my goals. Whups. However, I did spend some quality time relaxing and letting myself decompress from a demanding schedule of graduate classes and two jobs. I didn't get those revisions done, but I regained some personal balance, perspective, etc.

For this month, I'm making it my goal to do a bit more decompressing, have a bit more fun, and think hard on my priorities. I keep doing and committing to do things, and I am no longer sure why they are important to me. Going out of the country took me oh-so-many miles away from all of my usual responsibilities and gave me a few days to experience what my life would be like without them. I've got to say, it emphasized the need to cut back. I'm now more certain than ever that quitting my waitressing job this year is the right thing to do. So, check one off the list.

My challenge to you is to take some time this month and evaluate. What do you do in your daily life? Why do you do it? Where do your obligations come from? How many come from you? How many come from external forces? If you had to name the one thing in your life that is most important to you, what would it be? Why is it so imporant to you? Are you currently giving it the time it deserves? What is the one least important thing to you? Is there any way to eliminate it? What is something about your life which you are really happy with? Is there any way to expand on it? What is the most stressful part of your life? How can you eliminate it/make it less stressful? How are your personal relationships doing?

The list could go on, but I think you get the idea. Alternately, here's the short version: What's important to you? Why? Is that a good reason? Do you want/need to make changes in relation to this important thing?

Take out some paper if you want, or open a new Excel spreadsheet if that's what you're into. Get as technical as you like (you can even assign numerical values to things if that's what gets you going). Or, write nothing down and just think about it. Start now, take your time, let it all percolate over the course of the month. Come January 31 we'll see where we are.