Majority rule

Random quote of the day:


"When you set aside mere names & come down to realities, you find that we are ruled by a King just as other absolute monarchies are. His name is The Majority. He is mighty in bulk & strength…He rules by the right of possessing less money & less brains & more ignorance than the other competitor for the throne, The Minority. Ours is an Absolute Monarchy."

—Mark Twain, unsent letter to Bayard Taylor, June 10, 1878, published in Mark Twain at Large by Arthur L. Scott





( Illustrated version. )

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.

It's funny how that happens

I reached a creative low point at the end of last week, so I officially gave myself the week off from any writing. "I'll just read," I told myself and "and not even think about either of the novels that are driving me insane." And that's what I did, and it's been good.

Long about Tuesday, though, things started tickling; ideas that refused to come when I called began a whispering game from under the closed door, "Can we come back in and play? I think you'll like what we've been saving up for you."

I kept the door shut for another day, stuck to my non-association pledge, but the whispers got more and more insistent: "Really, that incredibly knotty plot problem you've been staring at for weeks? We'll tell you how to solve it."

Overnight on Wednesday they sent in one of the characters to act as an intermediary: "Listen, the Muses have said they're sorry and I know they really are. Won't you give them another chance? I mean, look, they've dressed me up in these spiffy new clothes and given me a whole new direction. It's just so inspirational! You wouldn't want to hurt their feelings, would you?"

"All right," I finally said, "but just an outline. I'm not sitting down in front of the page again until I'm sure they're going to behave."

"Really, we swear this time!" they shouted through the keyhole. "Really, really for sure!"

I am happy to report that when I sat down yesterday to start the outline, they were models of decorum and helpfulness. Gordian knots unclenched before my eyes, pieces of plot that had steadfastly sat on the sidelines chanting, "Neener neener neener," now lined up like good little children, eager to fall into place.

So I opened up chapter 9 of Venus today, and lo! One of those newly spiffed characters showed up just when I needed him to deliver the information I so greatly needed to convey. His arrival is a bit too convenient, plot-wise, but I'm glad for his company anyway. I figure we can negotiate the terms of his later-draft reassignment when the time comes. I'm just glad he—and the Muses—have decided to be nice to me again.

For now.