I really love the idea of using the cats perspective to tell a story. I also love the letter form and typewriter font. This is a rich subject that presents all kinds of flexibility in it's story telling. I'm curious, though, what are you revealing of yourself through the cats perspective? For the sake of discussion, actors are taught to immerse themselves in the life of the character, yet they use their own experiences and vulnerabilities to encode this alter-ego. Ultimately, there is always something identifiable of the actor through the character no matter how hard one works at erasing self. It would seem an interesting challenge to present a story only through the eyes of a cat. Obviously, this is academic since, unlike portraying human characters, we have no first hand knowledge of what it's like to be a cat. I'm forever projecting my own thoughts and feelings onto my cat, only to be stopped when he does something illogical. At present, your cat's voice is still somewhat too much of your own, in my estimation. I think you have an opportunity to be much more descriptive. Zero is out on the porch in a box, but what kind of box? What kind of curtains are in the bathroom window, etc.? I want to know.
You're right...I think! I felt like I needed to get Zero's back story over with so I could bring him in to the present tense...the NOW. I wanted to get him in to that bathroom so that I could change his frame of reference and continue his story in "real time." We'll see how that plan goes! I'm sure things will be constantly evolving and changing.
I do want to elaborate more on his experiences, but I'm not sure after reading Zinsser. Although I don't quite agree, I feel that Zinsser is arguing for sparsity. He says writers should be succinct, but I'm afraid that methodology might cause me to toss the details. I think I will try being more detailed and see where that takes me...
It is a clever idea to have Zero posting through type written notes, but this may hurt people's ability to search for your site and find key words when the post is an image.
I agree. Earlier I responded to one of Prof. Kalm's questions:
"I wanted Zero's posts to be distinct from those of his narrator. I wanted the entries to look and feel a certain way—to have a certain visual appeal and to stand out within the blog. I also like the idea that it's a graphic, and thus is not searchable text."
My decision was intentional, although the graphics appear muddied. I've been saving the images as high quality JPEGs, but for some reason they come out slightly blurry when posted on the blog.
I like that the text is not searchable, especially because we are supposed to attempt to remain anonymous. I also like the artistic look. If I could accomplish the same thing with searchable text, I'd give it a try. Suggestions?
I really love the idea of using the cats perspective to tell a story. I also love the letter form and typewriter font. This is a rich subject that presents all kinds of flexibility in it's story telling. I'm curious, though, what are you revealing of yourself through the cats perspective? For the sake of discussion, actors are taught to immerse themselves in the life of the character, yet they use their own experiences and vulnerabilities to encode this alter-ego. Ultimately, there is always something identifiable of the actor through the character no matter how hard one works at erasing self. It would seem an interesting challenge to present a story only through the eyes of a cat. Obviously, this is academic since, unlike portraying human characters, we have no first hand knowledge of what it's like to be a cat. I'm forever projecting my own thoughts and feelings onto my cat, only to be stopped when he does something illogical. At present, your cat's voice is still somewhat too much of your own, in my estimation. I think you have an opportunity to be much more descriptive. Zero is out on the porch in a box, but what kind of box? What kind of curtains are in the bathroom window, etc.? I want to know.
ReplyDeleteYou're right...I think! I felt like I needed to get Zero's back story over with so I could bring him in to the present tense...the NOW. I wanted to get him in to that bathroom so that I could change his frame of reference and continue his story in "real time." We'll see how that plan goes! I'm sure things will be constantly evolving and changing.
ReplyDeleteI do want to elaborate more on his experiences, but I'm not sure after reading Zinsser. Although I don't quite agree, I feel that Zinsser is arguing for sparsity. He says writers should be succinct, but I'm afraid that methodology might cause me to toss the details. I think I will try being more detailed and see where that takes me...
--Zero's Narrator.
It is a clever idea to have Zero posting through type written notes, but this may hurt people's ability to search for your site and find key words when the post is an image.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI agree. Earlier I responded to one of Prof. Kalm's questions:
Delete"I wanted Zero's posts to be distinct from those of his narrator. I wanted the entries to look and feel a certain way—to have a certain visual appeal and to stand out within the blog. I also like the idea that it's a graphic, and thus is not searchable text."
My decision was intentional, although the graphics appear muddied. I've been saving the images as high quality JPEGs, but for some reason they come out slightly blurry when posted on the blog.
I like that the text is not searchable, especially because we are supposed to attempt to remain anonymous. I also like the artistic look. If I could accomplish the same thing with searchable text, I'd give it a try. Suggestions?
--Zero's Narrator