Saturday, June 12, 2010

Let's Go A Story Hunting



"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

"Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true."
-Lewis Carroll from The Hunting of the Snark

I'm always on the hunt for a story. I seek them out the way some people seek out valuable antiques being sold for $1 at yard sales, garage sales, or tag sales as they are called on the wrong side of the Hudson River.

There are stories to be found in the oddest of places. I find them in the background of old photographs taken by strangers. I find them in the shortest bits of music hiding behind vocals. Of course, there's the fertile ground of my never-ending cycle of bizarre dreams. There are many stories to be found in books that are telling their own story if you just happen to let yourself go left when the character turns right. But these are only the places where I hunted and found stories today. The story has a million million different hiding places.

It's a tireless hunt and one must always be prepared with eyes like targets ready to zero in on the kill. Not every shot is worth taking. But eventually, the Snark will slip up and I'll be there to bag it and bind it within my own pages. It's just the kind of guy I am.

2 comments:

  1. You could rewrite The Hunting of the Snark for a start. What a mess he made of a basically good story.

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  2. Old Charles never made a mess of anything, except his own diaries and more than a handful of curious life incidents :)

    I am planning a reworking of Goblin Market however.

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