Diaspora Dialogues

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Shorthand

Your Heart Is Always True…

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Don’t think with your heart. Though your heart is powerful, it does not think for itself. Don’t listen to your heart. For all you will hear is a dull muffled rhythm. Don’t trust your heart. When your heart is overwhelmed with things, it will surely fail on you. Think with your brain, not with your heart. Your brain is at the top for a reason. The brain is capable of thinking for itself, It closes itself to the irrelevant words of others, And opens itself to the beneficial. The brain does not produce a dull muffled rhythm, It produces a knowledge called common sense Knowledge that will save you when you decide to think with your heart.

My Community

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My community is . . . . . . 
Trying to help find a base on where to go
My community doesn’t define what we do and who we are
Doesn’t tell you to join a gang
Or hang around a bad crowd
Just tells you to be true to who you are
And helps you in achieving your goal
My community may not seem that way now but soon in time you will seeMy community is . . . . . . 
Trying to help find a base on where to go
My community doesn’t define what we do and who we are
Doesn’t tell you to join a gang
Or hang around a bad crowd
Just tells you to be true to who you are
And helps you in achieving your goal
My community may not seem that way now but soon in time you will see

Advice

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Friends share news
Friends share blues
When needed
Advice will be given to thee

Turn that frown upside down
They may say
I’m here for you forever and always
They may also say

Friends share news
Friends share blues
When needed
Advice will be given to thee

Some advice may be horrible
Terrible even
But they only give you advice
Because they truly care about you

Friends share news
Friends share blues
When needed
Advice will be given to thee

Choose your friends carefully
Choose which advice to listen to carefully
Your mind, your life, your choice
Listen to your heart and
The right advice will be given to thee

Friendly

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My community is friendly.
Not friendly enough for everyone to welcome each other with open arms.
Not friendly enough to prevent violence.
Not friendly enough to become friends with everyone we see.
A type of friendly where we can belong and feel at home.
Can count on having some helping hands—friendly.
Friendly enough to care for one another.
It’s a community where we can all share smiles and not have much trouble being happy.
My community is friendly.

A Star

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a light of different sizes way up in the evening sky shining down on us, a sparkle in the dark night, it makes everyone wish upon it, coming out every night brighter than the first, amusing us with its beauty and making us wonder how much of them are there in all, it is a question that is always asked but can never be answered, this wonderful thing brings hope in our eye s and light in our dreams, it is one of the most amazing things that is out there, it is what we all call a— STAR!

Playing with Beginnings, Middles, and Ends

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I have found that many writers—both those just starting out and those I feel ought to know better—are allergic to the very idea of outlines. The criticisms (or prejudices, as a good number of those who bash outlines have never tried them) tend to focus on the loss of spontaneity or sense of play that results from thinking too much about a writing project in advance.

My answer to them is that outline-making in itself is an opportunity for wild and boundless creativity. Far from straitjacketing the story to a “formula,” it allows you to conceive and re-conceive an idea without the penalty of wasting your time writing it out only to find your enthusiasm exhausted, caught in a dead end with no way out.

Outlines have many benefits I could trumpet, but for the purposes of this exercise, I will focus on only one: the order of things. Specifically, the way we arrange the events of a story will largely determine a reader’s level of engagement (and our own). Playing with beginnings, middles and ends is one way to build suspense, or create surprises, or deepen emotional involvement, where telling it in a straight chronological sequence might not.

The Exercise

Take an Idea for a Story. It could be a short story, a comic, an epic trilogy—the genre or length or form doesn’t matter. Now take the time to write out the beats of the story on index cards, each card limited to a single turn or pivotal scene or even smaller nuggets such as a joke or bit of dialogue you think is worthwhile. Don’t rush—really spill out all the thoughts and ideas the story needs, the sparks it inspires. Try to answer the question “What happens next? ” every time it arises, along with “How did we get here? ”

When you’ve drained out the entirety of your brain, spread the index cards out over a table and just scan them for a time. Then start putting them in order. That order doesn’t have to be in a chronological “start” to “finish”—indeed, it probably shouldn’t be. Order the beats and scenes in ways that feel right. Start in the middle. Start at the end. Reveal something a third of the way through that doesn’t make sense, but will make sense two-thirds of the way through. Tell the story backwards.

I’ll bet you’ll find that this exercise—which is really just one way to outline—is involving and useful and fun. You’ll find ways to jump right into the heart of your story that gets around a potentially dull set-up. The main thing is, it will help reveal your own priorities and preferences. Goofing with the order of things will make the story yours.

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