GESTALT and stuff

Last week I wrote about some ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS on the rewrite of the introduction for Lichtenbergianism for Kids. Today I’ll look at the brainthoughts I had while creating not one, not two, but three crappy intros.

First, the GESTALT that brought me to this point. I spent most of last year transcribing Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy for younger readers: simplifying vocabulary, tossing most historical and personal examples, focus on the concrete rather than the abstract. (You should have seen me wrangling the chapter on RITUAL.)

I’ve typed up all my scribblings into Scrivener, and it looks like a book (except for the illustrations, the creation of which is this year’s goal). However, I kept thinking that the book was not appealing enough, not engaging enough for an under-16 reader, even one who was seriously into the creative process.

Hence my sudden spurt of energy to start over. Actually, my thinking was “Let me revamp the opening and then I’ll see how the rest of it flows.”

So.

The first one sets the direction I wanted to go in: conversational, establishing a “me” talking to “you” vibe. But it struck me as being overly lecture-y. As Lichtenberg himself says, if you want a kid to read a book, don’t tell them it’s good, just mention it in passing. Lure them in.

So my “Hello there young feller” tone was not working for me.

Second ABORTIVE ATTEMPT: Better. Focus on the kid’s interest in MAKING THE THING THAT IS NOT. Suggest that their interest is what made them pick up the book.

This attempt would work, but the best way to have the best idea is to have a lot of worse ones, so I kept writing.

The third ABORTIVE ATTEMPT: Listen, I was the weird kid. I was the one organizing my siblings and neighbors into performance troupes. I was the one writing sonnets. I was the flute player, the one who listened to classical music. I was the one who recognized the value of the creative life, the creative process, very very early in my life.

I also know that I wore that weirdness as a badge of honor. (Still do…) So this intro is a direct appeal to the creative kid’s sense of self, their vanity if you will. Also, I realized that in its current incarnation the book opens with a very good “Test to See If You’re Creative,” and if I wanted to keep that I needed to steer the intro in that direction.

So with that third ABORTIVE ATTEMPT, I think I’ve got at least a start for the rewrite.

Next: AUDIENCE — who am I writing this for exactly?