I've always been intrigued by the idea of an "altered book," probably due to the sheer fear factor: "Take a published book and chop it up, paint over the pages, and rewrite the whole thing according to your own taste? What??" Sacrilege, indeed! And all the more reason to throw caution to the wind and start making an altered book of my own.
Deciding to alter a book was, for me, a natural progression from art journaling. Ever since I began writing I've used magazine cut-outs to illustrate my WIP characters, their houses, their wardrobes, and anything else I needed to make my settings and action scenes more real in my mind's eye. Moving on to dedicated art journaling--including artwork and other collage elements to my journal entries--seemed the obvious next step after keeping extensive notebooks and files for each of my (many!) drafts. But after several art journals filled with poetry and personal essay, I felt I wanted to tackle something more in line with my fiction interests. An altered book seemed the perfect choice.
So...for my first attempt, I chose a used book from 1972 of architectural renderings: Six Colleges, Sketches by Allan Gamble. Reasons for my choice: the book was "sketchbook" size; not too many pages; lots of blank pages for my own artwork; and the existing black and white, pen and ink sketches were perfect backgrounds for collage and other mixed media. Most important of all, the "six colleges" (all belonging to the University of Sydney, Australia) have a certain gothic creepiness that appeals to my imagination.
As you can see in the top photo, the cover is truly a "blank slate" of unbleached linen. At this point I have no idea what I will do with it, but I promise it will be interesting. The inside of the book is just as challenging, starting with the end papers:
And the actual sketches:
And here's where I am now:
And because I am at heart a novelist, my altered book will have a plot by the time I'm finished, something about "Six Colleges and Four Girls." Here are my four (unnamed as of yet) main characters:
Aren't they cute? Over the next few weeks and months I'll be sharing more pictures and story line as I work my way through this--very fun--project. Now where did I put that glue stick...?
Tip of the Day: Working on something "just for fun" is just as important as writing or painting "for publication" or "for sale." The things we love for their own creative sake are the things that guide us toward our true direction.
Let's face it: Everybody lies. Whether it's telling your mother-in-law her lasagna is the best in the world just as you're wondering how to swallow one more unpalatable bite, or agreeing with Uncle Joe's politics in order to avoid a pointless argument, we all have to glide over "the truth" once in awhile. And it's exactly the same for your characters--with one big difference: sometimes your characters have to go way beyond the social niceties. Sometimes they have to tell whoppers; big, huge, gigantic lies that could get them into so much trouble I don't even want to think about it.
Far from being the road straight to hell, lies in fiction are an invaluable tool for creating both external and internal conflict. Untruths are also a great vehicle for "showing, not telling" who your characters really are at heart. How they lie (blush, stammer, or look you straight in the eye), and the lies they choose to tell (tall tales, or deceitful rumors calculated to cause the most possible harm) can deliver more impact to your plot than pages and pages of truthful--and dull--good behavior.
While many genres routinely depend upon lies to provide the bulk and basis of the story, e.g.:
- Mystery fiction ("Wasn't me, guv.").
- Thrillers ("Tell them you are a visiting anthropologist from Bulgaria.").
- Romance ("I hate him!")
...any type of good fiction can benefit from a good dose of dishonesty. For instance, with a few well-placed fibs you can:
- Establish tension: Will the liar be found out?
- Create sympathy: But he did it for his family! I.e., when a "good" character tells a lie to serve a higher purpose, we'll be desperate for him to get away with it.
- Story justice. Just as much as we want our hero's lie to save the day, we also want "bad" characters to get their comeuppance. It feels good when villains and antagonists are found out as the evil-doers we know they are--and then receive their due punishment.
- Plot development. Characters who lie will do anything to keep from being discovered. Characters in search of the truth will risk all to reach their goal. Put the two together and your scenes will practically write themselves.
- Motivation, mission, and revenge. Characters who have been lied to won't be happy campers...keeping those wily, no-good, double-crossing liars on the hop.
A good trick to see if your WIP will benefit from throwing in a lie or two is to simply try it out. On a sheet of paper, take each one of your characters and give them three secrets. Now give them three possible reasons for needing to keep those secrets. Finally, invent three lies they could tell to keep those secrets private. Even if you don't want or need to use any of these secrets and lies in your actual plot line, knowing what they are will go a long way to making your characters real and vivid--even when they're telling the truth.
Tip of the Day: Make a list of some of your favorite books and movies. Ask yourself: What lies do the characters in these stories tell themselves and/or each other? How did a lie maintain the story tension and keep the plot moving? How were the lies resolved? What can you learn from these examples to add more conflict to your own fiction?
