Life in the Slow Lane

“Just start with something whimsical. An outlandish situation or character and just go from there. For example ‘One day a long time ago, the Princess of Everybody and Everything came to Kansas City to visit her uncle.” ~ Priscilla Howe, Storyteller

whimsical | adjective

1. given to whimsy or fanciful notions; capricious; a pixyish, whimsical fellow.
2. of the nature of or proceeding from whimsy, as thoughts or actions: Her writing showed whimsical notions of human behavior.
3. erratic, unpredictable: He was too whimsical with regard to his work.

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Priscilla Howe is a storyteller.  A former librarian turned storyteller to all ages from the youngest to the oldest of us, Howe has traveled with her stories and puppets here in America and worldwide.  For those interested in learning more, here is a link to Howe’s web site.

When researching the meanings of whimsical, I came across Howe’s quote above.  A reminder that to develop any character we must use our imagination, the mind’s eye.  The writer must have a mental image of that character and his or her character traits and mannerisms.

Good tips are found in the definition and quote above.  Merely by thinking of outlandish situations or characters, Howe suggests the mind will flow with thoughts of the whimsical. Or perhaps we need to think fanciful notions as Dictionary.com defines whimsical.

Better yet think back to childhood times when life itself, in your child’s mind, were filled with imaginary friends and tales.  Do you remember?  If not, try.  Here some of your best imagined characters and tales stored away.

Fantasy and YA writers of today seem to be able to do this with ease.  And yet I think if we were to ask the question, they would tell us differently.

Casting aside my current memoir writer thought processes, I went in search of images using the word “whimsical” as if I were writing a whimsicalscene or story. Here’s a sampling of what I found:

Need a whimsical setting?

Whimsical characters?

Something to bring out your whimsical side as you write?

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Note:  I am traveling April 25th through 29th and will not have Internet access.  I will respond to your comments as I can when I return.

Image attributions may be found by clicking on the image.

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