The Circus Tent

First off, make sure you check out the current standings for Word Processor Wars (the post below this one). And if you haven't thrown in your vote yet for which word processor you use, get on down there! (Especially if your vote is for WordPerfect. I'm just sayin'.) Everyone's comments were killing me. You guys are hilarious!

Secondly, sometime today, my blog will get a new look! And an ACTUAL NAME. No, really. (Up until the time it goes live, I'll take guesses on the name. :)) I've been waiting in line for my turn for a few months, and I'm so excited I'll get to show you soon!

Okay, now on to the actual post.

Every single year, my sixth grade teacher hung hundreds and hundreds of really long strips of crepe paper from the ceiling in the exact center of our classroom. He then took each strip and attached it to the wall, only a couple inches from the previous, letting it hang down a bit in the middle. The end result made it look like we were inside a circus tent.

I can't even imagine the time it took. And he re-did it every year, choosing different colors.


So, what did it accomplish? Well, school had to happen. We had to go learn about integers and symbiosis and homonyms and lost civilizations. Those things were inevitable. You couldn't progress to the seventh grade without them. Even with a fabulous teacher, learning all that stuff could very well have been mind-numbingly boring. But let me tell you-- those things are SO much funner to learn when you feel like you are learning them in a circus tent! When you can just imagine that you are in the center of fun things going on, it truly made a difference.

When we write, there are dialogue scenes that have to happen. They're inevitable. Things couldn't progress in the plot if these scenes didn't happen when they need to happen. But they have the potential to be boring. Even with really great dialogue!

And that's where the circus tent comes in. When your dialogue scenes happen in interesting locations with interesting things going on, it truly makes a difference. If the dialogue happens while racing through back alleys, or crouched hiding in a dank cave, or in the middle of a blinding snowstorm, or backstage in a play as the characters wait their turn to go on, or floating in the middle of the ocean with fish nibbling at your characters' toes, it makes it more fun.

Not only does it add excitement, but it adds another layer to the conversation. Extra stressors. Extra distractions. Extra difficulties. And that can turn a boring scene into one of your favorites in the entire manuscript!

So what kind of cool locations have you used in dialogue? Or what locations have you WANTED to use?
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