Saturday, March 24, 2018

quests and questions #sol18 Day 24

Yet again no idea where I am going. So I'll ramble until something emerges, going Pantser one better. The strategy has a distinguished history older than free-writing.


Scenes from Perceval, from a Medieval illumination
(c. 1330) by Anonymous, Public Domain
I refer to a trope associated with the Arthurian cycle, one of many Cervantes parodies in Don Quixote  

The knight lost in the woods drops his reins on his horse's neck surrendering to nature, fate and the no doubt timeless clichĂ© about the horse knowing the way. This is how Persival reaches the Grail Castle of the Fisher King he could have healed by asking the right question. Oh, and he doesn't recognize the grail either but does not become aware of either until later. Then cannot find castle, king or grail and seeks them for years. That's questing for you. 

The land becomes a Wasteland until he answers the question and heals the king. Questions and answers vary with version. Percy can't even finish his own story. What other lesson is there, as though not being able to finish your own story weren't bad enough? Although some characterize asking questions as bad manners, not asking them when necessary is thoughtless, a sign of negligence.

Speaking of questions, I would also ask about the connection between asking asking necessary questions and being able to finish (take control over) one's own story.



slice of life graphic, a gif with 4 partial slices (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit)

Two Writing Teachers host a weekly Tuesday and an annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC). This is the 11th one. During March, SOLSC participants write and share daily blog posts, and comment on three or more blog posts by other participants. Read today's (March 23, 2018) blog posts here


One more week of slices, questions asked, answers composed and quest ended. 

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