| I'm going to try really hard to set aside some time once per week to update this blog. I know it's been slightly inconsistent, but I'm coming up with a time management plan (something I'm not that great at). Now, regarding the 'Couch' (or sofa for those people not familiar with the term 'couch'. I'll use it interchangeably throughout the blog)...awhile ago, a local lifestyle magazine wanted me to write an article on a particular couch that a certain furniture store was selling. I don't know how I got picked for this article--I must have pulled the short straw without knowing it. They wanted 300 words on a damn sofa. How can I make a sofa sound absolutely great without using the words "comfy, green, and cushy" too many times? I knew I had to think beyond the couch and what the couch does. I had to look past the whole issue that this is just something you sit on while watching TV and eating popcorn. (Usually the popcorn falls beneath the cushions and eventually you find it months later and vacuum it up. There also might be cash under there or dog hair or your watch and ring that your child hid there for fun.) The reality was I had to look past the sofa and into its roots. Amazingly, sofas have roots. They go back hundreds of years when only royalty could sit on them. Once I discovered how far back the couch went, the writing was easy. I put a little twist into the article by providing a little interesting background on the whole sofa thing. The article was no longer boring--it actually had substance. When writing, look past what you already see. Open your eyes to something you never really noticed before. |
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Finding Inspiration in a Couch
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9 comments:
a couch will never be the same.
Today I spent a good twenty minutes talking to a coworker that I don't even like all that much. The topic? His military service. I pressed him to find out more and got some useful answers to a sticking point in the plot of my current project. I looked at him in a new way, talked to him, and found inspiration there. What a coincidence that you wrote about the same kind of thing!
Ian
Another good one. Thanks.
Wow, that was an interesting post. Until you explained what you did, I'd never have imagined finding any way to make a couch interesting. I think if I'd drawn the short straw, I'd have pretended I died or something...
Tamara,
I'm saying hello over from Wandering Authors
My personal memories of the sofa:
I think as you spoke about the sofa...many families tend to look on them as lifestyle emblems. It's where they have tv dinners, curl up etc. Sometimes, family pets prefer the sofa to all else. Sometimes, in simple homes, its comfort always defines how cosy that simple home actually is.
When you go to someone's house, I find owners are actually apologetic about their sofa, this whether in London, Australia or Asia. That it often needs some upholstery...may be a little worn out...tattered etc. and this actually symbolises an apologetic welcome an owner would give its visitor. I know a friend who as a student slept on a friend's couch for six months and that university friend probably saved his life until he could afford new digs.
And so the list goes on..
But your article certainly added exciting new twists.
warmest regards
J Peterman did a wonderful job describing anything from a sofa to a straw hat. It was a shame when he tried to switch from an unique catalog to retail stores. Killed him. Did not translate!
It's good to see you back, Tamara. I would have to agree, there are many opportunities for inspiration when a couch is involved.
(.)(.) National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
A quick note to let you know we at FOR YOUR SUCCESS are thinking of you, hoping you are well and look forward to your return.
I think, now, I'll go and check out my couch to see what inspiration I might find.
The only inspiration I've been finding from my couch of late has been to investigate the underside of my eyelids.
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