The Blank Page

I'm always amazed at how many parallels there are between doing crafts and writing fiction.

The photo is of a miniature desk and chair (The ruler is six inches.). The room is bare, like a blank page. I'm about to create a miniature office scene, starting with this simple furniture.

I'll add books, of course, and papers and pens (clipped toothpicks). Also a phone, a lamp, a computer. Those are obvious, like the basic elements of a plot.

What about decorations? I'm thinking of a tiny sweater (I'll knit this) thrown over the chair, a wastebasket (thimble), a vase (bead) of flowers, a photograph, a lamp. I'll make a pair of eyeglasses like the ones in the beach scene I posted a couple of weeks ago.

The finished office, like a character or a story, can be neat (no loose ends) or messy, or something in between. To make the decision I need to know some character traits of the person I'll be giving the scene to. In this case it's a present for someone I've never met (I won't say who; she might be logging in!), so I have to guess.

I'm going with messy, which is a lot more fun. So I'll spread the books and papers everywhere, in toppling piles, and be sure some scraps missed the wastebasket.

A coffee cup can be sitting on the desk or tipped over, with stains (a touch of brown paint) on the papers.

There's no wall to this scene, so I can't add posters, but I can throw a CD or DVD on the floor.

When I'm "finished" I'll do what I do when I complete a novel. I'll let it sit for a while and then go back and edit. For a miniature scene, I'll set it out on a table, walk by it often and "edit" it. I might add a curl of wire to the tiny plastic phone (bought at a miniatures show); change the lamp to one less ornate; put something on the chair … another book? Too boring. Ah! I'll add a donut (cheerio).

As with any piece of writing, even a short blog, it's sometimes hard to call it finished and send it off. The best way to let go is to have another idea close behind!