Monday, 7/3

Slowly but surely, the story’s becoming apparent.

I've been trying to spend the non-glorious summer days recently trying to put the finishing touches on the last of the four things I'm doing for the Marquette Regional History Center this summer, the program called “21 Pictures”. I’ve been talking to people and gathering information for the past month, and I have all kinds of great stories and facts to pass along with the really cool pictures I'll be showing. Getting the stories and facts organized and into a cohesive tale, an over-riding arc, however, is something that’s been eluding me. So that’s what I decided that I had to “break” the story.

Back in the 1880s when I was a college student at Michigan State, one of the classes I had to take was a screenwriting class, and that’s when I learned how to “break” a story. In this case, “breaking” a story involves putting all the ideas and plot points you have, either on 3x5 cards or on a white board, staring at them for a long while, perhaps even moving them around a bit, until the story arc become apparent. Sometimes, it doesn’t work, and you have to start from scratch, but oftentimes, it’s a good way to gain a new perspective on things.

So I’ve been taking all the stories and facts that I want to use on the walk, and I stuck them on a bunch of 3x5 cards. After staring at them a bit, I discovered what one of my problems was. Unlike almost all of the other programs I've done, this show will not have one over-riding theme. It's not about one place or one person or one topic; instead, it's pictures I find neat and the stories behind them. My task, then, was to find something that links all of the pictures into a cohesive whole. And you know what? I think I’ve found that link, and it’s. . .it’s. . .

Well, actually, do you think I’m gonna spill the beans now ? Nope. If you want to find out how all the pictures come together, just join us outside the History Center on Friday, August 18^th, at 10pm. We'll show pictures on the side of the building, have some laughs, and (hopefully) go “ooh” and “aah” over some images (and stories) you may never have heard of. If fact, bring a date if you'd like.

Because, well...that's all I'm gonna say for now.

8-)

Have yourself a fun (and safe) Fourth. See you Wednesday!

(jim@wmqt.com)