#4. Brainstorming - Day 5&6 - High School

So, yesterday and today I've been brainstorming on "high school" for my new story project that will stage around a high school.

I've been hanging around Tumblr, Twitter, and Google News reading stuffs about it.

(My Evernote clip on news on high school..... still working.. turuturu) 

(rough brainstorming.. and doodling... :P)

One thing I noticed while doing this a bit was that people do not generally like being in high school when they are in high school, but then some years after their graduation they begin to speak fondly of their high school days.
I wonder if that is the case for most of the events in life.
But high school for sure is something special for most people, I guess.
Nor really for me, though. I didn't attend it. I chose to homeschool and I still think that it was a terrific decision for me ;P

So here I am, learning all these stuffs. So far, it's been more disturbing than pleasant...

#4. Brainstorming - Day 4 Planning

Today's (actually, yesterday's) brainstorming was to plan for the weekend and the next week.

It's near the end of the semester, and it's getting crazier and crazier...!

I also want to keep writing everyday, even for 5 minutes a day, and I have a whole list of books and movies that I want to read and watch.......

So yes, it's tricky to balance my life and manage things satisfactorily.

(Well, I know it won't all end up well, but still....)

One of my strategies to deal with it is to plan in detail, in small steps, like below..

I hope it works. :)

#4. Brainstorming - Day 3 Studying Dutch Baroque Art

Today's photo is me brainstorming on my essay about the Dutch Baroque Art.

I have three essays this term about the Dutch Golden Age. And though I am not directly discussing Rembrandt, almost every artist in the seventeenth-century Netherlands seems to be related to him somehow, at least in the eyes of later art historians.... :P

 (Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1661, oil on canvas, 114x94cm, English Heritage, London.)

Below is my pile of articles and book chapters for the essays..
I might want to work in the 3M Post-It company....... I cannot refrain myself.... ;/

... Now, I'm going back to work, work, work! (pant pant...)

#4. Brainstorming - Day 2 Shaping a Character

Today's subject for brainstorming is shaping my new character, Ji-Eun Tak(?), age 18. (탁지은) for my new story project #85. (http://blog.naver.com/haejinsung)

She is a rather blunt person. She is an introvert and not sociable. She doesn't get along with other high school kids. She is a loner.

She is also an artist.

She likes creating miniature craft arts. She likes collecting all kinds of stuffs whenever she finds them interesting. She wears a kind of weird clothes that she picked up in various shops (including e-bay..) that her peers do not wear. Or abhor to wear. Or can't even think of wearing.

This was the preliminary concept in my head. So I began brainstorming.

1. Her clothing: 

I was looking for clothes that have some vintage-ish feeling...

Patterns, prints, textures..

I wanted her to wear some weird(?) long jacket when she is not wearing her school uniform, so that she can stuff various items she found (on streets, shops, garbage cans, supermarkets, etc.) in her pockets...

 

Her styling code that I imagined was a bit like Susie Lau (www.stylebubble.co.uk) and Tavi Gevinson (www.thestylerookie.com). They really have their individual styles that are often quite daring! X) And also reminding of the adorable Jane Aldridge (seaofshoes.typepad.com) in a sense that my character loves unique and unusual accessories (but not on her hands and wrists -- she is an artist).

Next:

2. The stuffs she collects and piles up in her room:

For this, I leafed through the book I owned, called Art Making:Collections & Obsessions by Lynne Perrella (Quarry Books, 2007).

 

  

I wanted her to collect ALL KINDS OF RUBBISH (or objects) in her room in various unexpected places.

3. The kinds of stuffs she makes:

For now I am inclined to make her a craft artist, in particular a miniature artist who makes very small and intricate objects.

I think these works do an amazing job in capturing humanity in such a small size.

They are also mysterious -- it's as if we enter a different world.

So this is the result of my brainstorming today.

I'm not done creating this character (of course), but I think I'm getting a clearer picture of who she is and what she does.

In school, her classmates ignore her as blunt, unsociable, and gloomy. 

But when she is outside the school, she has her own distinguished style and a world of her own. She is a very unique person, the more you get to know her.

I think I like that side about her. :)

#4. Brainstorming - Day 1 Story Title

For this week I've decided to do a brainstorming a day.

It could be about any subject! I want to explore and think about the relationships between words and concepts. I think it's a nice way to come up with ideas.

Today it's about finding a title for my new story project #85 (http://blog.naver.com/haejinsung). 

When I brainstorm I prefer to jot down a few words from my brain and then look them up in thesaurus.

As almost always, I scribble and doodle and make a mess when brainstorming. 

I guess that isn't a problem here since I'm just exploring ideas! How convenient. :)

I've looked up books like The Complete Works of Shakespeare for titles.... The Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing struck me as interesting.

However, I think a title for a story (at least in my stories) should reflect what the story is about, so... nope, not appropriate at all for my story.

Well, today, I didn't end up finding the right title. :/ "The Soul Network" looked okay in a mediocre sense... but well, hmm... I'll come back to it... 

#1. A Picture of Me A Day - Day 14 Stephen King

Today's photo is me (only a tip of my finger is me here, though :)) 

reading Stephen King's 11/22/63 via Kindle on my bed.

The world is swirling around..... both from my bed and inside the novel. :P

By the way, the story is captivating!! 

It's about a time traveler trying to prevent the assassination of JFK and change the world.

I hope I can also be as prolific and creative as King.

Well, that's why I made a blog to post my writings (http://blog.naver.com/haejinsung) --so that I develop a habit or routine to "write" rather than planning, planning, and planning all along!