When Reality Makes No Sense

All---

image by Brett Jordan and David McDonald

A lot of my writing over the years has focused on paradox, worldview, distortion of perspective, and things like that.  In fact, my college years' chap book, Kyrie Eleison, contained a series of psychologically-driven sci fi stories very much on that theme.  Because it wasn't published, I also emblazoned the cover with artwork by MC Escher and continued hitting the theme in a few clip art illustrations.

The trick with writing paradox is that it needs verisimilitude in order to be believed.  For instance, the Pink Floyd album Ummagumma has a cover that at first looks like simple recursion -- a picture in picture in a picture.  Then, as you look more directly at the artwork, you realize that it's not recursive.  The band members swap places and poses.  Somehow, it evokes the feeling of a paradox, when it is in fact quite reasonable.

I need to get back to my book this book, but over my conference I was working on a short story about patience.  It's a good story, and there are some moments in it which really resonate with me.  Unfortunately, part of why they resonate is because they are inspired by a few things I observed on my trip.  Things which were so outlandish I had to write about them.

Thanks which are so outlandish I'm not sure I can use them in a story.  Readers might not be able to relate to them or believe them enough to accept.  Not to mention the typewritten letters from professionals saying, "We would never do that."  So I'm not sure, yet...

.Nevets.