Secret Weapon

When I need to think of rhymes for an occasional bit of doggerel, I use this tool to find and make up words.

I put this gadget together years ago and printed many copies on my desk top. I've got stray wheels like this stashed in all the places I write...living room coffee table drawer, desk drawer, drawing table, office, and bookshelf. I keep finding new letters to add, which explains the additional consonant blends.

Why don't I use Rhyme.com? It is a fabulous site and I do peruse it on occasion. But I find that turning the dials of the Word Whirl forces my brain to concentrate. Working through the zillions of combinations is like doing cerebral push ups. And to be honest, it's fun.

I just completed section 20 (Ecclesiastes 9:1-10). It's another section jam packed with morose prose so I do my best to lighten things up with doggerel. Tonight I wrote a limerick (not my favorite type of poetry but it fit in this case) and needed words to complete this sentence, "There once was a man without meaning..."

How many words could you come up with that rhyme with meaning? By aligning the letters on the inner wheels to spell the word "__eaning" I spun the outer wheel and came up with:

preening
screening
weaning
dry cleaning
gleaning
queening
leaning
careening
demeaning
intervening

I used three of the above words for one of the strips. Not sure the limerick will make the final editing cut so I won't share it here just yet. But I'm trying to jazz up the text with a juxtaposition of Ecclesiastes, one liners, quips, quotes, and poems.

In this stage of the creative process I'm piling dialog upon dialog, strip upon strip, section upon section, and I am eager to get to the final chapter so I can then reread what I've written. I'm forcing myself not to look back (or ahead) just yet. Once I've written the dialog for all 12 chapters (24 sections) I'll begin the first (of several) edits.

Note to aspiring writers: this probably isn't a good vocation if you don't like words. I don't know any writers real well but I'll bet they like Scrabble, spelling, cross words, word games, reading, and thesauruses.

Finished Chapter Eight!

As mentioned, Ecclesiastes has 12 chapters. We know these were not part of the original manuscript but were added later by (we presume) well-intentioned scribes and amanuenses. In my research I came across a 1919 commentary in which the author Morris Jastrow made his own outline; he created 24 "sections." I found his division compelling and am using it. Not sure that readers of the final product will pay attention to this but smaller chunks of text are easier to manage. I have therefore just finished section 19 with 5 to go. Or by the old reckoning, I've finished 8 chapters with 4 to go. 5 is more than 4 but 19 is more than 8....so I'm tricking myself into thinking I'm far along and nearing the finish line!

If one counts verses, I've completed 158 with 64 to go. Technically, this doesn't tell us much because one lengthy verse could be broken down into 4 or 5 pages of text. How I divide verses will be the subject of another post.

As I ponder each section (usually 10 - 20 verses) I do not go back and reread the dialog I've written in earlier sections. I imagine I'm a student in Mr. Q's class without total recall of what he's said earlier. I face each verse and imagine how 21st century college students would react. The final three verses of this chapter are some of my favorites which was a nice gift since some of the earlier verses were my least favorite (because they are repetitious).

Here is the final verse:

"No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, humanity can not discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it." 

Some commentators chalk up this uncertainty to Qoholeth's lack of faith, unbelieving heart, and secular humanism. Goodness! I do not. I think Mr. Q is a man of faith and an honest observer of life's conundrums. What knocks his socks off is that those conundrums do not fit his theology of a commensurate link between righteousness and health/wealth.

In a fit of creative energy I put the following words into the mouth of the evangelical student in the class (set to the tune of that old Shaker hymn, 'Tis a Gift to be Simple).

'Tis a gift to be certain; I’ve a brain that’s doubt free.
‘Tis a gift knowing life has no ambiguity.
And when I have some questions I do not get up tight;
I ignore pesky facts with all of my might.
When happy certitude is gain'd,
My black and white brain will not be asham'd,
Avoiding counter evidence will be my delight,
Till by turning, turning I come 'round right.

I hope this graphic novel comes out right!