write « Robin Writes

Chapter Two

Alison peered through the field glasses and tried to bring the images into focus. There it was again. Movement, and a quick, bright reflection. She nudged Brad, lying next to her on the ridge, and he swung his own binoculars in the direction in which she pointed. The two of them slid backwards down the slope and quickly made their way back to the campsite.

Abby and EJ were waiting, guns ready, alert; they relaxed a bit as Brad and Alison walked into the dim light of the small fire.

“We’re close enough, in the ‘burbs anyway, that it could just be some random person out for a stroll,” Brad said. “But I don’t think so. From what we know, Chicago is even more tightly controlled than St. Louis was, and at this point …”

Abby nodded. “No way someone’s just out wandering around. Not in the daytime. And not in this area.” She gestured in a wide circle. “Every town around Chicago is deserted and nothing but rubble. We were lucky to find this place in Bolingbrook, and luckier still that whoever lived here was at least a little bit prepared.”

EJ was still cataloging the ammo store they’d discovered in the basement, buried in a concrete wall that had partially collapsed during what they assumed were many flyovers in the area. Plenty of canned goods, too, and even some “extras,” things they hadn’t run across in years, like chocolate… and tequila. Alison was ecstatic, and even fairly temperate, under the circumstances.

***

Coming July 27 from Rocking Horse Publishing!

From our RHP/AOTSP intern, Rachel, on the mechanics of writing – she makes some great points! Tell us, in the comments, what you think about her methods and how you feel about writing versus typing:

There are many different ways to tell stories. People first told stories orally and through art. As we further developed our languages and made industrial advancements, we moved to writing, making movies, and using the different computer, Internet, and other digital technologies.

I personally tend toward the old-fashioned route when it comes to actually telling my own stories. I like writing. And when I mean writing, I mean the physical act of holding a utensil and moving one’s hand to draw letters. Not typing on a computer. There’s something a bit different that allows my thoughts to flow better when I physically write than anything else. I am sad and a little bit upset when I hear about schools thinking about not teaching students how to hand write any more. They can learn their letters by using the keys on the keyboard. They can type. Why do they need to know how to write? Well, besides the fact that they need to be able to sign their names on receipts and documents and such. For me, it can be therapeutic, it can help me remember things, it can help me get my thoughts out onto a physical thing that I can hold in my hands and scribble on, and it doesn’t rely on any electricity. It’s consistent. It’s concrete. It’s stable. I love writing so much that I’ll volunteer to write in group activities and I’ll write out my lists and outlines by hand before doing anything else with them. I highly doubt I’ll ever use a laptop over paper to take notes. Are future generations going to miss out? I can’t imagine my life not knowing how to write things by hand. What if the power goes out? What if the technology runs into glitches or stops working properly? Will the future generations be at a loss?

Is technology going to ruin our lives?

But then again, how did we come to be able to mass-produce books, magazines, and other types of literature? How do we continually find ways to reach more people (it’s not called social media for nothing, you know)? Technological advances! I could go back and forth for hours on why technology is helping or hurting our literary culture, or even society as a whole. The bottom line is that we need to find a balance – using technology to our advantage, but also checking to make sure we are protected from its disadvantages.

What are your thoughts?