Recap of Parz's Livestream, 19 Jan 2025 (Moss Piglet March issue submissions "Ordinary Adventures", Looking Beyond My Creative Process)

 To dive straight into the livestream, click the thumbnail below:

The Planner section of the livestream explored the Moss Piglet March issue prompt of "Ordinary Adventures".

What constitutes an ordinary adventure? Adventures are typically extraordinary, so how do we approach an ordinary adventure in such a way that it's an entertaining read?

One way (and the way explored in the livestream) is to imagine yourself, an ordinary person, put into an extraordinary place. My idea was using news coverage of a hurricane and imagining what it might be like to experience the scene firsthand:

I went to the Posh Building to meet with a new accounting client. I caught the first available elevator to ride up to the 64th floor. And my attention was caught by the TV screen playing news of Hurricane Beverly.

As the anchor, a very drenched and windblown Sydney Freelance, described the scenes of devastation, I found myself imagining what it might be like to experience the storm firsthand.

Steve, can you change the shot to watch the surfer ride the tremendous surf?

I find myself both terrified and exhilarated to feel my feet on the board while it runs across the wave. The spray in my face, the wind trying desperately to knock me off, and laughing in the face of Nature is amazing. I can taste the salty spray, the cold of the water, the…

There are reports of people not leaving their homes so that they can protect their neighborhoods from vandals and looters.

Gun in my hand, wrapped in my yellow slicker and boots, I wander the wind-blown streets, trying to keep my property safe from those who would take advantage of the chaos of the storm. My family is safe at a relative’s house but I want to make sure they have something to come back to. I know the police aren’t happy with me but it’s not their house that is at risk. So I walk and I watch and I…

Suddenly, the door opens and there’s the receptionist watching me not get out of the elevator. So I step out, take a moment to remember why I’m here, and go up to introduce myself.

The Pantser section focused on looking beyond my creative process. I viewed my work as part of other people's creative processes and, pulling back even further, as being a part of a more Universal Creative Process. Also, if you consider story not simply as a created thing but instead a living entity, it can influence the creative process (are accidents and oversights simply errors or are they actions by the story to create and edit itself???)