Captivating Captions
In my online writing course, A Writing Year, one of the lessons is about writing photo captions. What a missed opportunity this has been since cameras were invented! I have a friend who writes the wackiest photo captions on Facebook. He talks about the photo, but also mentions his life at the time.
...looking for cheap dental implants in Bangkok... eating a dodgy chicken and having a seizure on the side of the road as Indonesians wait for me to die.
Crazy glorious writing! He's the kind of guy who makes social media wonderful. Sure we all have issues with our screen time and the mangled fusions it is creating in our brains, but then I see his posts and am reminded that social media is also a wonderful forum for creativity.By the way, you can join A Writing Year ecourse any time. It is a good way to:
- Become a better writer
- Learn the craft of writing as a side effect (bonus)
- Excavate excellent memories that inspire writing projects
People say they want to write a book but they don't want to get better at writing. Pft. Take the course to get better at writing. Then go write the book.Join here. (If you've already joined, log in here.)Here's a few of my wonky photo captions. They aren't all true. They only have a few bits of truth. Mostly poetic. And they aren't the photos that end up getting printed or shared. They are photos in between, taken to remind me of a moment. And I'm certainly glad for that these days.
"Flipping through the new MUJI catalogue at a restaurant outside the Pantheon in Rome. British Airways lost my luggage and I had nothing but the clothes on my back. Came across a MUJI store, found a suitable frock for a few days and a catalogue of pens. Sitting outside the Pantheon, gazing at the new pen collection, wearing the dress still creased with folds, and a cold wine after a hot and bothered travel day. I made it back to Rome and I knew I would be fine, able to turn it all around by going back to basics: comfortable dress, colourful pens, a bustling eatery. That was all I had to do. That was enough."
"The entrance to Thunder Road was on Yonge and Eglinton in Toronto. New boyfriend. Old song. Screen door slams, Mary's dress waves, like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays..." That was all it took to make me want to hitch up to this ride. Thunder Road took a sharp turn to the 405 between Long Beach and Irvine, California. So much driving, but the musical education was worth it. Thunder Road forked outside a doctor's office in Calgary as I caught my breath to get the results. It meandered through the mountains, over ski hills, through Prague, and finally down to the beach with the garden... and a porch of my own."
"Didn't make me crazy like it promised."
"The geraniums reminded me of the dream that I was once a 1950s housewife in Italy, wishing for an artsy life in California. It would never happen so I had to make it happen in the next life. The California dreamin' life took me back to Rome where, if I let it, it could glue me in place at a kitchen sink and have me wash dishes all day long as I looked at the window at the geraniums. Rome is sticky. Need to wear shoes with soft tread."
Posting photos isn't even required to get a good paragraph:
"She just started dancing. Arms out, flailing. Head back, laughing. And I wondered when dancing went from flailing and laughing to controlled and self-conscious. I kicked out my leg. Then an arm. And in doing so, shed a few of those angry years and became young again."
"Tom's Liquor was 'our place.' The junction between his house and mind. 'Tom's?' he would text. And off we would trod toward each other. Years later, after life had us walking in different directions, he would occasionally send me a message. 'Tom's?' and I would smile. Yes. We created a shorthand with each other. Just anticipating the meeting, and remembering the old, was enough."
It is nice to cruise through the travel photos and write little tidbits. Sometimes the captions are from alter egos. Sometimes fictional characters. Sometimes it's the God's honest truth but veiled in "fiction" to keep us brave.Speaking of excellent writing... ahem...Dear Paris is #1 in many categories on Amazon. Thank you for all this. If you haven't picked up a copy for yourself and all your friends, please do. People have been posting the book with fun sidekicks:
BOOKS
- Dear Paris: Forbes named it one of the Top 10 Valentine's Books.
- A Paris Year: USA Today named it one of the Top 10 Most Beautiful Books.
- Paris Letters: New York Times named it a best seller. High five!
COURSES
- A Writing Year: An inspiring writing lesson each week for a year.
- Book Writing: Learn how to write that book that is burning in your soul.
- Organizing Content: Learn how to organize your journal entries and create a finished product.
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