Month: March 2021 | the Wakefield Doctrine

Six Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-

March 31, 2021 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

Denise is the host.

The Rule is: Six(7) sentences per story, without fail, though unreliable narration is permissible.

This is a ‘Whitechapel Interlude‘ week. In our last installment, Mother Schader was meeting a shady man on a dark night in front of a black church in a middle-European city renowned for it’s capacity for keeping secrets. While, back in Whitechapel, Brother Abbott is trying to educate his students to a level of awareness that might offer the slightest improvement to their odds of survival in a war that will never be declared.

This week’s prompt:

GEAR

“How may I be of assistance, Frau…” the hint of a smile added a note of cynical amusement to the honorific; Cyrus St. Loreto’s voice embodied the suave sophistication of an educated upper class gentleman.

Mother Schader gestured her guide away, the frightened man gratefully fleeing towards the anemic light of the plaza, “I’ll spare both of us the needless, if not hypocritical, indulgence in social niceties; it has come to the attention of my Order that something new has entered the world, an agent of chaos the likes of which we’ve never seen.”

Stepping out of the darkness, the man stared at the woman, “I’m hard pressed to imagine how my involvement might be beneficial, which is not to say I don’t appreciate how you people have kept the sons of Adam in such healthy, plentiful and… available supply to my kind; given how you have troubled me in my city, I might suggest you be careful…”

Without the slightest evidence of physical motion, or even the hint of sound from clothing pushing aside the air, Hedwig Schader was suddenly standing behind, and whisper-close to the imposing man; his reaction spoke volumes, as the white of his eyes grew to accommodate night-dilating irises…the instinctual response of any animal confronted with an overwhelming threat.

“Be careful with that famous appetite, ‘Count’ St Loreto, we allow you to live here relatively freely in the interest of genetic diversity only,” Resuming her position facing the dark man, the shadows conspired to mask any proof of extraordinary ability, “We may yet require those services you are uniquely able to provide, however. do not lose sight of who is the wolf and who is the shepherd.”

(Whitechapel, London)

“Do not succumb to the conceit of feeling less than,” Brother Abbott’s voice echoed of sacrifice and suffering, finished on a note of pride, “A clockwork is, at it’s heart, a celebration of the manifest value of the smallest, most intricate of gears;” sitting next to Sarah, I felt the echoes of our nights, initially discordant as individual notes competed with each other to form the melody, finally establishing a harmony, surely the most fundamental gift from the Creator, requiring only one have the faith to allow the music of two create a new song.

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: Six Sentence Story, the Wakefield Doctrine

Tuesday Friday Monday -the Wakefield Doctrine- “….shhh”

March 29, 2021 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

As promised (or threatened, depends on your position on reprints) lets get back to the matter of works-in-progress (aka wip). We have, figuratively lying on the metaphorical floor in this imaginary place, something on the order of five or six stories.

What? oh, man… how could we use any other music vid, with an opening line like that!

We have two serial stories running on alternating Thursdays, over at the Six Sentence Story bloghop:

‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘

‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘,

(plus) one interrupted/paused serial, ‘the Hobbomock Chronicles’.

Completed, but not yet final edits, there is:

‘Almira’,

‘the Case of the Missing Starr’, and

‘Blog Dominion’ (a Sister Margaret Ryan story)

Started but not completed:

‘Home and Hearth’ (a Sister Margaret Ryan story).

So, in the coming days, I’m thinking I’ll be ‘reprinting’ this post, as I attempt that most onerous of tasks required to find a literary agent, the synopsis. Which, so far, for us, is, like, the apocryphal fifty page term paper on Russia that we all heard that one teacher in Junior High School required. To that extent, this is not merely a requirement to pass the course, it’s like not throwing up during the job-of-your-dreams interview.

Share you thoughts on the writing/publishing process, down in the comments.

So, which story do we return to first?

Before we try to get synopsistic on one of the above… I didn’t list the one that started it all. ‘The number you have reached is no longer…’

Well, if the way the title rolls off the tongue isn’t provenance enough. let me say, the idea, (of this story), came to me in a dream in the early days of this blog. For what it’s worth, I have yet to develop the confidence to try it. Again.

I did make the effort to write this story, back in, maybe 2012 or so, at a site called ‘Writers Cafe’. I saved a copy. You know, for those, ‘What was your writing like, before you became successful?’ moments. Funny about this Wakefield Doctrine, it can self-improve a body, without being obvious.

You know, how a clark would, like, totally feel all projectile-embarrassed upon re-reading something written in the first phases of development? Well, we would.

Worse, in a way that only Readers who are clarks, will identify with, we’d read through this sincere-if-not-crude-attempt and, even if we’re alone, engage in a half-dialogue* about how it’s not so bad… we shouldn’t feel discouraged… we tried real hard…maybe someday we’ll be able to do it right.

That is what it is being an Outsider(clark). It’s an example of some of the most self-destructive behaviors, disguised as being a reasonable compensation for our shortcomings, tendencies of my people. In effect, we tell ourselves that we need to explain ourselves…to ourselves.

(Just in case a scott or roger is still reading…. I’ll just say, “Ask a clark, they might, (or might not), explain that last.”)

Back to our story’s story: aka practicing syncopistic synopsae.

The ‘hook’ of ‘the Number you have reached…’ remains a favorite. (Note: How new at writing was I at the time? My biggest fear was that someone might hear about the idea and write it before I could. I’ve come to realize the real challenge in writing fiction is not a lack of ideas. It’s having the skill and talent to tell the story in a manner that allows any reader to be caught up in the plot.)

The hook:

Our protagonist is awoken by the buzzing of a cell phone. The room is dark. Answering, he hears a familiar voice, “What happened to you last night?” As dawn breaks, the details of the room become discernible. He is on the single bed, in the college dorm room of his undergraduate days. The simple act of jumping up from the bed without a thought, an ache or, even looking first, brings home the fact he is inhabiting a body that is thirty years past it’s ‘Use Before’ date.

The voice on the cell becomes increasingly insistent and disturbingly out of place, given the apparent change in time.

…sorry, running out of time (lol… real time, here in the ‘real’ world)… so the core idea: our protagonist is living in the body of his college-age self. Ok, familiar, almost meme-level time travel story plot. But the cell phone he uses to speak to the people in the world that formerly was his present is at 97% charged.

…for now.

* half-dialogue not a ‘real’ thing, but should be…well, it is, in the personal reality of the Outsider

music?

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: self-development, the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine-

March 28, 2021 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

Lets get this train wreck started!

1) Phyllis

2) Una

3) the Wakefield Doctrine

4) serial stories: ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘ and ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘

5) Six Sentence Story

6) the 20 Minute Real Estate Briefing

7) host and co-hostinae: Dyanne and Pat and Lisa (and… surely in spirit Mimi)

8) Lizzi

9) THIS SPACE AVAILABLE

10) Secret Rule 1.3

music

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: the Wakefield Doctrine

Six Sentence Story -the Wakefield Doctrine-

March 25, 2021 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

This is the Six Sentence Story bloghop.

Hosted by Denise

Governed by the ‘Rule of Six’ (which says, ‘not five, not eight, not even seven sentences will do…’) in terms of the construct of one’s story.

This week we rejoin Ian Devereaux in ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf’

The prompt word:

SERVICE

“I’m simply saying, the search from this point on is more efficiently conducted through institutions… no, not merely police departments… wait, hear me out, you, Leanne, of all people, know that when a culture gives birth to a viewpoint not exclusively grounded in the foundational principles of that belief… yeah, I did lift some of that from Gödel…what’s so funny? …I’ll have you know that most in my profession utilize set theory… maybe there isn’t an ongoing debate about ontology down at the Bottom of the Sea Strip Club and Lounge, what? well, as a matter of fact, Lou Ceasare, the owner, is a perfect example of the practical manifestation of philosophical theory… knuckles…gnosis, tomato…toemahtoe.. hold on, there’s someone at the door.”

“Still there? Room service with my coffee… no, three-thirty in the morning isn’t early for break…. oh, it’s three in the morning there… sorry… hey, what are you wearing…. no, besides the blanket and paper-thin patience… I remember the third conversation you and I had… well, yeah, while that’s a bit on the savant-side, I prefer, ‘romantic proclivities’… you were telling me what you had on…. hold on, a call on my room phone.”

“… Anya Claireaux is one scary woman… no, she’s not here, that was her on the phone… yeah, the landline, …well, because I made a point of buying traveler’s checks when I landed at Heathrow… it’ll show on my expense account… under ‘She can’t follow you when you stay off the grid’… apparently that’s not quite true…. somehow she knew my room number here, at the St. Pancras… well, yeah, kinda expensive… but it’s in walking distance to where our ‘Lady of Chicago’ indicated I should focus my search… what? no, she wasn’t upset; I doubt anyone can claim to have witnessed Anya Claireaux being upset… well, ’cause they would have to live to relate their experience… no, being Anya, she just said, “Love the room, when you take the ‘Jack-the-Ripper Walking Tour’ pay attention to area around Thrawl and Dorset Streets… and say hi to Leanne”… yeah, she is impressive… no, I won’t set up a meeting… hell, you want to see her so bad, just say it out-loud, don’t say I didn’t warn you… yeah, I gotta go need to get in the shower… I guess I am at your service… later.”
[Eibigen Abby
Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany]
The caverns beneath the Eibigen Abby were impossible to detect, treacherous to infiltrate and due to the composition of the stone, impervious to eaves-dropping, in other words, perfectly suited to serve as headquarters for the Order of Lilith.

From the beginning, the character of the Order reflected the nature of its mission: to guide the majority of mankind, not so much in a specific direction, as to help it, (overtly or otherwise), avoid the cliff-edge that seem to be it’s preferred environment; at least as perceived by those who controlled the masses.

“You believe you can shape their actions,” the voice was light in tone yet conveyed an authority as old and difficult to define as the growing light that announces the end of night, “while we are not concerned about the detective, the woman in Chicago is someone of exceptional interest.

Filed Under: Featured, Psychology, the Wakefield Doctrine Tagged With: Six Sentence Story, the Wakefield Doctrine

TToT -the Wakefield Doctrine- “…so what shall we do this weekend?”

March 20, 2021 By clarkscottroger

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

uh oh…. Does that subtitle above, not satisfied with merely imparting a decidedly Dickensian vibe, employ the word, ‘shall’?! Nothing is so subversive as a bored clark. Or, to do justice to both the state-of-mind and the predmoninant worldview* referenced, lets rephrase that,

‘Ennui is the unfortunate, un-wed mother** of creativity.’

Update! Different day, different mood. And, in this case, a slightly different stream-of-consciouness. Hence, the calmer, more mature view*** on life, the world and the people who make it up. As a matter of fact, lets take that last phrase, ‘the world and the people…‘ and make it number 5.

1) Una

2) Phyllis

3) …. the 21st Century version of pen pals… our new friend, Emese Gabor who, we believe, owns the Pilvax Restaurant on Michael Weiss Street (the link is to the Live webcam… take a look). We message on occasion, seeing how they’re about six hours in the past… our breakfast is their lunch hour. Cool thing we noticed this week, food delivery is on foot (photo below).

4) the Wakefield Doctrine because, sine qua non, binyons, sine qua non.

5) to be a little more precise, and a product of Item 4, are expressions such as ‘life, the world and the people who make it up’. I won’t bore you with the creative provenance of this helpful, (at least to me), utterance. Suffice to say, Castaneda was all up in the subjective reality trumps objective relativism thing… which today is totally manifesting, like the daguerreotype of a great uncle, looking all fearfully-hopeful, walking off the boat at Ellis Island. The idea that the world, at least the immediate backdrop to our individual personal realities**** is a fiction written by me with guest authors and a bunch of outside editors (parents and teachers, friends and lovers and, finally, our relationship to our selfs….) but thats not important now!

Lets just say, I’m grateful for the Doctrine to permit me to in a position to come across interesting people, situations and expressions of reality, (real and imagined), and interact with them.

6) Serial stories: ‘the Case of the Missing Fig Leaf‘ and ‘the Whitechapel Interlude‘

7) Dyanne for hosting this shindig and Lizzi for creating it, in the first place.

8) The Six Sentence Story bloghop. Like those little things at wedding receptions, food wrapped in paper with a bow… never quite sure whether to put it in your pocket for later… just a little afraid of taking off the ribbon, in case it’s like something barely contained and, once set loose…. well, this bloghop is like that, but with words.

9) Something, something

10) Secret Rule 1.3 (because, what kinda bloghop would this be, if’n we didn’t have a Book of Secret Rules (aka the Secret Book of Rules)? am I right?

* like it’s possible to separate the two into anything more that serial manifestations!

** I feel the waves of personal/cultural outrage rising like minor nausea at the beginning of a long night of an experienced overly-indulgent person… ok, getting all non-gender specific has settled the nearly-useless-parts-of-the-human body….at least for the moment

*** yeah, right

music