| | A Game of Chess, A Potential Metaphor and Getting To Know My Character Better
The game of chess reminds me a lot of my childhood. My father taught me how to play and I used to play him. My proudest chess moment: I was pursuing my father around the board, he had just his kind and I had a king and one other piece. We ended up calling it a draw.
A few years back I took down the chessboard. I hadn't played in many a year. My father finished me off in three moves. Three. He leaned back, crossed his arms and smiled.
I've always wanted to return to playing chess. I still want to.
Maybe that's why I ended up writing Alcira scene fragments this morning that included characters preparing for a chess game.
FIDELIA:
I used to play when i was younger. My father taught me. I liked the way I could almost feel my thoughts turning over on one another. Liked how I could look at the board and imagine a move, then the possible counter moves, then my next move. I twas like glimpsing a potential future.
I can't do it anymore. Haven't played in years.
SOTERO:
That doesn't matter. The game is always there.
FIDELIA:
Yeah, but I'm sure it'd take me twenty minutes to make a move.
SOTERO:
I don't mind.
* * *
SOTERO:
You remember how they move?
FIDELIA:
Of course.
SOTERO:
Just checking.
FIDELIA picks up the queen.
FIDELIA:
I always loved that the most powerful piece on the board was the queen. She can do anything.
SOTERO:
Yeah, but that can make her vulnerable. She can forget it's not about the power to move any which way she pleases. There's always risk. Especially if you aren't looking for it.
It was while writing that second fragment that I began to think that a chess game was an interesting metaphor for Fidelia's final confrontation with Alcira. That there was something about the game of chess that could teach Fidelia what she'll need to defeat Alcira.
So I'm gonna keep exploring this. We'll see if it sticks.
-M
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| | Posted 6/20/2012 1:21 PM - 61 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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