we have plot bunnies, too: they're called TRUTH bunnies http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661 Fiona W Ever since starting NaNoWriMo, I've been puzzled by this thing called a <strong>plot bunny.</strong> Not being particularly inclined toward metaphors involving cuteness, I've tried to ignore it as best I can. But still, it's been a bit annoying not to have any idea whatsoever, what people are talking about, when they say that <strong>plot bunnies</strong> suddenly jump up and startle them while they're writing, <strong>plot bunnies</strong> come to their aid when they most need it, and so on. So recently I picked up a book titled <em>Crafting the Personal Essay</em> by Dinty W. Moore. Why should I pick up such a book in the middle of attempting to write 50K words of a novel? Well, because I've been finding that writing my own novel--an autobiographical novel, a would-be piece of literary fiction--seems, at times, more like writing a long string of interconnected personal essays, than it does like writing a long piece of fiction. Some of you may understand what I mean. Now it didn't interest me in the least that the cover of this book has a rabbit on it. Lots of books have animals on them; lots of books have nonsensical art on them. But imagine my amazement, when I read, on the back of this book on personal essays, the following: "Award-winning essayist Scott Russell Sanders once compared the art of essay writing to 'the pursuit of mental rabbits'--a rambling through thickets of thought in search of some brief glimmer of fuzzy truth." "Wow!" I said aloud. Now <strong>that</strong> is a near-perfect description of what writing this novel feels like: bushwacking my way through brambly "thickets of thought" with occasional flashes of insight when I feel as though, maybe, cross my fingers, if I just keep writing, I'm going to grasp a certain (fuzzy, if you will) bit of truth about my main character's story. And sometimes I even feel as though I've apprehended such a fuzzy truth. Does the idea of chasing <strong>truth bunnies</strong> make more sense to any of you, as it does to me, than that of chasing <strong>plot bunnies</strong>? I'm curious to hear.... Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:38:12 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_728441 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_728441 iymcool I believe truth bunnies is a better term, at least in the genre of literary fiction, then plot bunnies. This school of writing really does involve truth and development more so than a driven plot. Wonderful explanation and re-adaptation of the tem. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:58:39 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_729690 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_729690 Badly Drawn Girl I like the idea of truth bunnies. I like small furry animals in general, but I've not had any plot bunnies... so I might adopt the concept of truth bunnies. :) Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:00:35 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_730628 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_730628 SweetJuly I LOVE this. While I get plot bunnies just like everybody else, I happen to be pursuing quite an ample quarry of truth in this novel. Fortunately for me, it turns out truth bunnies reproduce just like any other breed of rabbit. Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:34:46 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_748656 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_748656 firstdraftSTL Yes! This clears up a fuzzy and also irksomely cute term that I was not grasping either. And in your truth bunny, I also recall the wiliness of Bugs Bunny in the old cartoons. Now that was a formidable, canny creature. More like a fox than a bunny. So when the story is stalling may plot foxes and truth bunnies abound. Here's to the tangled woods and glimpses of white fur! Thanks, Fiona, for your always wonderful posts. Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:02:12 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_749587 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_749587 Wulfila I like your idea of "truth bunnies" a lot. Writing is very much a struggle to express truths, after all, and while the term "plot bunnies" only encompasses that often whimsical upper layer of outward plot developments, "truth bunnies" seem more appropriate for a story that is meant to tell about more than just about a series of events. Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:46:57 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_751452 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_751452 vampyre_smiles Shouldn't they be truth lagomorphs? But otherwise, I like this idea. Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:00:03 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789995 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_789995 bibliosylph I really appreciate this explanation a lot. Still don't want to talk about "bunnies" in terms of writing, but okay! Tangentially, perhaps, this reminds me of Orwell talking about how we should always create fresh metaphors for our own writing, rather than ones in common use. The metaphor works because it's part of the identity of the writing. I figure these things are like that. If I were to list random thoughts I could put in or leave out of my writing, it wouldn't be so someone else could take them up to pad their word count. These excesses are mine, Young Person. You get your own. ;-) Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:48:32 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_791890 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_791890 Maryt63 Plot bunnies that only tell the truth! Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:46:24 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_804736 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_804736 Fiona W Apparently I am guilty of (slightly) misleading you kind folks: plot bunnies do jump up and startle one while writing, but they are not so benign as I thought. <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/nanowrimo-ate-my-soul/threads/965" rel="nofollow">Here is a page</a> with gruesome photos of plot bunnies in the flesh: if you click on the links next to their evil faces, you will find a page detailing the origins of the term (John Steinbeck—who knew?), with a rundown of some of the more common varieties. It appears, in fact, that some people posting to this very forum were plagued by the one known as the "depression bunny." Maybe next year we will be forewarned and forearmed! Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:29:45 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_827054 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_827054 Oregon_Rain My book is littered with the bodies of many fuzzy, cute, dead truth bunnies. Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:06:28 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_827813 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_827813 bibliosylph I'd like it better if perhaps they weren't rodents... Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:45:22 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_840207 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_840207 Maryt63 Technically, they're no longer classified with rodents... they're in the order lagomorphs, not rodentia. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:20:41 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_842535 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_842535 Fiona W I just caught me a HUGE truth bunny: it's the climax of my book! Even as you read these words, it's bleeding its little rabbit heart out, all over the touch keys of my iPad. =big slap-happy grin= Sat, 26 Nov 2011 07:25:47 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_843137 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_843137 xxCoFxx I like the Truth Bunny term better than the Plot Bunny term...It makes them sound more interesting and gives them more importance. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 07:35:52 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_843236 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_843236 xxCoFxx That makes two of us xD Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:12:28 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_844318 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_844318 xxCoFxx This made me laugh :) Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:13:02 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_844324 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_844324 xxCoFxx lagomorphs are still bunnies. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:13:46 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_844335 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_844335 hollyhawke The whole third part of my book is supposed to be motivated by the characters truths. Although they've been keeping themselves all so locked up and hiding under their own mess it might take me a look longer to pull them out than I thought. But at least now I know it's worth the pursuit - thanks! Sun, 27 Nov 2011 00:28:23 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_850918 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_850918 Mikita5510 well my truth bunny kicks like a frigging mule,.. he does not want me to take a day off no matter what and the day or two I took off cause I didnt feel good he sulked and sulked and stamped his feet..... Sun, 27 Nov 2011 06:15:14 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_853637 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_853637 quietly-making-noise There's a lovely big truth bunny waiting for me at about the 42k mark... I just hope it stays put until I get there... Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:22:00 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_855330 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_855330 bibliosylph Wow. I guess knowing more about taxonomy, the term "bunny" is suddenly no longer irritating. Oh, wait. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:11:01 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_863399 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_863399 Fiona W What do you have against rodents? When I was a kid, I raised Golden Hamsters, so I'm just curious. Domestic rodents like hamsters, gerbils and purebred rats are smart, affectionate, and make good pets. They're also highly social with each other, so I used to watch them for hours on end. It's a pity they don't live longer. On the other hand, they taught me a lot about Death. I had a hamster named Sidney Carton once who used to climb up to the highest little perch in his cage, stand on his hind legs, and give out a loud, pleasing whistle, with a hint of a melody in it, when I got home from school each day. He only did it that one time of day, not any random time I walked in my room. He liked to sit on my shoulder every night while I did my homework. He was a good companion for a otherwise lonely pubescent girl, and he sired quite a few clever little sons &amp; daughters that made good pets for other kids I knew. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:37:52 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_865749 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_865749 robini I believe we gave up on the hamsters in my house when they started eating their babies. It was a horrifying thing to see. I never wanted to go near them again... And the rabbit I had for all of two days before it started screaming! Felines, fish, reptiles and amphibians, thank you. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:45:52 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_865842 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_865842 bibliosylph I just don't like cutsey-wootsy terms for much of anything. The name plot bunny has always been this odd cartoonish-sounding thing I can't take seriously, hard to take seriously the people here who squeal about them. But I've appreciated your dissection of them. ;-) Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:46:05 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_866545 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_866545 Fiona W I'm not very well-informed on the reasons why hamsters sometimes eat their babies—a thing I was also horrified to witness one time—but my own guesses, after seeing them in different situations, are: • the mother, especially if it's her first time giving birth, may eat the placenta (normal bahavior) and then eat the babies (abnormal) if she gets them confused, like when the babies are still covered with birth slime • often the babies we see the mother eating are dead, or defective in some way • the mother may eat healthy babies if the cage is too small &amp; thus won't supply a big enough "territory" for the babies to be able to survive • ditto with food already provided • sometimes it's a kind of social-stress freak-out thing when there are not any, or enough, other adults in the cage: hamsters, like rats and like most other rodents, are genetically social beings, used to living in colonies of other hamsters. Domestication has not changed their DNA in this regard. In these colonies, newborn babies are often taken away from the new mother, usually by their genetic aunts, until the mother gets over the stress of giving birth. I have seen other adults licking the babies clean and then giving them back to the mother when they're all fluffy and ready to nurse. • adult males, of course, have to be kept away from the babies of other males, or they'll eat them for the same reason male cats eat the babies of other male cats—the genetic sweepstakes! 'Makes me think of comedian Dana Gould's great line: <strong>"We all enter this world naked, screaming, and covered in blood. And if you play your cards right, it doesn't have to end there."</strong> I love being a writer. All these experiences are just grist for the mill, aren't they? =grin= Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:01:13 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_866717 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_866717 lynnealbert I completely agree, my truth bunnies keep coming out as my main character muses about everything that has happened, all the way to the end of the novel, where she finally tries to make sense of the recent sequence of events. I finished the novel this afternoon and the point of it all along has been to shed light on people I have known - to share the beauty of MRDD adults, people with Alzheimers' disorder, people grappling with mental illness and other forms of brokenness. I may be "just a nurse's aide" but I've come to understand and witness a lot of things through my life and work. I hope that my novel shares the truths that I want it to. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:17:16 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_868386 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_868386 Fiona W Well, for what it's worth at this point in the discussion, I'm pretty anti-cutesy myself. And I can't stand squealing—even from pigs, who can't help it, of course. But once it's stripped of unpleasant associatiions, "bunny," after all, is like "kitten"—just a term for the juvenile form of the species. Truth rabbits, truth wabbits, truth lagomorphs? I gotta have something to call those wily creatures. Actually, given my personal experience with chasing furtive mammals through brush, I think <strong>truth javelina</strong> might be the way to go. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:31:40 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_869237 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_869237 bibliosylph Now see, that tickles me a lot, because while I don't have the taxonomical expertise of Maryt63, I do know that a baby rabbit is a kit. :-D And from what I understand, one reason most baby mammals are so cute when they born is so their mamas won't eat them. But a baby rabbit, just like a baby hamster, is really an ugly little beast. My whole book is about characters deciding to be honest with themselves in order to finally have some relationships they desire. A couple of them wear prevarication like a royal mantle. Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:54:00 +1000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_873909 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/literary-fiction/threads/37661?page=1#forum_thread_comment_873909