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The discreet charm of tatty sleeves

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GD’s discussion of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite on the Writers’ Co-op got me thinking, in a roundabout sort of way, about naked torsos. Actually, his post isn’t about the whole meteorite, just a bit of it he uses as a writing charm. He has several other charms, which help him, he says, ‘to feel a connection with the story and to imagine details’.

Oh dear, I thought. I haven’t got one. In fact, since returning from Mayotte, we’ve embarked on the Great Declutter, and no mercy is shown to the myriad bits of bric à brac dotted around the house that might conceivably serve as one. Will my story, then, be devoid of enriching details? But then it struck me: I don’t need one – I’ve got my pullover!

A lot of clothes have gone in the declutter, but the writing pullover remains. When I slip it on, I enter a personal zone where I can concentrate. It’s tatty and frayed and has gaping holes at the elbows, and though I could never, by the wildest stretch of imagination, be called a snappy dresser, even I draw the line at wearing this rag in public. But that’s precisely why it works: the very privateness of it is what takes me into that space of my own where I write.

Coming back home, I was very pleased to rediscover it. In Mayotte, of course, I didn’t have a pullover at all. In fact, most of the time, I didn’t wear a shirt either. Which brings me naturally to the naked torsos. And since you really don’t want to be picturing mine, I provide another one for you.

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http://bookcover-designs.blogspot.fr/

This book cover, along with many others like it, can be bought for the modest sum of $60 at Swoon Worthy Book Covers. Now I dare say a lot of people would swoon at the sight of my torso, but for all the wrong reasons. So you’re never going to see it on this blog, let alone on a book cover. I do sometimes wonder, though, if covers like the one above actually sell books. Personally, I think he’d look better in my pullover. Or is that just me being jealous?

6 thoughts on “The discreet charm of tatty sleeves”

  1. Although I’ve never met you IRL, Curtis, I’m having a difficult time imagining you wearing a tatty sweater. My thought is that, the more we ritualize something, making it almost a mnemonic of sorts, the more likely we are to continue that routine. [That’s to say nothing of talismans or charms.] I’d like to say I have a writing routine, but I don’t either. I’ve tried several locations, within the house/office and outside, achieving a kind of success with each one. I very much like the writer’s room that would have a big window and look out on some kind of interesting ‘scape, preferably nature, but a cityscape has its attractions, too.
    My unexpert opinion (although I did once copyedit romance and erotica titles) is that those types of covers help a little in selling books. If the author is unknown to a reader, then I think it’s only natural that s/he will be more inclined to buy something with a provocative, interesting, or attractive cover (however s/he defines those terms). In the romance/erotica world that I’ve been privy to, though, people tend to ‘follow’ an author and buy her books no matter the cover, simply because they have a link with that author (which can be developed via social media or otherwise).
    Well, sorry to ramble . . .a charming post! 🙂

    1. Your rambles are always welcome, Leigh! I don’t really have a strongly established routine, except that I have to make the most of the morning, before my brain shuts down (which not even the pullover can prevent). I agree with your cover analysis. At the least the one here sends out a strong genre signal, so we know immediately if we want to avoid it or look closer.

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