Writing Notebook

Thursday, December 11, 2003


Welcome to the world of Forensic Art. The Forensic Art site was developed out of the love of forensic art as well as a means of providing a resource to agencies or individuals that may require the services of a forensic artist. The site covers the various facets of forensic art, giving a brief description of each.

Take time to view the various pages and consider how you can use this valuable research material to enhance your writing.

Some Quirky Writing Starters

1. Five things I sometimes wish I still had

My Banana Splits cereal bowl
My full set of mid-'60s Batman and Tarzan trading cards
My 7-inch of "Silly Love Songs" by Wings
My 1970 VW camper van Easy access to Skyline Chili

Check out this zany list of 5ves and make some lists of your own. Alternatively you could have the characters in your fiction, or your alter egos make up some lists of fives.

2. Potentiality

Main Entry: po·ten·ti·al·i·ty Pronunciation: p&-"ten(t)-shE-'a-l&-tE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -ties Date: 1625 1 : the ability to develop or come into existence 2 : POTENTIAL 1


The concept of potentiality presented itself to me this morning as I roamed about my new favorite web site, Soul Food Cafe. I read this:

Things become what they are because of potentialities.

What I am today was once only a potentiality. Just like the acorn has the potential to be an oak tree (it "...carries within itself is the 'form' of the oak") I had the potential to be a mother, wife, teacher, learner, and friend. In the right settings, with the right nourishment, the form of me as mother, wife, teacher, learner, and friend turned into being those things.

Without prior experience and knowledge, however, I never would have guessed that a little acorn could grow into one of those mighty oaks that line driveways of plantation like homes. Who would ever guess that a huge, leafy, shade-providing tree would come out of a tiny acorn? How often does the form of something not resemble the potential of that same thing?

Use the Merriam-Webster online to write like Karen McComas