I just thought I would share a funny memory that I have been thinking about today. I once took a creative writing course in college. My professor would assign different topics to write about. She also gave extra credit for any original short stories we wanted to submit with our regular assignments (she really loved reading). Needless to say, I spent more time and effort on writing my fantasy short stories.

My professor would write the most amazing comments on my short stories. She said I had a wonderful imagination. I think she quite looked forward to my stories (at least that's what I tell myself). Anyway, one day I was really stuck on a story. I needed to move my characters to another point in time and I didn't know how to get them there. This got me thinking.

I was always trying to write these important, momentous scenes. I guess I was too use to epic fantasy where nearly every scene was important in one way or another. So I asked myself, why does everything have to be important? Why can't a scene just be about something mundane, something that you have to do everyday?

And quite vividly an image popped into my mind. I had been reading Harry Potter that day when I suddenly thought of Voldemort on the toilet, red-faced and straining. In the mind of the reader, would Voldemort be nearly as mysterious or powerful if we were treated to this every day event? Laughing, I quickly had my main character stand up by the fire and tell his friends that he would be right back.

I had the reader follow along as he dropped his breeches by a tree and just let it rip. With no explanation of this scene, I had my characters move on. When my professor handed back the assignments, she asked me to stay behind after class. Bemused, she asked me about the scene in the woods. Shrugging, I told her the same reasons I just listed here. She threw back her head and laughed. She crossed out the 80 she had given me and gave me full credit.

So now whenever I come across a quiet, mundane scene I smile and remember.