Follow the White Rabbit

A. Down the Rabbit Hole

1. "Follow the White Rabbit" – create a blog entry (or static item) about your participation in this project/activity, and what you hope to gain from it once finished. (<500 words)

Follow the White Rabbit

I was initially wary of entering this particular Rabbit Hole. It was apparent that there were eighteen sections, each of them containing an unspecified number of tasks. That was a daunting amount of work expected but it was more the dread of the unknown that held me back. Would there be challenges in there that proved beyond my capabilities? I have started but not finished too many things in my life to be unaware of my capacity for throwing in towels. It seemed foolhardy to attempt Wonderland without having at least an idea of the tasks facing me.

A few hours of contemplation, coupled with encouragement from others, decided me that, at the worst, I could back out after seeing the details, if I reckoned it was beyond me. I entered.

Once I’d done the deed, I couldn’t wait to get started. Lewis Carroll is a favourite author and I relished the chance to delve deeper into Wonderland. I imagined some of the possibilities for tasks and savoured the chance to mimic Carroll’s style and imagination.

And now we know the extent of the tasks that confront us. I am both delighted and dismayed to find that, as well as containing some of the exercises I had expected, there are also those tasks that, normally, I would not even consider. Those word searches, for instance. I detest them and have no idea how to present them in a form suitable to WdC. But, no matter. It is not an insurmountable problem and neither are the others that I know I will find difficult.

So what am I hoping to achieve in all this? To show off, naturally. I’m as bad as any other writer when it comes to wanting approval from others and this is an excellent chance to venture into uncharted territory to garner a few more kudos.

Then there is the temptation to outdo a literary institution of the past. Don’t laugh, this is quite possible for any of us. The Victorian giant of the comic limerick, Edward Lear, is regularly beaten at his own game by complete amateurs these days. Lear’s limericks are repetitive in rhyming and not very funny to our eyes.

Which is not to say that it is likely that Carroll will be relegated to second place by any of us. It’s just that it’s possible, that’s all. His invented animals are good but not out of reach, for instance.

Then there’s all the standard stuff about stretching of the writing muscles being good for one, practice making not perfect but better and the promise of a few rewards at the end. All of which are true and play their part. But really, it’s because the mountain is there.


Word Count: 455