One of my favorite books, and indeed series of books, is the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It's a surreal comic that takes an ordinary bloke, bumbling about his dreary life, who ends up in extraordinary circumstances, but only cares about getting a cup of tea and wondering what in blazes is going on with his life. The humor is so ever-present that it completely comes out of nowhere so often that you'll laugh at things like, "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." Brilliant.
But, my favorite line is from an advertisement for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, "If you've done six impossible things before breakfast..." What a concept! Think about it for a bit. Why not embrace the concept? After all, what is impossible really? Climbing the highest mountain? Building a massive skyscraper? The birth of a child? A rose? Rain? I love the impossible.
Some of the greatest stories deal with the impossible as daily events. As the old saying goes, if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. Breaking past the impossible is great fun, stokes conflict, and highlights the good and the bad guys with wide strokes of the pen. Just go with it and see where the story takes you. I suspect the Odyssey and other ancient tales grew gradually, with more and more incredible happenings being added all the time.
So... how many impossible things have you done before breakfast?
- M
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