I’ve always wanted to travel to Scotland and Ireland for many reasons, the biggest one being the castles. I love the idea of exploring a building that holds so much history. Same reason I want to go to Rome and Pompeii, to explore the ruins. Sadly, no castles or Roman ruins have graced my travel plans as of yet.
I did have the opportunity to explore some really old places on my trip to Mexico.
Really old.
The ruins at Monte Alban are about 10 km west of Oaxaca City. It is believed that the Zapotecs began their use of this area in 500 B.C.E. Beat that, castles.
The theory is this area was developed as a governing and religious center for the inhabitants of the valley below. As you wander the ruins, you find yourself surrounded by temples, palaces, tombs and even a couple of ball courts.
While the Zapotec’s love of steps had my legs burning by the evening, I really loved wandering freely about the ruins of an ancient society.
Meet our guide. I wanted to take him home with me.
A relatively short set of stairs.
"Danzantes". Originally called dancers, these are images of those tortured by the Zapotecs.
More carvings.
Excavations still going on
See that little flat spot? That's where they are excavating in the previous photo.
Lost count of the steps I had to climb for this view.
Ball court
Yes, we climbed all the stairs we saw. Ouchie.
Lots of wildflowers growing around the ruins.
More wildflowers
As I looked at these photos, the ruins of an ancient society, the beauty of new growth pushing through, I thought there must be some lovely correlation to writing here. Something deep and poignant, right? If sit here long enough, I can make it work.
Or maybe not.
Today’s writing lesson – don’t force the story. Have you ever found yourself wanting to insert something in a story, thinking that it would be particularly clever or unique? It doesn’t seem quite right, but your determined to make it work?
Stop shoving your fat foot in a tiny shoe.
If you feel like you are forcing part of the story, chances are your reader will notice. Nothing wrong with working for a story, researching and outlining and all those wonderful things I hear plotters do a lot. But if after all the work, things still don’t fit, maybe it’s time to move on to something else.
Hey, look at that. I made it about writing after all.
On an unrelated note, I am currently working with other bloggers to do a charity link up post. We are hoping to get a large group involved, so if you are interested, let me know in the comments, or send me a message on Twitter (@amberwest).
Currently Listening to: The Tangled Soundtrack
Jealous!
Ha! Thanks. I am jealous of me right now, too. I want to be exploring.
Amazing photos. One more addition to my list of places I want to visit.
I love your analogy about trying to force things into a story. I love to cut when I edit, so lots of details never make it to the final draft. It something doesn’t fit, it’s gone. Where I run into trouble is when I put things on backwards or on the wrong foot. Sometimes it’s really hard to recover from that. Maybe I should just toss it all and try a different outfit.
I think every writer does it from time to time. And sometimes it can be like putting everything on wrong…probably is best to start over with a new outfit.
That dog is adorable! I would have hidden him in my luggage!
And yeah, forcing never works. I’ve tried, and I always have to stop and take it out again!
I really wanted to!
Great pictures! And you got a good workout! Man those steps are steep.
We ate some yummy stuff in Oaxaca – those steps made it easy not to care
Wonderful pics as always. Like you, I’ve always wanted to tour the ruins and Europe’s old castles. History fascinates me – the idea that we’re walking in someone else’s footsteps, and that life was so much different back then, is so interesting.
Good point on writing, too:)
Exactly! I like to think about the people who were standing exactly where I did and what life was like.
So beautiful. I long to travel to ancient cities- someday i will for right now I make my characters do it for me.
The beauty of writing.
As or Scotland and Ireland – GO, you’ll love it. And yes, we writers love our words and are guilty of inserting all sorts of things (myself included). I live by something Stephen Kind wrote – cut 10% during the edit process. It’s a helpful reminder to me since I tend to go on and on..
Brenda, when I can find a way to put that kind of trip in the budget, I definitely will.
Trivia note… the final scene in Nacho Libre where they take the kids on a field trip… yeah, you got it… Monte Albon.
Thanks for this reminder of a truly remarkable trip. Oaxacan cheese…. sigh.
Best fun fact of the day! Makes my purchase of Jesse’s luchador mask while we were in Oaxaca that much more appropriate.
And how do I NOT have any photos of us eating Oaxacan cheese? I could eat a pound of that stuff. I miss it so.
Tell you what, Amber – you can climb all the steps you want, and I’ll read about it in your blogs.
If I could get someone to finance that sort of thing, I’d do it all day long.
Beautiful pictures! And I agree, what a cute dog! I definitely notice when an author puts something in their story that doesn’t fit. Often it ends up reading like a cliche. I’ve had ideas for something exciting to put in, but it would be for the sake of excitement, not because it furthered the plot or even seemed realistic, so I had to just not do it. It can be hard sometimes. But, we can always tuck it away and try putting it in another story.
I know what you mean. I see the appeal of flash fiction and short stories for that sort of thing
The green eyed monster is sitting on my shoulder. Lol! What amazing sites. If each stone could talk, what stories would they tell.
I have a feeling some of the stories would be a bit gruesome, given their decision to carve pictures of their tortured victims.
Amber – Wonderful pictures. I, too, envy you and this trip. Your writing says it all without any frills. Be gentle on yourself.
Thanks, Nancy!
Amber, this was a fun post… wasn’t sure where you were going with it, then BAM — there was the point. Loved it.
I traveled through Scotland and England when I was a young, adventurous thing and had similar thoughts whilst sitting in pubs twice as old as the U.S. — gives a person pause, to be sure. (Haven’t been too far inside the Mexican border so I appreciated your tour.) Thanks for the writing lesson and your perspectives!
Thanks, Kimby. I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going to go with it when I began.
Don’tcha love it when it works out like that? Perfect illustration of your post’s point. Half the fun is in meandering — without stairs.
——Excellent Post & Absolutely true. I NEVER force. If the words do not
)
flow out, they are not meant to be there. Period. And yes! the readers will know immediately.
Love love love the history intertwined with the wild flowers. That is a vivid poem waiting to happen
PS. your guide pup is gorgeous. x
What a fabulous place! Really enjoyed your pictures, thanks for sharing here.
I went on a castle restoration project in France a few years ago. I’ll do a blog on it one of these days. The thing that dazzles me the most about these ancient staircases is there are never any handrails. Were/are there no old ladies like me who don’t dare do that up and down stuff without something to hang on to?
I am really jealous of your travels and your photography skills. Oh, and I would have wanted to take that cute little guide home with me too!
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