NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: THE NUMBER 3 – Blog # 8.
Many stories are based around the number three: three kings, three pigs, three wishes, three wise men, three step-sisters, and so on. Three events, three elements, three acts, three phases, and three dots to signify more to come.
There are also three ways of looking at threes that may help me look at the way I start writing my new Paris book.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears (the middle ground): In this 1837 fairy tale by British author Robert Southey, a young girl called Goldilocks enters the home of three bears and eats their porridge when they are away. The first bowl of porridge is too hot, the second bowl of porridge is too cold, and the third is just right. She also tries the bears’ three seats and three beds. So, in a story there could be three options that the hero faces: two extremes and the middle ground.
Three Little Pigs (the contrasting three): This is another British children’s story of about 1886-1890 in which a big bad wolf tries to huff and puff and blow down the houses of three pigs. The first pig’s house is made of straw which collapses. The second pig’s house is made of sticks which also collapses. The third pig’s house is made of bricks which cannot be destroyed. There are three houses – two are weak and one is strong. Two options give the same result, while one option is contrasting, giving a different result. The result is that the pig in the strong house defends himself from the wolf – the threatening situation – and wins.
The Three Musketeers (holism vs isolation): The French adventure novel The Three Musketeers, written in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas, has three swashbuckling heroes – Athos, Porthos, and Aramis – who defend the honour of their queen. Athos has a mysterious past; Porthos is extrovert and honest; and Aramis is ambitious and unsatisfied. Their motto is “All for one and one for all.” The basis of their tales and adventures is that the whole (team) is greater than the sum of their parts (individuals) – i.e., together forever we can beat the odds.
Here are three more threes:-
Plato said that human behaviour flows from three main sources – desire, emotion, and knowledge.
Nadia Boulanger said that the essential conditions of everything you do are choice, love, and passion.
George Gurdjieff said that every phenomenon in all worlds, without exception, is the result of three simultaneous forces – positive, negative, and neutral.
More grist for my writing mill.
PIP DECKS, the fun and engaging how-to guides for business.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls