Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning, Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning, Joe. What's going on today?
JOE: Not much yet. I am just about ready to get back into my writing after a very busy weekend.
CALLIOPE: Did you work on your book at all yesterday?
JOE: Not directly, although I did think about it and had some experiences with I think will enrich it. I started the day with a fundraiser walk for breast cancer and noted a fair amount of men present. I thought about how breast cancer must have touched their lives. Although breast cancer is rare among men, unfortunately having a daughter, wife, sister or mother with breast cancer is not so rare.
CALLIOPE: Goodpoint. What else did you do?
JOE: I visited my girlfriend's aunt in the hospital and thought about the two husbands she had outlived and the family who still flocks to be with her.
CALLIOPE: And then?
JOE: Carol and I discussed a list of "schemas" she found in Oprah magazine outlining patterns which cause trouble in relationships.
CALLIOPE: You said these experiences related indirectly to your book. How so?
JOE: The breast cancer walk made me think of how serious illness affects relationships. My guess is that after all is said and done, illness can strengthen a strong relationship while it can further stress one which is already in trouble.
CALLIOPE: I cna't argue with that. What did you learn from the hospital visit?
JOE: Aunt Lucille still speaks fondly of her husbands long after they have died. It made me think of how we sometimes take spouses (and others) for granted and fail to fully appreciate their good points while they are with us.
CALLIOPE: And the schemas?
JOE: I think they were good as far as they went, but were limited to destructive patterns. It has been my experience that everyone has good and bad aspects of their personality patterns. It made me more sure of the enneagrams which I am using to consider my characters' personality patterns.
CALLIOPE: It sounds like you learned some good things yesterday. How do you plan to use them in your writing?
JOE: Today I plan to look further into the enneagrams of my main two characters and consider the good and bad points of their interaction and how to weave them into the story.
CALLIOPE: It sounds like you have a good plan. I will be waiting to see how it works out.
JOE: I will let you know the next time we talk.