EXERCISE: Seven genres for Halloween?

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Original Posting 1 Oct 2012

All right, here's something that might spark some thoughts about Halloween. Just remember that Halloween traditionally is about monsters and things that go bump in the night. Then take a look at this list of seven genres, borrowed from Save the Cat! By Blake Snyder.

1. Monster in the house. Take your characters, put them in a crucible, a limited situation of some kind, and then let something loose...
2. The Golden fleece. A quest, my kingdom for a quest...
3. Out of the bottle. Love potion number nine? Anyway you look at it, wish fulfillment often turns out to be a little more complicated than we would like...
4. A dude with a problem. Take one ordinary guy (or girl) and drop them into extraordinary circumstances. What happens then?
5. Rites of passage. In every life, there are changes. And when those changes happen, how do we handle them?
6. The fool triumphant! From rags to riches, beating the odds and winning! Little orphan Annie does it again!
7. The superhero. Take one extraordinary guy (girl, vampire, whatever?) And drop them into ordinary circumstances! How do they handle that?

Okay? Something traditional like a monster in the house? A search for the...? What about a little magic? When things get weird, what are you going to do? Or one of the other three? Mix with a little Halloween horror, witches, headless horseman and pumpkins, voodoo, or what ever you do, toss in characters, setting, and all that good stuff of writing, and let's see what kind of a tale of Halloween you can spin!

HALLOWEEN: Pick a trope, any trope...

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Original Posting 4 Oct 2012

Hey, there! Looking for a list of horror? Well, if you go over here

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HorrorTropes

You can find more horrible ideas than you can shake a stick at. Although I've never quite understood why someone would want to shake a stick at an idea -- after all, while sticks and stones may break bones, they don't do much for ideas. But...

How about these categories? Bloody tropes, cosmic horror, gothic horror, hammer horror, haunted index, madness tropes, nightmare fuel, psychological horror, religious horror, slasher movie, subverted innocence, survival horror, undead index (zombies, vampires, you know!), universal horror, werebeast tropes, and werewolf works. That's just the biggies!

With plenty of details to help you along the path of horror!

So. Take one of those genres (remember? monster in the house, golden fleece, etc.?) and mix in a little horror trope or two.

They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky...

Write!

TECH: Get That Novel Started (9)

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Original Posting 5 Oct 2012

The book is Get That Novel Started! (And keep it going 'til you finish) by Donna Levin. Part one was all about getting started -- start today, write 10 minutes, make sure you're writing, take care of your fears, and collect ideas. Part two started us working on a novel. Basic idea, characters, a rough outline, and then an opening scene. Then we had another look at that beginning. And jumped ahead to what it looks like when you're done, what are the various ingredients in the soup we're stewing? And now it's time for Chapter 9! "But what I really want to do is write novels"

In this chapter, Donna starts out by pointing out that lots of people go to writing classes. And they all want to write novels. Now basically she suggests that if you've already been writing other kinds of things -- short stories, nonfiction, stage plays, screenplays, or nothing in particular -- you can still write a novel. Admittedly, people who have been writing other kinds of things have some background that may help. They may also have some things that they need to think about.

For example, short stories are usually about one person, one incident, and some change. They're focused. Novels aren't just a collection of short stories. There's momentum that builds from one scene to the next, the stakes change, we see several characters responding to several situations. Short stories often occur in one time, one place, and with one big burst of action. Novels usually involve more time, places, and actions.

Similarly, nonfiction writers have learned some things, but now they have to tell the story of their characters, and make up the facts. Stage playwrights finally get to put several scenes in. And so forth.

If you haven't been writing anything? "No previous experience is necessary to learn how to write a novel. And on the positive side, you have no old writing habits to break." Read, follow the guidelines or suggestions, and get yourself into the habit of writing.

Or as Donna ends the chapter, use what you have already learned as a foundation to build on.

And write that novel!

Part three is all about keeping going. We'll learn about the mid-novel blues (chapter 10), revision (Chapter 11), writing groups (chapter 12) and how to be your own grandmother -- the conclusion. Stay tuned!