EXERCISE: Twist those tails... er, tales!

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Original Posting Feb. 5, 2016

Here's a simple one.

Start by making a list of at least five stories that you really like. Ones that you have read enough that you know them inside and out.

Now, try writing a short synopsis for each one. Probably one sentence is best, but if it takes two or three, that's okay. Who is the key character, what is the problem they encounter, what do they do about it, and how do they succeed? Something like that.

Oh. Here's one summary sentence (just fill in the blanks?)

1. A protagonist with a need
2. in conflict with
3. an antagonist with a need
4. in an interesting setting
5. with a twist.

Whoops... Here's another version:

1. A likable character
2. Overcomes almost insuperable odds (opposition, conflict!)
3. By his or her own efforts
4. Achieving a worthwhile goal.

Take your pick. Just make that list!

Now for the heart of the exercise. Take one of these (or all of them, if you feel like it) and change them. Replace the main character, the conflict, the antagonist, the setting, the twist. Change things up!

Now start expanding that out. Tell us that twisted tale. What? Cinderfella dropped his sneaker as he ran out of the basketball game? Little Red Riding Chopper hit the gas as he raced through the wilds of Los Vegas after midnight?

Okay, your favorite story probably isn't one of those. But...

Write!
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TECH: The Power of Place (Moldy Oldie!)

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Original Posting Feb. 7, 2016

Writer's Digest, October 1994, pages 37 to 41, had an article by Michael Orlofsky, with the title "The Power of Place." The first three sentences read "Much recent fiction seems as if Vic could take place anywhere. But today's editors increasingly want stories and characters that are molded by a specific setting. Learn how to use symbolism, structure, theme and more to give your stories this base in place."

The article starts with a short reminiscence about a few small grains of coal buried in Michael Orlofsky's left palm, which remind him of the hard coal region of Pennsylvania and all the wonder of that area.

"The power of place can do that. In fiction, place is determined by the elements of setting -- and setting may be one of the most overlooked aspects in contemporary fiction."

Setting is the location where the plot happens, but it can be so much more. So let's take a look at the pieces...

Stage scenery. One of the innovations of fifth century theater was adding scenery. Readers enjoy knowing where something is happening too. Backdrops, but also tone. You need to know the plants, animals, buildings, and everything else about your setting.

Structure. Setting really provides the infrastructure that holds up your plot and characterizations. Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, and so many other writers have used setting as a skeleton to build their narrative. Watch for the built-in connotations that go with setting, from time to season to mood.

Symbolism. An image superimposed on an idea, or maybe it's the other way around? Anyway, setting too can become symbolic.

Psychological suggestiveness. There's that mood, again. Do beware of the pathetic fallacy, but rain and sun and storms do make us think of certain moods.

Cultural backdrop. History, whether long-term or short-term, often plays a part in good stories.

Theme. Sometimes the setting is a character. Usually this means that the setting has meaning. Personification? Sometimes.

"Setting is a good place to start the invention -- it's right there in the palm of your hand."

Incidentally, there's a short two column insert about place and characterization by James W. Hall. Some quotes from that:

"I believe most successful writers view their surroundings as newcomers or professional anthropologists would, as strangers in a strange land."

"To truly capture the uniqueness of a place in a work of fiction, a writer must create characters who share his passion and ambivalence for the place. They must be both inside and outside the location, be able to stand back from it and see it with an objective enthusiasm."

"Unfortunately, most writers start out believing that setting is little more than a necessary evil; it simply one of the elements they must reluctantly deal with to tell the story they want to tell. Many writers seem to view a book's setting is little more than a static backdrop against which their narratives are set."

So, your task is to take a story you're working on and look closely at the setting. Where is it happening? Have you shown the readers where it is happening? Are the characters affected by the setting? Plants, animals, buildings, topology... Is there a volcano in the background? What about the weather?

Go ahead, write that setting!
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EXER: A Random Comic?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting Feb. 9, 2016

Okay. Try this.

Go to this link

http://nickandzuzu.com/?random

See what you get. Consider that humor.

Now, can you write a scene about it? Maybe a character stumbles over that insight? What is the basic conflict here? What can you turn it into?

Write!
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EXER: What's the story?

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Original Posting Feb. 12, 2016

Here's a simple one. I have a random prompt generator, and when I ran it today, it spewed out these little hints.

Problem: Offered a job.
Genre: Beyond the fields we know: life in a fantasy world.
Scruple: You are asked to support a moral position against your personal convictions. Do you?
Plot: Strange places. Getting there, new experiences, and come back or not?

There you go. Your main character (pick one!) has been offered a job. Perhaps they were fumbling around on the web, maybe they applied somewhere, that's up to you. But... Taking this job means taking a walk on the wild side, into a strange new world. Along the way, don't forget that they are going to be challenged with the demand to take a moral position that conflicts with their own personal convictions. Which one? You decide!

Write that story. Flash, short, epic... Up to you.
Write!
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Exercise: That Wonderful Thing!

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Original Posting Feb. 19, 2016

Over here

http://www.writingexcuses.com/2016/02/07/11-06-the-element-of-wonder/

the Writing Excuses group started to explore what they are calling elemental genres. I think you might call them primary components of fiction. Anyway, this time around they focused on wonder. The sense of wonder. They gave some examples, from a supersize spaceship the size of a moon in Star Wars to a cruise ship towering over you on the dock. They also talked about giving the reader time to bask in the moment of awe, that wonder is built in details, and wonder doesn't have to be big, it is often about something small.

They suggested a writing exercise. First off, polish your sense of wonder.

Now, look around your desk or your house, and pick out some object. Something small, ordinary, everyday. Maybe it's that letter weight, a tree outside your window, a raindrop on the window, a crumpled ball of paper in the trash, or even your own finger. One little humble thing, concretely in front of you.

Now focus on it. Describe it to us, in detail. Make us pay attention to the wonder of it, the amazing reality of it. Feel free to build up a scene, with characters, and all that, around this little bit of reality, if you want to. But mostly, engage your reader with the wonder of it.

Go ahead. Write about that wonder.
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TECH: Chapter Break? No, Chapter Launch! (Moldy oldie!)

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Original Posting Feb. 24, 2016

Writer's Digest, October 2001 (yes, 15 years old. The paper is brown!). On pages 28, 29, and 63, Michelle Brockway has an article called Launch Your Next Chapter. It's about seven different ways to convince readers to turn the last page of one chapter and go on to read the next.

Michelle starts by pointing out that for readers, chapter endings often are natural stopping places. But as writers, we want to give the reader good reasons to keep reading, we want to create forward motion. Here are several strategies...

1. Keep secrets. Everybody wants to know a secret. If you hide something at the end of one chapter, readers are likely to keep reading hoping that you will reveal it soon. Minor secrets? Reveal them soon. Bigger ones? You might want to hold it back longer. Keep the mystery growing.

2. Make plans and vows. Characters say they are going to do something. The reader wants to know what they actually do. Curiosity, motivation, what is this character really going to do?

3. Announce arrivals. New characters who turn up at the end of a chapter makes everyone wonder what's going on. Who is this, and what are they going to do to the story? Do make sure that these are significant characters, not just a plumber who just fixes the pipes and walks off again.

4. Schedule departures. When a stage of existence, a job, marriage, life itself, ends, things change. If you end a chapter with a similar exit or conclusion, we'll be looking for the consequences and repercussions.

5. Reverse expectations. Whenever characters surprise us, we want to know what's happening. So go ahead and undermine the readers' assumptions and expectations. Then go into the explanations in the next chapter.

6. Ask a question. Usually we just imply questions, but sometimes the narrator can bluntly ask. And the reader keeps reading to find out the answer.

7. Introduce new problems. Fiction is all about the goals of characters and the obstacles to them. Guess what? New problems mean we want to find out what the character will do next. Highlight the problem in the end of a chapter, and we're going to look forward to finding out about it in the next installment.

"Creating surges of interest buys the writer time. You may dangle a big question for a book's entirety. Or you may use the momentum created by chapter-ending curiosity to move readers through the following pages of slower paced flashbacks or descriptive passages."

All right? Keep the readers turning those pages, and use your chapter endings to launch the next chapter. Secrets, plans, arrivals, departures, surprises, questions, and most of all, new problems!

Your assignment? Take a look at something you're working on and consider how to make the transitions launch pads for interest. Use those chapter and scene breaks to make the reader keep reading.

Write!
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EXERCISE: The day that wasn't there?

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Original Posting Feb. 29, 2016

Yes, indeed, it is February 29! The day that only turns up once every four years. Which made me ponder the man who wasn't there (last night upon the stair... oh how I wish he'd go away...) and other effervescent events (fizzy, right?). Taking an extra step when you've run out of stairway? What about the 13th floor, beloved hiding place for various odds and ends in the movie industry?

We kind of enjoy the optical illusions and other whoops involved in such days, hauntings, stumbling, and hidden trickery.

So, your task, should you choose to accept it, is to simply put a couple of characters into a scene, and have one of them make a mistaken identification of the other one... or was it mistaken? I mean, perhaps that really is old Larry, except he doesn't want anyone to recognize him? That's why the mustache, sunglasses, and beret? Or...

Mix it up. Who was that person that walked by you, that looked just like...

Write?
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