Beginnings

Alright, you've been reading your new books and they're pretty awesome. Last time, we looked at and spoke about how both authors use aspects from their own lives/experiences to influence their writing. It feels like it's been too long since you've written, so we're going to begin something larger scale today. 

Over the next few weeks (my last weeks here #sadface), you'll be crafting a longer piece of fiction. You'll be doing this alongside the reading of your books. Why, you ask? Because reading other work helps us form ideas, model style, and dive into examples of finished works of fiction. 

You're not limited to any specific writing craft. It may be a play, film script, poem cycle, short story (longer), or whatever. If you've got a more obscure idea, let me know and we can talk about the possibility. If there's anything that you want to do that you're unsure of, pleeeease talk to me! 

Today, you're going to begin a story. How? Like this:

Choose (invent) a character and subject you'd like to address. Fiction needs to begin with this, before it can plunge into the depths of the story being told. Give it reason, give it a point. Remember, genre is completely up to you. This is a brainstorm.

Subject:

1) What do I want to say? How do I want to say it?

2) What am I getting at? What is the purpose of me saying this?

3) What kind of message do I want to get across? In the end, what do I want my readers to walk away with?

Character:

1) Appearance. Allow the reader to see your character. Paint a picture with words. Don't go overboard, this shouldn't eclipse action by any means. Classical use of the descending catalogue of physical traits, head-to-toe physical description, aka effictio, is fine as long as it's not too much. You'll be able to tell what too much is when you arrive at that point.

2) Action. Don't merely describe what your character looks like, show what kind of person he/she is by showing actions. What do they do? How? In what manner? What do they like doing? Dislike? Prefer? 

3) Speech. Dialogue. Real people speak. Make your character a real person when he/she speaks; let us get to know their spoken ideas. How do they speak? What do they talk about? Attitude? Tone?

4) Thought. Human beings speak a lot, but think a lot as well. Show us what's happening on the inside of the mind of your characters. What do they struggle with? Love? Hate? Fear?

This is a brainstorm (the first step in the writing process), so use this time to develop the previously mentioned things. Use your authors to help you gain ideas on how to establish these things. How to they do it? 

By the end of class, you're to have a developed and typed up plan as to the subject you're going to address and the character(s) you'll use to get at the subject. If you complete this, try and think of the form you'd like your fiction to take. About 2-3 pages, double-spaced. 

If you've "done" this, read. Or write. Always read or write! 

Homework:

The Color Purple - Read to page 125

Slaughterhouse-Five - Read to chapter 6

Stay classy, enjoy the long weekend.