Joyce T. Strand's Blog, page 37

Writing a Story: Exercise by Exercise – 2

[image error]As I noted in the first article of this series, writing readable prose is a multi-tasked process. However, we are simplifying the process to accelerate your status to that of author by breaking a story into components and using exercises to draft it one element at a time.

If you've tried to write, you know that the words just don't automatically gush out to form sentences, paragraphs and stories. A writer chooses his words much like a painter chooses colors and brush-strokes to drive each paragraph to work together to complete the canvas. Instead of paint and colors, a writer uses character development, descriptive prose, and dialogue to create a compelling story.

We are telling a story based on the following plot.

~A boy enters a room. His sister joins him. They do their task. They leave the room together.~

In Exercise 1, we described the room. Now we are ready to create a character – the boy.

Think about his physical traits, including age, height, weight, hair color and length, shape of face, nose, eyes. What does he smell like? Is he sweaty? What kind of clothes is he wearing—old, new, ivy league, sweater, shoes? How does he move—does he walk fast, furtively? Does he appear healthy? Is he carrying something? Does he have any scars? Is he eating anything? Is he carrying something?

To help you write about the boy, study someone you know, preferably a boy, but any male will do. Write his physical characteristics, then how he smells (o.k., this could be a bit ooky, but it's a helpful descriptor), how he talks, moves, laughs.

This simple exercise is a first step to telling your story. The boy's characteristics will help drive the dialogue and the plot. Take your time and have fun. Next time we'll focus on action – how did the boy enter the room.

What the Experts Say

[image error] Interview-1: Lisa V. Proulx, Author

Horror novels and stories of inspiration

Q How did you get started writing horror stories?

A I am a laid back 70′s chick who loves to write horror! I grew up watching scary movies and my favorite show as a kid was Dark Shadows. I have been writing horror since I was in elementary school and my first story was, LILY WAS A WITCH. I was about eight years old.

In 9th grade, my English teacher liked my poem, SCREAMS OF NO REPLY and had it published in the newspaper. I felt like a celebrity!

Q What do you do to get started writing?

A I have read so much about outlines and arcs and all that good stuff, but honestly, I just sit down and write. Maybe I should do an outline or an arc but I never have. The words come to me so quickly that I need to write them down now! With my first book PUNCTURE, I did make notes of the characters and their likes and so on but that is the only time I have ever done that.

What inspires you to write? Where do you get your ideas?

A For my horror novels, I like to write about things that scare me, like insanity or people coming back from the dead. I get a lot of those ideas from nightmares or my own fears. I think in a weird way, if I write about them, then I have some control over them.

For my inspirational books, I write from real life, real experiences, and it's raw, brutal and honest. I feel, how can I help or inspire someone if I am not being truthful and let them in on what I have gone through. I am also inspired by the desire to help other people. It's funny how some of my books will scare you and the others will heal you. Maybe there is a method to my madness!

[image error]*Lisa V. Proulx is the author of the vampire novel PUNCTURE, which was published in 2004 and MOTHER'S MONSTER, a short horror story, which was published in the anthology DOSES OF DEATH in 2005; DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS (2011) – how an abusive husband dies and tries to work his way out of hell ; and BENEATH THE BATTLEFIELD – a civil war ghost short story about a soldier who writes letters to his mother about the horrors of war. She has also written the inspirational: THE RAINBOW WON'T WAIT — Nonfiction: A dying mother's advice for the obstinate daughter she is leaving behind.

She is also a feature writer and columnist for her hometown newspaper where she has worked for the past ten years, and she writes a weekly column chronicling events in her area.

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Writing a Story: Exercise by Exercise – 1

[image error]Writing readable prose is a multi-tasked process. However, we can simplify the process to accelerate your status to that of author.

Presumably you've written something in your lifetime –even if just an e-mail or a letter to your mother. You know the words just don't automatically gush out to form sentences, paragraphs and stories. A writer chooses his words much like a painter chooses colors and makes brush-strokes to drive each paragraph to work together to complete the canvas. Instead of paint and colors, a writer uses character development, descriptive prose, and dialogue to create a compelling story.

By breaking a story into specific components or elements, we can develop key skills to advance to the status of author.

One exercise to build these skills is to take a simple plot situation and write a story from it. So let's try it. But let's do it one element at a time— one exercise at a time to develop characters, describe the background and the action, and write dialogue.

When we finish, you'll have written a short story, but as important you'll have practiced the elements of writing to hone your skills.

Our task is to write a short story about:

~A boy enters a room. His sister joins him. They do their task. They leave the room together.~

The first exercise is to describe the room. Start with the physical dimensions. Is the room large, square, round? What color are the walls? What kind of furniture—chairs, beds, tables, stove, carpet? Plush or Spartan furniture? Is the room hot or cold? Dank or musty? Does it have bars on the windows, or is it a jail? Is the room cluttered with anything? Is it a hospital room, a jail cell, a playroom, a Captain's bedroom (Peter Pan?), or a tree house?

To help you describe this fictional room, choose a room where you live. Write what you see.

By focusing on the details of the physical characteristics of a place, you can paint a picture for the readers that enables them to envision the room as your character sees it. In this initial exercise keep the description to a paragraph, but don't be afraid to provide details. You can always eliminate superfluous information when you edit your final story.

These simple exercises provide a first step to telling your story. Remember you can always rewrite. Take your time and have fun.

What The Experts Say

Interview: Shawn Hopkins, Author

Progeny, The Solomon Key, Noahic, Even the Elect

Q How do you get started writing your novels?

[image error]A I've written four novels, though two have really been variations of the other two, but my system going into them has been different each time. Now, as I start my fifth novel, I think I've finally nailed down a process that really works for me.

I don't outline until I'm to the point in the story where I can see the end. Until that point, I guess you can say I write "by the seat of my pants" though with a general idea of the overall storyline. Once I'm about half way through, I can start plotting out the details because by then the story begins to dictate what it is and what needs to happen. Up until that outline, I plot out chapter by chapter. I decide what I want the chapter to be and treat it like a book in and of itself (which is how I press onward, tackling one chapter at a time, one foot in front of the other).

In helping visualize the chapter and reign in the vague nature of endless possibilities, I've begun to sketch out the scenes from the chapter in storyboard form. I've found that it saves me a lot of edits. Draw it out in pictures and then describe the pictures. That process forces me to write a tighter scene, focusing in on what's happening and how to best maximize its potential rather than rambling through a scene blind and having to rework it over and over again, trimming off unnecessary excess.

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*Shawn Hopkins is an independent author who has published four novels. Fascinated by humanity's mysteriouspast (and future), his four novels find their inspiration via some of history's stranger instances of the unknown. Paranormal and conspiratorial, Shawn's writing has been called "an action-packed thrill ride." He is currently working on a sequel to Progeny and a prequel to The Solomon Key.  

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For more information on Shawn, Go to Amazon.com: http:// http://tinyurl.com/8yhn7aa

http://www.shawnhopkinsauthor.com/

Writing a Short Story: Exercise by Exercise – 1

[image error]Writing readable prose is a multi-tasked process. However, we can simplify the process to accelerate your status to that of author.

Presumably you've written something in your lifetime –even if just an e-mail or a letter to your mother. You know the words just don't automatically gush out to form sentences, paragraphs and stories. A writer chooses his words much like a painter chooses colors and makes brush-strokes to drive each paragraph to work together to complete the canvas. Instead of paint and colors, a writer uses character development, descriptive prose, and dialogue to create a compelling story.

By breaking a story into specific components or elements, we can develop key skills to advance to the status of author.

One exercise to build these skills is to take a simple plot situation and write a story from it. So let's try it. But let's do it one element at a time— one exercise at a time to develop characters, describe the background and the action, and write dialogue. When we finish, you'll have written a short story, but as important you'll have practiced the elements of writing to hone your skills.

Our task is to write a short story about:

~A boy enters a room. His sister joins him. They do their task. They leave the room together.

The first exercise is to describe the room. Start with the physical dimensions. Is the room large, square, round? What color are the walls? What kind of furniture—chairs, beds, tables, stove, carpet? Plush or Spartan furniture? Is the room hot or cold? Dank or musty? Does it have bars on the windows, or is it a jail? Is the room cluttered with anything? Is it a hospital room, a jail cell, a playroom, a Captain's bedroom (Peter Pan?), or a tree house?

To help you describe this fictional room, choose a room where you live. Write what you see.

By focusing on the details of the physical characteristics of a place, you can paint a picture for the readers that enables them to envision the room as your character sees it. In this initial exercise keep the description to a paragraph, but don't be afraid to provide details. You can always eliminate superfluous information when you edit your final story.

These simple exercises provide a first step to telling your story. Remember you can always rewrite. Take your time and have fun.

Writing Exercises for Family Entertainment: 6 of 6

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This is the sixth in a series of articles to explore the theory that learning to write can be a form of family entertainment.

By now hopefully you agree writing itself is fun, and learning to write can provide an opportunity for family entertainment.

If you are just joining us, the goal of these exercises is to give you the opportunity to improve your writing skills while simultaneously having fun with your family. Clear and compelling writing is a key attribute in today's working world. It can also be an advantage in our personal lives for advocacy of our causes or even to reach out to loved ones. So take the time to evaluate if your family might enjoy the simple exercises outlined in these columns to improve your writing skills while you have fun with your family.

In the first exercise, family members described cooking dinner using at least three action verbs to tell us how the cook actually made the dinner, and concluded with a description of the result—with the caveat that it was not intended as a way for teenagers to critique their parents' or sibling's cooking.

For the second exercise, each member of the family took turns writing and then reading a paragraph describing a room that none of the other family members had ever seen. They then spent ten minutes drawing that room.

For the third exercise, each family member wrote a paragraph describing something that each of them sees every day, and asked the other family members to identify it, with the objective to identify it as quickly as possible. In the fourth exercise, we assumed the family was on a trip and asked each member to write a paragraph describing something new that they were all seeing together for the first time. In the fifth exercise, we wrote a comprehensive paragraph describing a person as a first step toward character development.

For the current exercise, we are gong to explore writing dialogue. You will write 5 to 10 sentences of dialogue that occurred between you and one other person during your day—at school, at softball practice, at work, in the store, on the street, or while taking your driver's test. After each family member completes drafting the dialogue, two members other than the author will read the dialogue out loud in character to the rest of the family—one of them will be you and the other will be the person with whom you were having the conversation.

As you write the dialogue, keep in mind the following:

• What started the conversation: your coach asked you to stay so he could tell you something; your teacher asked you to stay after school; the principal called you to his office; your boss asked you to work all weekend; your wife said she has to talk with you immediately

• Once you have offered the reason for the dialogue, first tell us your reaction to the request: you were annoyed, you felt like someone punched you in the stomach, you were short of breath, you were elated, you were concerned

• Be sure that each statement follows the other – or if it doesn't follow logically, explain why.

Dialogue is an important way to engage a reader in a story, so it is important to make it as realistic and descriptive as you can. However, first, try to capture a conversation as you had it. That will help to drive future dialogue creation. Again, teenagers, this exercise is not intended to give you the opportunity to make fun of your parents or siblings.

Joyce T. Strand

Author of the Jillian Hillcrest Mystery Series

Joycestrand.com

Happy New Year

Chad hosted a highly entertaining party at his house in Alameda for New Year's Eve. Of course, my ex-husband couldn't just have a normal New Year's Eve party. He had to have a theme. He chose the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie TOP HAT. And, he wore a tuxedo with a great top hat and danced around the house the entire evening in true Fred Astaire style!

My mother visited from southern California, and found a Ginger Rogers-like gown somewhere in her wardrobe. Several other guests also tracked down similar gowns and some of their partners even rented tuxes.

It took us a while to guess who Cynthia, my next door neighbor, represented. She had a red long, curly-haired wig and claimed to be a young Lucille Ball who played a flower vendor in the movie. We all verified this because Chad played the movie during the evening.

Inspector Sherwood arrived dressed in a 1930s suit worn by inspectors of that era. He didn't claim to know the movie, but we were all amused at his attempt to get into the spirit.

Chad also hired a local big band, and managed to provide a small dance floor in his living room, cleared of furniture.

And, yes, I also wore a Ginger Rogers gown and high heels (not my usual!) and even curled my hair to resemble Ginger. And as we danced a waltz — at Chad's insistence — I concurred with those who pointed out that although Fred Astaire was a great dancer, Ginger Rogers followed him backwards and in high heels. Gasp!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FANS! May you encounter good health, many friends, happy family, fun, and financial stability (or at least reduced debt!).

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