January Theme: Beginnings…and Those Pesky ResolutionsBy M...
January Theme: Beginnings…and Those Pesky ResolutionsBy Marcia Thornton JonesHappy New Year!
Our January theme of beginnings made me think of one of my favorite plotting exercises: writing bookends to a story. It’s a simple exercise that uses the opening of a work-in-progress to provide a-ha’s into character transformation and story resolution.
· First write a brief opening scene.· Then copy/paste the opening scene and rewrite it as a mirrored ending that shows how the character has evolved as a result of his/her journey (use the same setting, descriptions, dialogue, and character traits but tweak them to convey transformation).· Based on the bookends, write a plot synopsis by summarizing what needs to happen to move the character from the story beginning to the rewritten resolution.Resolution.Such a loaded word. In writing it’s the end of the character’s story, but at this time of year it hints of goals and intentions; about beginning a personal journey. I’ve never been successful with resolutions so I'm going to modify the above exercise in order to provide a few personal a-ha’s for my own story. Anyone else out there willing to accept the challenge to write a bookend summary for 2014?
Here’s how:· First write a brief beginning describing you as you are right now.· Then rewrite the beginning showing a transformed you on December 31, 2014.· Finally, write a summary showing what needs to happen between those two bookends in order to make that transformation a reality.
Now all that’s left is to live your plot!
Happy beginnings, resolutions…and all plot events in the middle!
Our January theme of beginnings made me think of one of my favorite plotting exercises: writing bookends to a story. It’s a simple exercise that uses the opening of a work-in-progress to provide a-ha’s into character transformation and story resolution.
· First write a brief opening scene.· Then copy/paste the opening scene and rewrite it as a mirrored ending that shows how the character has evolved as a result of his/her journey (use the same setting, descriptions, dialogue, and character traits but tweak them to convey transformation).· Based on the bookends, write a plot synopsis by summarizing what needs to happen to move the character from the story beginning to the rewritten resolution.Resolution.Such a loaded word. In writing it’s the end of the character’s story, but at this time of year it hints of goals and intentions; about beginning a personal journey. I’ve never been successful with resolutions so I'm going to modify the above exercise in order to provide a few personal a-ha’s for my own story. Anyone else out there willing to accept the challenge to write a bookend summary for 2014?
Here’s how:· First write a brief beginning describing you as you are right now.· Then rewrite the beginning showing a transformed you on December 31, 2014.· Finally, write a summary showing what needs to happen between those two bookends in order to make that transformation a reality.Now all that’s left is to live your plot!
Happy beginnings, resolutions…and all plot events in the middle!
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