5.8 Challenging Expectations

Week 5 and we've been delving into lots of theory around character development, plot, conflict and stereotypes. First writing exercise for this week is another character, but this time looking to create a unexpected twist to a normal stereotype. An example offered is "the meticulous manager who lives in a messy house".

The challenge now is to write your stereotype in a more complicated fashion.

Write a brief scene, around 300–500 words, in your notebook, in which you portray a character in a complex way, going against the usual expectations for such a character.

Inadvertently my character from last week is already doing this, I think. He's a 'typical' scientist, but seemingly prone to rather violent displays of anger as he smashed up his lab. The past-self revenge plot idea can also ramp up to give the 'conflict' Week 5 is looking for too.

However, as an exercise I think it is likely valuable to plunge into the notebook and see if I can't dig something else out.

~

"And so soft, thus, he steps,

through yonder hall."

A small silver chalice is whisked from the shelf and vanishes into a bag with a soft metallic chink. Gloved hands move deftly, fingering an item for a second or two as if divining worth before plucking it away or trying the next.

"Amidst such wealth, gold a new,

dance silently at a ball."

The slender figure stops briefly, seemingly distracted, head shaking slowly as if in a debate with itself. 

"dance silently at a ball? Creeping silently, standing tall? Small, pall, squall..."

And moving again, it slides from shadow to shadow. Dressed in black, the form is hard to make out, but the set of shoulders hints at a graceful masculinity. The soft sheen of leather amidst the dull void of wool briefly gives shape to the phantom. As if dancing a ballet, he continues on.

"Sunset dawn brings me forth,

A hard night's day ahead."

With magpie fervour he collects his tokens. Room after room he visits, no nook nor cranny too small to escape his notice. The bag is full, interrupting his flow and is swung to the opposite shoulder. Success! Now time to leave. Retracing his steps through the labyrinth of wealth, a soft chuckle on his lips.

He emerges from the internal gloom and skips into the moonlight. 

"Work complete, struggle on

Morning dusk, off to bed."

~

I think I'm going to stop now before it becomes too forced. It was a vague idea, and I'm struggling to fill in the details. 

Next up is putting together all we've learnt on character creation to produce a similar piece for submission just as before. And like before I shall be receiving and giving reviews via the site. 

Onwards!

4.9 Writing Character

Choose one character and develop it by:

• Imagining more detail
• Making sure you've done any necessary research
• Asking some ‘What if?’ questions.
• Imagining some of the reasons surrounding the character’s dress, behaviour, speech or actions

Write a paragraph or two about this character.

So last time we left it with the idea from my notebook for some unknown character getting involved in a revenge plot against his past-self, taking place on some floating islands of some kind. That's definitely a 'what if' question!

Lets see if the above questions can help shed some light on him/her.

~

It was like constant déjà vu.

There I was, busy at work, oblivious to anything else, and here I was watching myself! 

I'd tried to prepare myself for this but I couldn't help but stare as my past-self continued tinkering with the invention that would make me world famous. I remembered the occasion vividly. Right now I would be confused how to stabilise the reaction which was consistently overheating in the current model. In a moment I would pick up the mark v17 and throw it at the wall of the lab; shattering several month's work but sure as hell feeling better for it.

Did my lab coat always make me look hunchbacked like that? You might see yourself in vidpics, and home holomovies all the time but nothing is quite the same as actually seeing yourself 'in the flesh'. Unconsciously I pull in my shoulders and straighten my back. Maybe it's not too late to rescue some semblance of posture.

In front of me, my first-class hissy fit had just begun. It was equal parts hilarious and horrifying. With forced detachment I could smile and see it as watching this late twenties scientist jumping about like water poured on a cat whilst pulling at his already thinning hair. Yet at the same time I couldn't help feel every ripped out follicle, and wince in pain as I kicked a table; doing far more damage to my toe than it.

It was time to move. Shortly my temper tantrum would run its course and I would leave the campus and head to the only place I could get any solace right now - a local bar. If my plan was going to work I needed to get there first.

~

Interesting. I'm fairly sure I must have a dozen or more mistakes with tense or something there. It was confusing trying to have the character talk about his other self and keep them aligned. Definitely some options for the character there though. From having nothing it's nice to see him emerging.

Happy Writing. :-)

4.5 The notebook habit

Find one possible story that you might be able to draw out of your notes (similarly, the idea can be as sketchy as you like at this point) and research at least three elements for this idea. Then develop your journal notes on this idea, including this research and any relevant sensory details.

Hmm tricky. Also note the course offers the option of instead researching 1 element from 3 separate story ideas, but I don't have so many so I've chosen this one.

The best idea I have in my notes right now comes from watching the first week of lectures by Brandon Sanderson. The lecture breaks down story ideas in to 'setting', 'plot' and 'character' and the class brainstormed numerous ideas for each section. 

The ones that caught my attention were a 'floating island' setting with a past-self 'revenge' type plot - none of the character ideas were particularly inspiring except perhaps the 5 year old shaman! 

Research needed then: 

> Time travel. I would need to be well aware of the more well known paradoxes. I suspect dealing with a past-self will violate some of them so would require some careful thinking. Also the method of time travel would need some research. Are we talking portals or telephone boxes? Magic spells or fizzing machines? Naked robots appearing in a swirly circle etc.

> Floating island. I would want to research possible theories behind such. What was the explanation behind Avatar's islands (some 'flux' something as I recall)? Are there good realistic reasons I could adapt or is it going to be more of a case of 'magic' / 'technology'?

> Revenge. I would definitely want to research revenge. It's not something I've written about before, and is also a land rife with clichés I would want to do my best to avoid where possible.

That's the three, but I would also want to delve deeper into other examples of 'past-self' interactions too. There's likely cheesy clichés to be wary of here too (becoming your own grandfather etc).  

All strong leads to follow. I shall get to it! 

I'm still lacking a character for this idea. Thankfully, after some more reading about developing plot from character, the next exercise in 4.9 will have me creating a new character. Lets see if I can come up with something to fit the idea I have here.

See you there.

Happy Writing :-)

4.4 Different approaches to research

Week 4 has switched our focus a little to start with. The first 3 sections we're just talk about our notebooks, and ideas. It's now moving towards research.  Research is a key part of writing, and something else the notebook can be useful for.

Whilst a notebook for ideas is a new thing for me, I'm not a stranger to the idea of research. 'Google is my friend' has long been a motto and it's rare I hear anything I'm not familiar with without quickly looking it up. I even use it during reviews. The other day I reviewed a piece that mentioned someone going blind because of a disease effecting the muscles around her eye. I spent ten minutes or so on a 'eye disease' website trying to find a technical name for the disease to offer the author as a way of adding detail to their writing.

By far the most research I remember doing though was for a piece of writing set in a fictional place at the time of the 'Newsies' which I'd never heard of. It proved to be a very interesting topic which I enjoyed greatly. Life experience can definitely help. A few trips to America during my life meant the currency wasn't too much of a problem although I did have to look up what sort of price things were back then.

Should research be invisible in books? I'm not sure. It certainly doesn't seem to have hurt Dan Brown's sales too badly. He's stories positively ooze with knowledge. Likewise the series I'm reading now by Alastair Reynolds very clearly demonstrates his knowledge/research of Astrophysics and somehow that makes it more fascinating to me.

In 4.5 we'll be planning some research. Lets get to it.

Happy Writing :-)

3.13b Read the feedback.

Just like the review I did, my reviewers were asked to comment on my writing under the headings of three questions.

My first review :

How was the central character portrayed and was this portrayal clear and interesting?

The central character is a young boy on his 9th birthday, full of the excitement of getting a year older, and 'becoming a man'. It shows his belief that he was now too old to believe in childish things, and wanted his birthday wish to show his maturity, even though there are still childish elements, such as wishing for an iced birthday cake.

---

I love that the reviewer picked up on the iced cake, and understood the relevance. I was concerned it might have been too subtle but this is encouraging.

---

What made you think this piece was a story and did you want to read on?

It made me want to see how his 'maturity' evolved, or whether the excitement of his birthday, once it was over, would see him return to his innocence.

---

I have no definite plans where this might go, but the idea of trying to progress his maturity whilst maintaining something of his innocence sounds like an interesting challenge!

---

What were the most, and least, successful aspects of the writing?

Excellent description of the scene, and the insights of the central character. Left me questioning when and where the scene was set - and the genre, but that is just me.

---

Fair points. A consequence of me not knowing where it is going means it does suffer from a lack of identity. A very true point. If I extended it, and established what sort of story it is then I would definitely have to come back to edit and make this opening section more defined in it's direction and genre. 

Second Review :

How was the central character portrayed and was this portrayal clear and interesting?

A charming character. The picture of a boy on the brink of manhood (in his time and place) really worked for me from the psychological pov, but I find I haven't developed a picture of him in my mind.

----

This brings up an interesting and almost controversial point around character descriptions. This course is big on them, but the more I read the more I see the same comments from people appearing. Unless you get your description in very early you run the risk of shattering someone's own view of a character and that upsets them. However, here it seems I'm failing to get an image in. Maybe something as simple as mentioning a hair colour might be enough. Very pleased about the psychological part though. Getting into the head of a 9 year old is tricky.

---

What made you think this piece was a story and did you want to read on?

The hints that this is another time and another place, and the growth to adulthood of the boy are themes that leave a lot of room for developing an interesting and absorbing story. One I would be happy to read.

What were the most, and least, successful aspects of the writing?

An original idea. So many things hinted at, but not quite enough to pin down. A time when children had to grow up fast? A hint of Ireland in the speech? Magicians, and yet cities and birthday cake/'Happy Birthday'. Interesting, but a bit confusing.

---

Nice - this matches and expands upon the first comment very well. Yes, the lack of identity is a problem. Something to pin down very quickly if/when I continue this piece. 

Interesting that both pick up on the idea of children growing up fast. Not anything I'd intended. He's not a man yet, he just thinks he is, in the way children often do. I recall myself as I approached 'double digits' in age I felt very grown up. But maybe it could be a thing? Perhaps in this world children are considered adults from 10 or 11. Something to think about.

---

As well as those two official comments I also received a very nice comment on the blog entry itself from Madeline at the Facebook group, and Gill once again set about the piece to offer great technical comments for me to think about and amend. I'm not sure if we are to redraft this in week 4 or 5, but I'll take those into account too if we do.


An eventful end to Week 3.


I'll see you next week!


Happy Writing :-)

Brief intermission

An interesting discussion broke out yesterday. It concerns this blog, and the course.

In 3.13a I copied Sue's piece of writing for reviewing as per what I'd done as part of the course. I didn't think anything of it. I'd attributed it, and not tried to pass it off as my own work or anything, so that was that.

However little did I know, that by moving it from the (partially) secluded comments of the FutureLearn system into my blog I'd effectively made that piece of writing public. This would in most cases instantly disqualify it from any competitions, or other official avenues Sue might have wanted to take that piece in the future.

A moral quandary which the OU terms and conditions only help to make more fuzzy.

Discussion and arguments appeared on both sides, which I'm not interested in repeating here. It boils down to - whether technically allowed or not - me doing something which made several people uncomfortable.

So I apologise and will be adjusting my plans.

I will not be including the upcoming 'reviewing' parts of this course on this blog unless I receive specific permission from the author in question. 

A disappointing necessity which will potentially mean this blog won't be a full documentation of the course but unavoidable I think.

Thankfully Sue was kind enough to allow me to leave her part of 3.13 in place, so I don't have to delete anything.

FutureLearn is in Beta testing at the moment. Hopefully this event gets back to them and it might lead to some clarification on their website, or maybe even something like blog software within the FutureLearn site - thus negating this issue.

Anyhoo - enough of this. I've received 2 official feedback on my 13.11 piece and I think it's time to take a look at them. See you there shortly.

Happy Writing :)

3.13 a) Reviewing

Hey,

So I submitted my story, and whilst I *cough* calmly await returns I've submitted three reviews to others.

Sadly the website swallows the story and review into itself, so here is story number 3 which I still have my notes for!

This is written by Sue Reid

The old lady stared at her knitting and looked up. There was despair in her face as she said, 'I've just spotted a mistake ... here.' She stabbed with her finger part way down, nearer the beginning than the point she'd reached. 

I looked at the spot and could just about see where the intricate lace pattern had gone slightly astray. 

'Oh dear, what a shame. What are you going to do?' 

She shrugged and stared at the offending piece. 

'It's for my great granddaughter to wrap round her baby, when she brings him home from hospital.' 

'Will she notice such a very small mistake?' 

Another shrug, just as hopeless. 'But I'd know wouldn't I, I'd know it was there.' 

There was nothing much more to say, it was a decision she alone had to make I suppose and nothing I'd say would make any ultimate difference. 

Suddenly she looked up, clear blue eyes fixing themselves on my face. 

'Say, my dear, isn't it a bit like life? If you could mend a mistake would you do it? Or would you pretend it hadn't happened and hope no one notices?' 

I paused, uncertain how to answer. At last, as her eyes hadn't left my face, I said, 'I suppose I'd like to think I'd right the wrong. If I could.' 

She gave one brief nod and pulled the stitches from the needle.

~

How was the central character portrayed and was this portrayal clear and interesting?
Assuming the old lady is the main character and not the character whose head we're in, then she comes across as emotional, but stolid in the end. Despite being in another character's head you clearly demonstrate the old lady's thinking process as she moves through the problem. From observation, to discovery, to repercussions, to options and finally a well argued decision. Very neatly done.

I will mention a quick think in this section though -

The old lady stared at her knitting and looked up.

This makes it sound like she has two pairs of eyes - one to stare at her knitting and the other to look up. Two alternatives come to mind. She could perhaps 'sigh' or 'squint' at her knitting and look up, or just add in 'then' after and.

What made you think this piece was a story and did you want to read on?
Technically a story. We have a start - discovering the problem. A middle - possible solutions, and an end with the dramatic decision. Despite the relatively mundane topic of missing a knitting stitch I flowed through it effortlessly so there's something going on right!

What were the most, and least, successful aspects of the writing?
The most I think is the flow as mentioned. Nice language usage carries the reader so easily to the end. I suspect if it was about paint drying you'd still manage it somehow.

Word choice - like in the example I gave - can sometimes slip you up though. The dialogue in particular can sometimes sound a little wooden.

'Oh dear, what a shame. What are you going to do?'

My mind naturally gave this a kind of monotone voice - not helped by us never learning anything about the other character.

Finally I want to offer an alternative world view to the old lady's.

Would you rather waste half your life worrying about/fixing tiny problems that cause no harm, or instead get on living it!

~

As I discussed with the Facebook group for this course - I found the questions rather restrictive. They were clearly trying to keep us focused on specifics here, but I would have preferred just a blank canvas for adding the comment in rather than 3 separate boxes.

Always an interesting exercise, and especially intriguing seeing the wide variety of writing styles so clearly. It's also nice that finally people will be getting some feedback. For all those unlucky enough not to have had their work spotted in the thousands of comments on the site (or get their blog linked in the Open Uni blog! Woo!) this is a great opportunity.

Next - the reviews I received!

Happy Writing :-)

3.11 Generate something new

Things change up a bit now. The follow writing piece will be submitted to the site in 3.12, and then randomly distributed to (X) people to review for part 3.13! In 3.13 I will then also receive (X) number of pieces to review myself, which I shall cover in the next post. Exciting!

Anyhoo lets get on with the writing part...

There is no specific target to meet here. Just start writing and see where it takes you. Try to write at least 200 words, up to a maximum of 350 words.

"...Happy Birthday, dear William.
Happy Birthday tooooo... yooooouuu."

William wasn't sure if the clapping and cheering that accompanied the end of the song was for him, or out of relief that Great Uncle George had stopped singing. He giggled to himself at the thought, bringing soft wrinkles around his nose and the corners of his mouth and also revealing twin rows of small white teeth. 9 years old! Practically a man grown!

Idly he rubbed a hand across his cheek for the twentieth time that day. He could have sworn he'd felt a hair there this morning. He'd definitely have to talk to Pa about starting shaving.

His family were all stood circled around the big kitchen table. William was seated at the head with his brother on one side. They all smiled down at him, probably taking his grinning face for excitement at the festivities and having no idea that he was actually contemplating such manly concerns as singing etiquette and facial grooming. Before him sat a giant fruit and bran cake decorated with nine candles. He'd hoped for one of the big iced cakes from the city, but he knew they were expensive. His brother had one earlier in the year, but then Jon had turned ten then. Perhaps next year.

Mother was lighting the candles, deftly moving a small burning twig from the stove over them until they were all lit. Each one flared up brightly, adding a golden light to the flickering red glow from the fireplace.

"Don't be forgetting a wish now!" His Pa warned as William stood up and prepared to blow them out.

"A wish?" William thought to himself. It'd been a tradition every year, but until now he'd always brushed it off with childish things like a new tree house, to find a gold mark whilst out helping Pa with the plough, or to be able to make skyfire like the magicians. Suddenly it seemed much more serious. What would a grown man wish for?

~

Not sure where this one is going, or if indeed it is going anywhere. But there is scope so we'll see. I'm quite liking the idea of a young protagonist - also quite fun to try to get in his head and see things from his point of view.

Next part will likely be split then. In the first part I shall go through at least one, of the three reviews I'll do for others. In part b I'll post the reviews I get on this piece and discuss them.  

Bring on the reviews! 

Happy Writing :-)

3.9 Editing Summary

Nothing too much to say here. I just find the list from the course notes very useful and want to keep a note of it. 

After you have written a first draft, interrogate your writing using this editing checklist. Remember that the aim in editing is in many ways the aim in writing: clarity of expression.

• Is it what you meant to say, really?
• Have you found the best way to convey it?
• Would a particular event really have happened that way?
• Would a particular character definitely use that expression or turn of phrase?
• Does an idea or scene really belong where you’ve put it, or would the piece be better if that element was cut? Could it be used elsewhere, or on another occasion?
• What’s missing from your story? Details or background information?
• Is there enough to engage your reader?
• Do events occur in the best order and are significant events given enough weight, or are they lost beneath less important things? If so, is that what you intended?
• Does it read too slow, or too fast?
• Overall, does the writing convey the right tone – does it create the mood you hoped for?

Coming up we have some more serious reviews to give to other people on the course - I think this will be useful there too.

Happy Writing :-)

3.6 Editing Practice.

This seems like it could be a fun exercise!

To demonstrate the importance of clarity, focus and the role of editing as part of writing, edit the following passage down to no more than two lines.

The heavy black and blue winter sky groaned awfully with rain clouds that at any moment were really about to fall crashing heavily down upon the street where, because it was rush hour, so many people, wearing all manner of different clothes, hats, shoes, boots, some of them carrying bags, suitcases, briefcases, scampered and strolled about the place as though oblivious to what was just about to happen over their very heads. One of these people was called Hilary and concealed inside her voluminous coat she carried the loaded, snub-nosed gun, and she also seemed to be the only one looking upwards into the tempestuous thundery heavens.

~

Ok...  Lets get editing! Starting with just cutting the unnecessary.

The heavy black and blue winter sky groaned awfully with rain clouds that at any moment were really about to fall crashing heavily down upon the street where, because it was rush hour, so many people, wearing all manner of different clothes, hats, shoes, boots, some of them carrying bags, suitcases, briefcases, scampered and strolled about the place as though oblivious to what was just about to happen over their very heads. One of these people was called Hilary and concealed inside her voluminous coat she carried the loaded, snub-nosed gun, and she also seemed to be the only one looking upwards into the tempestuous thundery heavens.

Hmmm I think that's a fair first pass. Some changes of words then, some tidying and we will get my version.**

The winter sky groaned with rain ready to crash down on the oblivious rush hour crowds below. Hilary scowled at the clouds and pulled her heavy coat closer, using the movement to check again the concealed bulge of her loaded weapon.

There we go. I think that has the right combination of still being descriptive, without being over the top. 

So what does the course suggest?

The winter sky was heavy with rain. It was rush hour. Hilary concealed the loaded gun inside her coat.

Wow - they really stripped that to the bone. Excessively so in my opinion. We're not reading a board report to the Exec. This is fiction! 

That said - a useful exercise to show just how far something can be stripped and yet maintain its meaning. Perhaps there's something to be said for going this far and then building it back up again slowly. Something to consider.

Happy Writing :-)

** An interesting comment from Frances Kenny suggests I should have stopped before this stage. Editing (as an Editor) is the stripping out of the waste, not adding to/re-writing. Whereas self editing you'd also incorporate rewrites. A blurry line!

3.3 Reading Work in Progress

Week 3 - we're here already!

The early part of this week is focusing on the radio-prompt story from the end of last week. First we're asked to redraft it - thinking about character, and descriptions. I am counting the many small alterations I made during the latter part of last week to count for that. Thanks for various commenters on facebook, twitter #FLfiction14 and futurelearn for helping there! Particularly Gill and Frances.

So lets get into the meat of the discussion Derek wants us to have around these pieces.

• Did you think what you wrote was a story?

Yes I would call it a story. And I would say why, but that's the next question!

• What made it a story?

I have an introduction, I have an event, and I have a dramatic conclusion/cliffhanger. There are quite a few plans for where it might lead if the course offers us opportunity to extend it (or someone(s) push me for more) but for only 500 words I think it does the job.

• Did it have a structure?

Hmm... perhaps I should have just listed all the questions and then answered them in one go. Yes it had structure.

• How did you go about portraying characters?

I used first person to get in the head of my main character, which is modeled on my character from Week 1. Very little physical description yet aside from some of his clothing, but hopefully a good impression of some of his childhood, and parts of his personality. Particularly his playful boyish side. I think these are good extensions on Week 1's work which was mainly description. There could perhaps be more but I think that would distract from the story when there's so few words allowed. There's plenty of scope for expanding it later as it becomes relevant.

As for Jack - I can use my main character to just observe him and this has begun simply with the white hair and general appearance of youthfulness. Again this can develop further as necessary - but for a short story I think it is fine to let the reader fill in their own version of Jack and chances are if they've seen Rise of the Guardians they know exactly how I intend him to appear.

~

These are likely useful questions to be asking when I read someone else's work too. I think I'll try that next time we're asked to review!

Until then,

Happy Writing :-)

2.18 Ideas for a Story

Turn on the radio and take note of the first thing that is mentioned. Use it as the basis for a story of no more than 500 words. Imagine a character, someone who is central to what the story is about.

I turned on the radio to a weather report! Hmmm. 

I'm putting the 'elegant geek' character from last week into the story, trying to get into his head with the point of view. And... yes I recently watched Rise of the Guardians. Haha. I will take inspiration wherever it comes from!

~

A gust of wind sends a shiver down my spine and I quicken my step. The first chill of winter crawls over my face with icy fingers making me pull the collar of my light jacket as high as it can go and wish for my thicker coat at home. Autumn leaves still cling to trees in a rainbow of golden yellows and browns and there's still some strength in the sun overhead, but any warmth is forgotten as the wind strengthens.

A shock of cold suddenly hits my nose and memories of childhood flood through me. My mother's advice to 'wrap up or Jack Frost will nip me'. An involuntary smile spreads my lips at the memory, the cold briefly ignored, and I find myself calling out to the wind.

"That you Jack? Bit early this year aren't you?"

I chuckle to myself for talking outloud to my childhood hero. At 19 I should have grown out of it and despite no one else in sight a twinge of embarrassment coats my laugh. As a child I had chatted at length to him, imagining grand adventures and games whenever a shiver of cold came around. It didn't matter to me that I never saw him. A young boy's harmless fantasies.

The cold wind vanishes as suddenly as it arrived and with another soft laugh I imagine myself waving a cheerful goodbye. I feel giddy as a boy again. I kick out at a pile of nearby leaves and spin in the cloud of them as they fall. It's a swirling whirlwind of snow and I'm being swept up and carried hundred of miles.

The actual wind returns, and despite my current juvenility I'm aware enough to notice it blowing in the opposite direction. It literally had returned, rather than continued. I stop and swivel my head, confusion smeared across my face. I still feel odd, and with child-like logic the only conclusion I can come to is that the wind (or something in it) had heard my call out and returned to answer.

"... Jack?" I whisper. "Jack Frost?"

Another memory from childhood. This time from my father. "You have to believe. You can't see them if you don't believe." 

Do I believe? At this precise moment I just don't know. Some part of me, the part of me kicking up leaves just a moment before, was shouting 'Yes, yes, yes', but the near-adult part just scoffed in derision.

"Jack if it is you, I want to believe... I really do! But it's hard. I'm too old. Help me." The words spill out without thought.

Instantly I'm surrounded by swirling snow and then nothing. Belief blossoms in me like a spring orchard, and a cast about frantically. There! The shock of white hair on such a youthful face should appear odd, but it doesn't. Floating a few feet above the ground and with a hopeful grin he stares at me.

My confusion melts and a incredulous smile appears in its place. 

"I see you!"

~

Technically that is the end of Week 2 now. A good week! There are a few exercises in the middle I missed out and may come back to. Might also look at someone else's story too.

Until then...

Happy Writing :-)

2.12 Familiar Words

2.12 Familiar words in unfamiliar places.

I'm really struggling with this one. Hmmm... perhaps I could describe the struggle itself!

The writing task sat smugly on a pedestal, confident it has me bested this time.

~

The struggle for an ordinary word description smothered me in a sticky embrace.


Yeah, I'm not too sure about either of those. This is definitely tricky.

Other course writers to the rescue.

"It was mid-morning, sunshine squeezed through the small slatted window of the dingy apartment."

This is part of the entry from Deana Mazzocchi-Phillips. Sunshine squeezing. I love it! Ordinary word, unfamiliar use.

~

I'm going to have to keep an eye out for opportunities to practice this.

Happy Writing :-)

2.5 Talking about Writing

2.5 Talking about Writing.

You can see my writing area descriptions in the 2.4 post.

This was an good exercise, and a lot harder than I first though. Especially the second one. I decided to not split it directly into best/worst writing places, but make both seem pleasant enough from the point of view of the writers in those locations. Whether either one is heaven or hell for you will depend massively on individuals.

For me, despite the distractions, the first one is my preferred writing location. The second - a typewriter - would just irritate me. The constant terror of making an error and having to start again. The clunky heaviness. No - pleasant as it likely would be for some, it's not for me.

So lets talk about writing by going to the course comments and plucking out a random piece to ponder.

Today's victim is Julie Rowe. Her piece :

Sitting in the crowded bar trying to sort my notes into some sort of order was proving incredibly difficult. The bar was fairly quiet. but what noise there was bounced up into the high vaulted ceiling, swirled around the upsidedown boat carcasses and then caught the voices coming up before booming back down. The muzak was adding to the general noise chaos and whatever it was that was playing i could only hear the bass. All of this amalgamated into a clamour in my head which invaded my thoughts and sent them swirling off into the great unknown, never to be made sense of again.

My dining room table, a large mug of Yorkshirte team home alone, chores done, just me, ,my notes and a blank piece of paper or screen. Ahhhh silence at last. Come on mind, get yourself together!
First thought - what a wonderful image is the 'upsidedown boat carcasses'. I love the strength of this description. It builds the image up so vividly. That bar actually sounds a delightful place to write to me. At home, alone, I would just be too tempted to play some computer game instead!

Some comments for Julie then - in the vein of us trying to help each other.

- In the first line you call the bar crowded, and yet immediately at the start of the second you call it 'fairly quiet'. A confusing contradiction. 'Fairly' is one of those adverb things too. Watch out for words ending in 'ly'. One or two is fine, but they have a habit of sneaking in throughout writing and can make it weaker.

- General curiosity - is muzak a specific thing, or did you mean music? My apologies if English isn't a first language and this was just a slip. Although maybe it's a colloquialism. I'm not sure.

 - Amalgamated is a great word, but here I'm not sure it works. It speaks of an almost graceful gathering together, or at least more smoothly than I get the impression the sounds are doing. I think the sentence works perfectly well without it. A sort of less-is-more moment.

"All of this clamoured through my head, invading my thoughts ..." etc

- I would like to have seen more of your home-alone writing. It seems like you ran out of steam after a lot of great description in the bar. Perhaps that's what you mean by your last line. Haha.

Is there a window in the room? What is the light like? Any smells? Is the table old or new, a family heirloom? Any pictures on the walls which might be there to help inspire your writing? Just details to bring it alive like you did in the first piece.

~

Just going through Julie's writing there proved to me how useful an exercise it is. Whilst looking for helpful comments to say I spotted similar issues in my own writing places and made a couple of edits. I'm learning more and more just how iterative writing actually is. Historically I've pretty much written, and almost never gone back to amend or add additions.

See you in the next section folks.

Happy Writing :-)

2.4 Imagining Writing Spaces

2.4 Imagining writing spaces

Imagine two different venues for writing – one that seems most suited to you, and one that you would find bizarre or too difficult. Write a paragraph describing two writers at work, one in each of the venues.

The low murmur of voices and telephones blur to nothingness in his mind, as he stares at the blinking cursor on the screen. He shuns fancy word-processing programs in favour of the simple elegance of Notepad. A colleague wanders over, some work related question poised on their lips, unaware of the vibrant lands and alien vistas they are about to pull him away from. With weary patience he deals with their problem and returns to the blinking cursor. An idea is slowly blooming. From where he isn't sure, but something about sitting in the office seems to provide a fertile quagmire for his imagination to sow. Long fingers caress the keyboard and the first words grace the screen. An email alert pops up. 5 minutes until a conference call. Snooze. More words appear. Time's up, for now. Press save, alt tab, and come back later.

~

I'd found it at the bottom of some bargain bin. It was love at first sight and I'd shelled out the required £20 without thought or regret. Once I got it home I shifted out my laptop, notepads and other paraphernalia so it could take pride of place on my desk. An Underwood. It looked glorious. Its faded powder blue paint brought forth images of summer walks and lazy meadows. I gently stroked the home-row keys, letting my eyes close, and in that instant of darkness I caught the faintest scent of old ink and dreams. Childhood memories of my grandpa's desk floated through my mind and with barely a thought I fed in a crisp white piece of paper and reverently sat down. The very first clunk sent a shiver of joy down my spine. Mechanical wizardry whirred into action and a story was born.

~

Part 2.5 of the course has us discussing and reviewing each other's writing space paragraphs. I'll see you there for my thoughts on this exercise as well as looking at some examples.

Happy Writing :-)

2.3 Writer's Rituals

2.3  Writer's Rituals.

Week 2 dawns and Derek hints that this week we'll be working towards more character profiles and even a mini-story. Things move on apace.

But we start with an interesting discussion. Writing rituals, and superstitions. Lucky pens, and lucky chairs. Thinking spots and caps. Muses and Blocks.

It comes as little surprise to me that authors can be quite inventive in their rituals. After all, it's a profession centered around imagination and fantasy.

Monique's morning style is interesting. I could imagine something like that working well for me. I often have fairly vivid dreams which fade rapidly after I wake unless I make a conscious effort to record them. Whilst such notes are not going to be Shakespeare (or even really make any sense at all) I think it will be a good way of seeing what is floating through my imagination.

Michèle's psychotic breakdowns sound a little hectic and confused. Not really for me, however I have been known - when particularly bored - to just open up Notepad and start typing what I suppose is my inner dialogue.

14:02 Bored, bored... bored. Hmmm thirsty, should go get some water. It's a long way away though.

14:04 Mmmmm water.

You get the gist. I'm not sure how helpful it is. Whether it lets 'language out to dance' I'm not convinced. Passes a few minutes though. Very rarely it has morphed into a few paragraphs of what could become a short story.

~

So my general writing practice is to just write. I almost never do any planning beyond a concept. I am usually writing with little more than the vaguest idea of where it might end and let the story go where it will. This style almost certainly developed from the Storygaming origins of my writing. When readers are voting and deciding on what happens at the end of each chapter it makes planning very hard to do. The options they come up with for dealing with the various situations can be varied and surprising. Typically any plans are cast aside quickly. 

I have experimented with a more formal planning session. For some of the competitions I entered on Writing.com I made brain-storm diagrams and word bubble pictures to come up with various possible options before choosing the one that felt most formed. It worked in a fashion, but felt forced.

Adding some more structure through use of the notepad, and whatever other tips we get during this course may help me find a more productive balance between planning and writing.

Happy Writing :)

1.13 Reading Characters

1.13 Reading Characters

Both pieces I enjoyed - the latter I favour mainly because it generated several giggles out of me which we'll get to.

George Orwell's piece then. Short, punchy. The key point for me here is the word 'hideous'. This isn't an ordinary birthmark which shallow people might perceive as being ugly and treat the person so. Here we have the narrator, the author, telling us, that it's not just a birthmark but a hideous one! It strikes me as harsh and is (for good or ill) certainly making a powerful impression as to how he wants us to picture his character. To my eyes, drumming it in a second time with "He was quite aware of its hideousness" is overkill.

The second piece, from Zoë Heller I really like. The dry humour is British-like and very much in the vein I enjoy. Lines like "before having to mould my face into the appropriate smile", and "the loose tendrils had graduated to hanks" particularly tickle me. I love the word-choice of 'hanks', very vivid and strong.

The style is flowing, introducing different elements about her naturally and interspersed between events and actions which breaks it up from otherwise a dense paragraph of description.

I think I'll be holding on to a copy of this and drawing inspiration from it next time.

But what do you think? Am I being overly critical of George? Am I missing flaws from Zoë?

Happy Writing :-)

1.12 Develop a character

1.12 Develop a character from your Notebook.

Right - here we go. Proper writing mode time!

Write a short character sketch – no more than 200 words – in which you concentrate on appearance and any particular mannerisms you noted.

At first glance you might think 'classic geek'. The rake-like physique, the thick rimmed glasses. But taking a closer look reveals some discrepancies. Not one, not two, but three black rings pierce his left ear. A carefully shaped goatee garnishes a face with a crystal clear complexion and his blonde hair is artfully quiffed.

He stands in the lunch queue, awaiting his turn with seeming infinite patience. When asked for his order he double takes, as if blinking out of thoughts ocean deep.

"Jacket potato with chilli please."

I might have expected a West Country accent, all 'oooh aarh' farmer talk, but in a city with two universities the mix of accents is broad. His seems to be denser, something more northern. Perhaps somewhere close to Yorkshire, although there's nothing conclusive in the short sentence.

After paying he stalks past the rest of the tables, electing a quiet corner seat alone. Pushing his glasses up his nose in a unconscious gesture he thumbs open a thick book and loses himself in the pages, absently lifting forkfuls of his lunch into his mouth.

~

Time to go read about some of your characters!

Happy Writing :)

1.11 The Writing Journey

1.11 The Writing Journey

Why do I write?

An interesting question. I guess I already covered the physical journey of my writing experience in the first blog, but that doesn't answer the question of why.

Lets go further back. I learnt to read at a young age thanks to the fantastic Peter and Jane book series. One of my earliest memories is of the book where they go to a birthday party. Later memories are of trawling book shops trying to find the elusive book 8c, or 12b or whatever missing part to the series I wanted to find.

From there the classic children's authors captured my imagination. Enid Blytons many many fantastic adventures - most notably Brier Rabbit, the Magic Faraway Tree and the Tales of Mr Pinkwhistle. Roald Dahl's superb collection begun by having The Twits read at school and then progressing through all his stories in my own time.

Just before becoming a teenager Brian Jacques was my new author and whilst my peers spent their pocket money on cassette tapes, LPs and later the latest CD's - I floated through the magical land of Martin the Warrior, and Redwall. To this day the delight I took in the Mole speech accent or scottish accents of the Northern Eagles is a bright glowing memory. Burr hurr, oi does loikes a gudd story oi do.

I smirk again, seeing some irony with me living in the West Country these days where Mole speech isn't a thousand miles from what I hear everyday. Ha!

I think it is pretty fair to say that a lifelong passion for reading has something to answer for when it comes to asking why I also enjoy to write.

Happy Writing :-)

1.5 Reading Fact and Fiction

1.5 Reading Fact and Fiction

Ok so it's time to check out other people's facts and fictions and answer some queries.

• Is there anything that distinguishes the fictitious elements?
• Are there common elements that you and your fellow writers write about as ‘facts’?
• Do any of these passages suggest stories to you?

So I'm going to pop to the lesson comments and pull out a random paragraph :

This is from Alan Bithell

Three fiction, one fact 
The walk back from Loch Mord turned a pleasantly tired feeling unto utter exhaustion. Cows, it turns out, are more dangerous than sharks, as our short cut proved. Dignity fled faster than we did, when we realised the steadily growing thundering noise was being made by a herd of enraged highland cows. 

Ok I'm going to be taking a guess here. I think the green highlight is the fact. That speaks like some common saying, likely due to some statistic about deaths to cows compared with sharks used by people to defend sharks and get tourists back on to beaches. Similar to that same statistic about flying which is wheeled out every time there's a plane crash. Back-up guess that the species of cow is the fact. 

The fictions are a little trickier. I reckon the Loch name is a fabrication. It may exist, but they weren't there. The 'thundering' noise seems very 'story' like in its description. Finally I'm not convinced the cows really were 'enraged'. They're pretty placid creatures. Any 'stampede' would likely be panicked cows rather than from anger.

Hopefully Alan stops by to confirm - but otherwise an interesting exercise.

So my paragraph then.

1) It seemed strange to be 32 years old and yet still feel like a teenager. Surely I should grow up at some point and act like an adult! Running a hand through my long black hair I suppressed a sigh and picked up the next piece of ironing. Just ten more items to go!

My fact is my age, my fictions are my actually short brown hair, and I simply never do ironing! Perhaps that makes the second sentence another fact! Oops.

My second paragraph - all truth except Bogey is a cat, not a dog! Yes, we really did name a pet Bogey.

I may have more to say regarding the questions once I read some more people's examples and actually get see some answers where people 

Happy Writing. :-)

1.4 Writing Fact and Fiction

1.4 Writing Fact and Fiction

The first writing task on the course then : 

1) Write a paragraph (50 to 100 words) containing one fact and three fictitious elements.

2) Then try the reverse – write a paragraph containing three facts and one fictitious element.

Let's see how this goes. 

1) It seemed strange to be 32 years old and yet still feel like a teenager. Surely I should grow up at some point and act like an adult! Running a hand through my long black hair I suppressed a sigh and picked up the next piece of ironing. Just ten more items to go!

2) With a start Bogey the dog looked up at my approach. Her black fur was matted, her eyes a little cloudy. Not surprising considering she's well over twenty years old. Clearly she's enjoyed a long happy life though and I can't help but smile as she licks my hand.

Trickier than it seemed! Extra facts kept trying to sneak in!

Can you spot my fabrications? In the next part I'll spill the beans, as well as be taking a look at some other people's paragraphs for myself.

Happy Writing :-)

1.1 Hello!

1.1 - Greetings.

Hello!

If you made it here (via FutureLearn) and are reading this - woo! Please leave a comment linking me to your profile and I shall do my best to return the favour.

Let's begin with the generic introduction I guess.

My name is David, otherwise known as Smee and I've been writing on and off since my early twenties. It was a gaming forum which first sparked my interest. I engaged in some light text roleplay - an exercise of getting into character - and found it to be a lot of fun.

This - somewhat randomly - led me to www.cityofif.com where I spent 4 years thoroughly enjoying the art of Storygaming, both as a reader and then eventually as a writer. Storygaming works similarly to the old choose-your-own-adventure in a way. An author posts a chapter to a story, ending the chapter with a 'decision point' for the main character. Readers then discuss the chapter, decide on some possible options and the author puts those into a poll. Voting then determines the course of action for the main character and it is then down to the author to produce chapter 2 with the reader's decision leading the way.

It was a kind of interactive writing which really appealed, and helped to improve my writing dramatically over the years.

Since then I spent some time on Writing.com - producing a number of short stories for the numerous competitions with varying success. In general though my writing has slowed down significantly and I'm hoping this course (along with this blog) will help kick my muse into action.

Happy Writing :-)