Here’s a writing prompt… come up with an explanation for this one:
Space Watchers Seek an Answer for Sky Riddle from N.B.
Category Archives: Get Writing!
Two Contests for Young Writers
Just passing this along for anyone who might be interested:
Write for a Better World – World Literacy Canada’s contest for Canadian students in Grades 5 to 8. Write an original story describing what happens next in 400 words or less:
It’s been a long, sleepless night of strange dreams. Even once you wake up, you think you’re still dreaming, because you aren’t in your own bed. You aren’t even yourself! It’s no dream. You’ve woken in another part of the world, as someone from another culture.
Deadline: April 4, 2014. More information here.
Kids Write 4 Kids – A creative challenge designed for aspiring authors in Grades 4 to 8. Selected stories will be compiled in an ebook and sold in the Apple iBookstore and Amazon, with proceeds going to the charity National Reading Campaign.
Deadline: December 31, 2013 More information here.
Filed under Contests, Get Writing!
Writing Club starts today!
Just prepping for this afternoon – my first afterschool Writing Club meeting. Seems to be a fair amount of interest out there, I’m hoping for a good turnout.
If you’re in the neighbourhood, and you are in the 10-14 age range, join us: Salt Spring Public Library at 3:45, in the Teen Room
If you’re not in the neighbourhood, I’ll be sharing some of our exercises and topics on this blog as we go.
And for those of you asking, yes, I’m starting to think about a workshop of some kind for adults too!
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That Devil Exposition
Exposition is a necessary evil. Exposition is that part of your story that introduces background information to your audience, for example the setting, the characters’ back stories, or any events prior to the start of your story that your reader needs to know. The devilishly difficult part is finding a way to present the information without being obtrusive, awkward, annoying, obvious, boring, or all of the above.
And don’t just think you can just dump it into the dialogue, either, unless you don’t care that your characters sound robotic or brain-dead. (“Remind me what the plan is again?” or “Your half-sister from your mother’s second marriage is at the door.” or “You’ve hated this place ever since you arrived, when was it? Eight years ago?”)
Filmmakers have a huge advantage in the exposition game, as they have more senses at their beck and call: visuals, sound effects and music in addition to narration and dialogue. But the need to communicate a lot of things right off the bat is still a challenge. How can you impart a lot of details quickly and effectively, without hampering the momentum of the story? Here is how a master does it; take a look at the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window… Continue reading
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The Shape of Stories
My week of teaching Writing Camp is at an end and I’m tired! It was a lot of fun but that much brain work makes me want to sleep for a week.
One of the topics we covered was The Shape of Stories and story graphs. Here’s a terrific talk by the great Kurt Vonnegut on the subject.
Now whether you chart your plot with a ‘happiness’ X-axis or an ‘action’ X-axis, it’s important to give some thought to the shape of your story.
Here’s the classic version of the plot graph, with Excitement/Action replacing Happiness on the vertical axis:
In a 3-act structure, Act I would end at the top of that first hillock, and Act II would end in the last valley before the rise to the climax. Of course there’s no limit to how many roller coaster dips there are along the way, but you certainly want to save the highest point for the climax of your story.
If you are working on a story right now, how would it look as an Action or Happiness Graph?
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Writing Skills – Necessary or Not?
Well, I come down firmly in the ‘necessary’ camp, as does the writer of this article: “Does it matter if students can’t write?”
I think writing skills are absolutely vital, which is why I decided to put together my Writing Camp for Kids. Vital, and not just for aspiring fiction writers either. The ability to write smoothly, persuasively and well will get a young person shortlisted for an awful lot of different jobs out there, especially if it’s as rare a skill as many are suggesting. If I needed to hire somebody and received one perfect cover letter and twenty half-arsed ones, I know who I’d be picking.
This article also touches on the fact that writing skills are substantially aided by voracious reading, which is a major premise of my school talks. I am of the firm belief that reading is the easy shortcut to learning grammar and spelling.
In my camp I plan to cover narrative structure but also the nuts and bolts of writing – punctuation, constructing a paragraph, presenting an argument, etc. But in an entertaining and fun way, of course. (!?) Right now I’m finding movie clips to illustrate many points, going to the old classics – Hitchcock, Hawks, Wilder, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz…
Less than a week until my first session starts!
Filed under Get Writing!
Writing Detective Stories: Remember the Fans!
Here’s an interesting post entitled 20 Rules for Writing Detective Stories by S.S. Van Dine (found on the website Socialpolitan: Fiction Writing Craft). They are useful and interesting rules, but the most important lesson to be learned from them is this:
When writing genre fiction of any kind, keep in mind the opinions, likes and dislikes of the Rabid Fans of your genre. I’m not saying you have to cater to them necessarily, but if you’re looking for popularity and love from the crowd who follow your genre, you have to know what they like!
Always remember there are fans out there who take their Genre very, very seriously. As a writer you may or may not be as obsessive on the topic as they are, but you should at least listen to them. A bit.
These rules are also a healthy reminder not to take the easy way out when faced with a plot problem. Being even a little lazy when concocting your story can leave your readers feeling totally ripped off.
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Camp Details finally worked out…
Okay, so I’m finally committing to dates and details for my Summer Writing Camp. The full scoop can be found here.
I think it will be quite fun! I’d like to allow for all kinds of writing: if participants want more info on fantasy writing, or scriptwriting, or whatever, I’ll do my best to provide specific help in those areas. All while polishing basic writing skills and sharing our work with each other in a friendly and supportive manner.
If you’re on the island this summer and want to get your writing in gear, sign up today!
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Filed under Get Writing!, the Writing Life
Summer Writing Camp for Kids!
My lonely deck awaits an influx of brilliant minds…
I’m still working on the details, but here’s what I can tell you so far… this summer I will be offering a Writing Camp for kids aged 10 – 14 at my home on Salt Spring Island. There will be two one-week sessions (sign up for one or both):
July 8 – 12
July 15 – 19
Topics will include: Where Ideas Come From, Character Development, Plot Structure, Genre, Setting, Dialogue, etc. I can help you with whatever kind of writing you’re interested in – short or long fiction, fantasy, mysteries, plays, screenplays, graphic novels, school book reports, brutally long epic poetry, blog posts, ghost stories, fairy tales, puppet shows… The sky’s the limit!
Stay tuned – more information to come…
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You can’t make this stuff up…
Anyone out there who is sitting down to write today but can’t think of anything to write about, here’s a juicy tidbit for ya: giant fluorescent pink slugs on an Australian mountaintop. I kid you not!
And in case that isn’t enough inspiration for you, that particular mountain also boasts cannibal snails! I mean, come on! Cannibal snails!!
Possible writing prompts, if you still need a push:
1. Describe the kind of location where you would fully expect giant fluorescent pink slugs to live.
2. What would the most logical 3rd neighbour to the slugs and snails be? Hmm?
3. What happens when pink slug meets cannibal snail?
If you come up with anything you’d like to share, please put it in the comments!
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Filed under Get Writing!, Miscellaneous Weirdness