General Chat

That's right maggie, you're the poet among us now aren't you.

That's ok, I don't write poetry...don't really understand the technique...though I am reading up on it.

Teresa, I am not a writer of prose, have tried (ask Stella..lol) tried it out on her.

I'll just stick to what I know :))

Maggie x

You don't have to, it's just a play with the characters and point of view...


It only needs to be a passing thought....ie, what would each of them be thinking in that precise moment...as he approaches the girl and the farmer can see from his field. It can even be done in first person...

The hiker, the farmer,
her under the tree
but I can't write a story
cos none of them's me!

lol :))

I know, TW...its just have eaten the grandchildrens' chocolate bunnies again and I feel a bit sick.....lol....

Right....the farmer....the girl...and the fella....

BC you don't have to do it you know, lol

Maggie, what are you lost on? We can explain it ...lol

I am here ! but still a little lost ...lol

Ok, farmer is daddy

Girl is daughter

Boy is boyfriend...

How about that one LOL

Maggie, get back here lol (POV means point of view)

*groans,,,,

Teresa, three characters in search of a 'situation'...could you throw that in as well ? ;)

Phew...lost now >>>>tiptoes off and leaves it to the thespians...lol

I tend to write from the POV which works best, even if I have to do the same piece three or four times.

I've just had an idea for an exercise.

three people. the farmer in the field, the girl sitting under a tree, the guy out hiking with a backpack.

WRite the scene three times, from the viewpoint of each one of them....

I think, my problem , LOLOL well one of them anyway...is that I write best as 'me' ....(it's all about me lol, egotism at it's worst )
In the first person, and from my own experience...and the reason I stop is because to get anything like a decent story I would have to strip my self bare...not literally ;)

xx

Good idea, TW...

BC, perhaps you could write some short peices using characters with different personalities, and see how each would react to the same situation.....?

I think all my female characters are the same....lol...just different situations....

More tips and hints please!

XBC

"The voice you write in is the voice your reader hears and ideally, grows to trust"

Like this Rose

I can only write in my own way..lol

Maggie x

If you google the seven basic plots, you'll find them and see what they are.

There are no new ideas, they've all be done before, but it's how you apply that idea to the written word, how you dress the plot (which is NOT the idea), and the characters.

Rose, I would suggest you are not in love with the stories because you have not got to know your characters first. Maybe you need to build a character profile, with their personality traits and foibles first. Then let the characters write the story. Perhaps you're planning the story too much.

I tend to place them all in a scene at the beginning, have an idea of the end, and let them write the middle bit themselves, with no planning from me.

Ann, I think both books are excellent, and serve two very different purposes, and I would strongly recomment Writing From Life, for you, as you will find lots of inspiration and how to bring an idea from the first 'hmmmm' to a plot containing that idea.

But for Daff, I would recommend On Writing first. I used to feel so intimidated by the accomplished writers, I never thought I could be that good. Reading that book, by the writer I was most intimidated by, taught me that their first draft is probably as rubbish as any of mine, and it has to be altered, edited, re-written and re-worked over and over until it's right.

So if you feel there's a shortfall in a story, just add a bit, or take a bit out that might not really be necessary. Alter it to make it work. You wont get it perfectly right first time, or second time, or even third time probably. Just be patient with yourself.

I read once that there are only 7 basic story plots.... so yep, it's all been done before.... but each of us has our own spin....

I mean.... there are only 26 letters in the alphabet... but just look how many words we can make... and how many different meanings and emotions we can convey with them!!

Love

Daff xxx

Ann, everything HAS been done before, in the sense of most stories are re-workings on themes, every romance is a 'Romeo and Juliet/Pride and Prejudice/ Anna Karenina' etc in the way it develops.......but the 'world' the writer creates for the characters is uniquely their own ?

xx