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Post by tulkas on Mar 28, 2005 13:07:44 GMT -5
I, in writing short storys for my English teacher, have noticed a common reoccurance in my writing. I start with an idea large enough to go to novel scale, then, I have to squash it into something the size of a short story, and then it goes kaput, and I get a grade to match. I need some tips on how to modify my methods of writing. please reply if you are willed to do so. Long live Eru.
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Post by Hinata on Mar 28, 2005 14:53:26 GMT -5
I have a very similar problem. I actually just completed my first short story. . .I kept it as a short story which was hard. . .what it takes, discipline, limited amount of characters and a limited time span. In my short story whenever I got the urge to go on a tangent about something I surpressed it and asked if it was an important detail to the story. Then I had ONE main character and like four support staff characters. The story was told through the main character's eyes. Nothing that happened was told through the support staff's eyes. Finally, my story took place in three years but only two days out of those three years. It started with an opening scene that took a few hours. . .then jumped ahead three years and finished on that day. I pulled the necessary details from the past three years for the reader to understand, but that was what I did. Remember to discipline yourself, you can do it!  |
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Post by dgan on Mar 31, 2005 7:36:33 GMT -5
It is not necessarily the best way to write a great story, but it is an excellent exercise! This was suggested by one of my instructors after coming to the end of his patience regarding my inability to conclude anything.
Write the ending of the story first. However, do not just write the last sentence or paragraph. Do not even write the most important sentence or paragraph. Write the entire ending.
Print it out, highlight the key elements, and refer to it often as you begin writing as you normally would. You will find it keeps you on target mentally, and makes your writing much more efficient.
Do this a few times on some grade-free exercises and you'll be amazed how it changes your focus. I actually have written a couple of short stories completely backwards, building a conclusion into a concept rather than the other way around. Of course, not very many people have a warped mind like mine.
Hint: Do not be afraid to re-write your ending once you've written the rest.
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Post by tulkas on Mar 31, 2005 16:03:40 GMT -5
Thanks, I'll try that.
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Post by laurelin on Apr 6, 2005 21:05:43 GMT -5
I had trouble with this until I took my fiction class. We had to write "short short fiction" which is extremely hard to do. I think it helped. What I had to do was to focus my range. For short short stories, you have to focus on a very very short period of time, like a single day, a night, even a few minutes, that are important for some reason. Use one or two, at the most three characters, and don't worry about the details so much as the atmosphere.
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