Today I am ripping the band-aid off, taking the plunge and putting my work out there. Yes folks I am unveiling a story I wrote last year entitled, The Prefect. To help with the unveiling I am enlisting the help of Google Docs. I have uploaded the story and will share the link later on in the post.
First I want to tell you all a bit about the story. There are no spoilers in this post, I promise. I wrote The Prefect specifically for a creative writing course that I took last year with Earl Lovelace. I read it in class and was given the following advice, the beginning was too wordy so I changed it from, "This is how it all began. I bet you thought I was gonna say something maudlin like this is how I died, yeah, no, before you jump to conclusions, let me assure you this is not that type of story. But what does happen is that become so corrupt you may mistake me for a Politician, but I am not. Although, it is strange how this one little change in my life turned me a once innocent and pure individual into a dark villainous character." To "In the recounting of this tale you may mistake me for a Politician on account of how corrupt I become, but I am not! Although, it is strange..." I was also told that each word should count and I must admit that was some pretty sound advice. All authors have to abide by certain word limits based on whatever piece of writing they are working on, be it a short story, a novel etc. Even the contest I am entering has a word limit on it, the story must be between 2000 and 5000 words.I think this might be a bit of a challenge for me but it's one I will meet head-on. Anyway without further ado here is the link to The Prefect. I hope you all enjoy it! https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_eKOq9mvv-GaEtqdTlicG9fa28
Today marks the end of the tools of the writing trade posts. It's kind of sad and also nerve-wracking too because it heralds the beginning of the writing process, where I actually sit and write The BoogeyMan. Anyway this last post focuses on one of the most important aspects of writing a story, character. There are several different types of characters; flat, round, stock, protagonist and antagonist.
Flat Characters are minor characters in a work of fiction who do not undergo any substantial change or growth during the course of the story. Flat Characters are also known as two-dimensional characters or static characters. They play a supporting role to the main character. Examples of static characters are Cinderella's wicked stepmother and Mr Collins from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. On the other hand, Round Characters encounter conflict and are irrevocably changed by it. They tend to be more developed than flat characters. Round Characters are also known as main characters, major characters and dynamic characters. Example of round character is Dark Vader.
Meanwhile Stock Characters are easily recognized and accepted by the reader and requires no development by the writer. Stock Characters are so easily recognized and accepted because their characteristics and mannerisms are drawn from widely known cultural types. Examples of stock characters are the mad scientist and the dumb blonde.
The Protagonist also known as the main character or hero is the character the reader empathizes with.
The antagonist however opposes the hero and is not very well liked but usually provides conflict whenever he/she is present.
There are different methods of developing characters, Wikipedia lists them and defines them as
Appearance explains or describes the character's outward appearance so the readers can picture them, and identify them relative to other characters.
Dialogue is what characters say and how they say it.
For this latest installment of tools of the writing trade I am going to do something different I think its apt since I am dealing with the elements of a story theme and most importantly language which is directly linked to what I am currently doing have you figured it out yet I am doing a post with no punctuation whatsoever I came across the idea on YouTube while looking through videos that pertain to elements of a story so I thought I would give it a test run to see if I like it enough to do my story in this style I have to say that I am not loving it so far it is an annoyance to my eyes and brain but one must sacrifice for ones craft right anyway enough of that time to get on with the topic at hand
Theme which according to Wikipedia is
the central idea or insight serving as a unifying element, creating cohesion and is an answer to the question, 'What did you learn from the piece of fiction?
Most people when asked what the theme of a book or movie is simply reply love or betrayal etc I have also been guilty of this on occasion but there is more to theme than that I was watching this video that a teacher posted on YouTube on theme in it he said that theme is the idea the writer expresses on that particular subject for example love is blind or love leads to heartache and pain etc
One of the themes of The Boogeyman is never give up no matter how hard or painful life is keep going because there is light at the end of that very painful and long tunnel check out the video it gives interesting insight on theme
The video was not coming up in the insert video tab so I posted the link instead
Now on to the other half of this post language to me is a beautiful thing it allows the writer to create vivid pictures in the readers mind it can also help to attract and keep the readers attention there are many literary figures of speech that help to achieve these goals I will just highlight two of my favourites in this post metaphor according to Wikipedia is
a literary figure of speech that describes a subject by
asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise
unrelated object. Metaphor is a type of analogy and is closely related to other rhetoricalfigures of speech that achieve
their effects via association, comparison or resemblance including allegory, hyperbole, and simile.
An example of a metaphor is all men are dogs the video below is a rap on different types of figurative language
Next up is simile which is
a figure of speech that directly compares two
different things, usually by employing the words "like" or "as". It is different
from a metaphor, which compares two
unlike things by saying that the one thing is the other thing, unlike the simile
that uses word like or as
For an example of a simile just look at the title of the song below
Last week I started three posts that I could not seem to finish writing no matter how hard I tried. It seemed the harder I tried the worse it got. I went from sluggishly typing a word every now and then to a complete stop. I stared at a mostly blank screen for hours, hands poised over the keyboard and nada, not a word, or a sentence, or even a thought for that matter would spring forth.
What made it worse was the house was very noisy; my nephew was crying, televisions were blaring loudly, people were also talking loudly everything was just so LOUD and I needed complete silence because I was having difficulty writing, but silence I knew was not happening anytime soon *big deep sigh* because people need to talk, toddlers need to cry and movies sound better in surround sound. What was a girl to do in a situation like this?
I stared at the computer screen some more hoping that inspiration would pop out of its back-lighted depths but no such luck was forthcoming. What did happen though was this thought, Timi girl like you experiencing writer's block or something, quickly followed by this thought, I could do a post on writer's block; writing about not being able to write just might get me out of this writing funk, writer's block or whatever it was I was experiencing at the time.
So I checked Wikipedia to see what they had to say on the topic, it was along the lines of what I thought it was except for the part about it lasting for years, that part kind of freaked me out a little.
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked" writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers.
I also checked YouTube, so I'd have the option to use either one or the other but I ended up choosing to use both because the video I found on YouTube paints a different and I have to say scarier picture to me at least. The woman in the video uses the words FEAR, EMOTIONAL ISSUES, PARALYSIS...but what I think scares me most about this video is that some of the things she said are so true of me, it had me wondering whether writer's block was in my future.
Honestly I cannot imagine not being able to write for years possibly even never and yes I know there was a time when I actually stopped/chose not to write. I used to write stories accompanied by drawings in primary school, then I got sick and was hospitalized and I stopped writing...then I was too afraid to write but none of that is the same as or compares to NOT BEING ABLE to write.
The video is posted below please take a look at it, do not be afraid to watch it because of what I said, it scared me because I saw me in certain things she said but that does not mean that you should not watch it, it really is an interesting video and definitely an interesting and different take on writer's block.
P.S. I finished the three posts later that night, into the wee hours of the next morning and published them.
This installlment of tools of the writing trade focuses on the element of a story, conflict. Conflict, according to Wikipedia.com can be
internal or external—that is, it may occur within a character's mind or between a character and exterior forces. Conflict is most visible between two or more characters, usually a protagonist and an antagonist, but can occur in many different forms.
There are five types of conflict; man vs self, man vs man, man vs society, man vs nature and last but not least man vs machine.
Man vs Self (Internal)
With this type of conflict the character struggles against his/her own will, fears, emotional issues, confusion and or mental issues. What is important to note is that even though the conflict takes place internally, external forces can still influence the character.
In the picture above Edward Norton's character's conflict is mental, as he battles his alter-ego/doppelganger who is bent on mayhem and destruction. To find out which personality emerged the victor in this battle you need to watch the film, Fight Club.
Conflict with self is one of the types of conflict present in my story, The BoogeyMan. The heroine/main character (protagonist) of my story finds herself in a moral dilemma due to a situation beyond her control, she struggles with the decision she made to get out of the situation as it goes against everything she was brought up to believe but she sees no other way out for her.
Man vs Man (External)
This type of conflict usually pits the protagonist (hero) against the antagonist (anti-hero/villian) as the antagonist acts as a foil ("a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character" (Wikipedia, 2012), this helps to drive the plot along. This type of conflict can either be a mental battle of the wills or it can be physical, in order words it can break out into fisticuffs (combat with fists) as seen in the picture above from the movie The Dark Knight.
Batman stands up for what is right whereas Joker is the opposite, he stands for evil and as a result of this they will always be at loggerheads with each other, there will always be conflict between them.
The BoogeyMan also contains an element of man vs man conflict in it as the protagonist and antagonist go at it but it is a one-sided battle because one is physically stronger than the other.
Man vs Society (External)
The protagonist usually battles against an unjust government as seen in the movie V for Vendetta where the main character, V was vehemently against the government and all it stood for. This type of conflict may also be against a culture, or an institution like the church.
The BoogeyMan also contains this type of conflict but it is battle between man, culture and government with a bit of religion.
Man vs Nature (External)
This type of conflict sees man going up against the forces of nature for his very survival.
In the movie Castaway Tom Hanks' character experiences this very struggle when the plane he was travelling in crashes, leaving him stranded on a deserted island where he is now forced to fend for himself against the forces of nature. Nature acts as foil to his wanting to get back to civilization by throwing obstacles in his path, to keep him trapped in the middle of nowhere.
This particular conflict is not applicable to the BoogeyMan as it does not contain a man vs nature element.
Man vs Machine (External)
Man versus Machine places the protagonist against a being with artificial intelligence. An example of this type of conflict can be seen in the movie Thor, where Thor fights the Destroyer.
To end this post I'll leave you with two Youtube videos that reiterate what I've said. The first one uses different books to portray the different types of conflict and the second video uses movies. I hope you all enjoy!
