Next weeks prompt: Write a scene that connects back to This One from the perspective of another character. You're not limited to the time that piece covers, but be sure to link back to it. A few direct quotes will probably help.
2/19/13 Meeting Recap
Next Week's Prompt: Dialogue Prompt recycle!
Teachable on the Prompt:
It's been a few months, we've got some new faces, and as we heard from Jn, this is a really valuable skill for anyone who wants to get a lot of ideas down on paper fast (Nanowrimo style.) You should check out the original post that talks about what we learned last time we did this.
We've focused a lot on constraints that force us to be hyper-creative with our diction these last few weeks, which is an excellent skill to develop. However, I wanted to get us back into thinking about characters & story telling for a while. This prompt in particular allows scenes to write themselves. All you're allowed to think about is "what will they say next" which leads to the setting, characters, plot and action all getting distilled down to only the stuff that's worth having your characters talk about it. Using these kinds of tools can limit Tolkein-esqu exposition (beautiful when done correctly, boring if done wrong) and grab your readers with the details that they care about because your characters care about them.
Also for your enlightenment and entertainment, I present to you: They're Made of Meat - Terry Bisson
Teachable on the Prompt:
It's been a few months, we've got some new faces, and as we heard from Jn, this is a really valuable skill for anyone who wants to get a lot of ideas down on paper fast (Nanowrimo style.) You should check out the original post that talks about what we learned last time we did this.
We've focused a lot on constraints that force us to be hyper-creative with our diction these last few weeks, which is an excellent skill to develop. However, I wanted to get us back into thinking about characters & story telling for a while. This prompt in particular allows scenes to write themselves. All you're allowed to think about is "what will they say next" which leads to the setting, characters, plot and action all getting distilled down to only the stuff that's worth having your characters talk about it. Using these kinds of tools can limit Tolkein-esqu exposition (beautiful when done correctly, boring if done wrong) and grab your readers with the details that they care about because your characters care about them.
Also for your enlightenment and entertainment, I present to you: They're Made of Meat - Terry Bisson
02/04/13 Meeting Recap
Next weeks Prompt: Write a new piece or re-write one of your old pieces as a lipogram or using some other type of highly restricted writing (see below for details).
Challenge Mode: Write using prisoners case- no letters with ascenders or descenders.
Prompt from last week: Found Names Character Sketch
Our assignment was to find a name, fictional or otherwise, and use it to create a short character sketch. The personality and traits of our character would develop solely from the name itself, and the context in which we found it. We ended up using names we found in homework articles, old books, graffiti, broken signs, and other mediums. The characters that came out of these 'found names' were varied, and most even seemed to take on some characteristics quite different from their own authors.
Teachable moment brought to you by Jenn! Restricted Writing!
Challenge Mode: Write using prisoners case- no letters with ascenders or descenders.
Prompt from last week: Found Names Character Sketch
Our assignment was to find a name, fictional or otherwise, and use it to create a short character sketch. The personality and traits of our character would develop solely from the name itself, and the context in which we found it. We ended up using names we found in homework articles, old books, graffiti, broken signs, and other mediums. The characters that came out of these 'found names' were varied, and most even seemed to take on some characteristics quite different from their own authors.
Teachable moment brought to you by Jenn! Restricted Writing!
This is one of Jenn's favorite techniques when she gets into a writing rut. To put it simply, restricted writing is any writing done to conform to a set of rules. A sonnet or a haiku would count as would acrostic poetry. We discussed lipograms in more specific detail. Lipograms are written by choosing to not use words that contain one or more specific letters. Jenn wrote her character sketch in this form as an example. We also discussed and read a few passages from George Perec's book A Void which dances around the letter E but never uses it. It is rarely possible to simply substitute words for synonyms when attempting a lipogram. This forces the writer to use different words and modify sentence structure as well.
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