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Lesson Excerpts
From The Workshops
Excerpt from
Level One, Holding It Together
Defining beginnings that grab, middles
that involve, and perfect endings.
...The
beginning, middle and end must make sense to
the reader, and it must also feel “right” to
the writer. Even if you don’t plan on making
your writing public, don’t cheat yourself by
writing incomplete stories. You want to
enjoy the writing experience, and your
readers will want a good read, if it's your
desire to one day share your writing.
What
does a beginning do? It sets a mood,
introduces a character(s), describes a
problem or event. Where does the story
take place? What’s happening? These are
some of the elements that give the story a
beginning place.
Beginnings do not have to be long; middles
are generally the “thickest” part of the
story, and endings may be quick or drawn
out. There are no concrete rules about
length. Remember, we’re at the beginning of
the writing process, and length does not
concern us at this point.
Assignment From your list of
life experiences and memories, note the ones
you are most passionate about, that are
vivid in your memory or create an emotion in
you. Now think of some possible beginnings
and just write...
Excerpt from
Level Two,
Using
The Right Words
Genre, time
period, and character demand the correct use
of words.
So why do
the words you use matter? To answer that,
let’s explore a bit of human psychology.
Whether
they realize it or not, humans soak up
whatever environment they are currently
involved in. Our brains pick up millions of
bits of data as we see, talk, touch, hear
and feel our way through life. Because there
is so much data taken in, we must organize
it. In so doing, we stick the data into
categories where our brain can easily
retrieve it. In laymen’s terms, this can be
called “pigeon-holing” or “stereotyping”. We
all do it; it’s the only way we can make
sense of our world.
We do the
same thing with references to history,
clothing style, culture, and so on. We
categorize literally everything. If
something is presented to us out of context
– like boots being placed in our sweater
drawer to use a simple analogy – our brains
tell us that this is wrong. For example,
Henry’s reaction will first be disbelief.
Perhaps the words going through his head
will be, “Now why did Mabel ever think that
these boots – which are muddy, too – belong
in the sweater drawer?” Disbelief turns to
anger and an end to Henry’s otherwise
peaceful day.
Writers,
in much the same way, must be sure that the
words fit the genre, time period, planet,
character and every other aspect of our
writing to keep the reader believing what we
wrote. I have set books aside, which I never
did pick up again, that assaulted my sense
of believing; the wrong words ruined the fun
of reading the story! The key is to keep
your readers believing what you have
written.
Assignment Practice how
the following statements can be rewritten
based on genre, character, time period and
other conditions.
Excerpt from Level Three, Exposing
Yourself
How to bravely
reveal anything about yourself (or others)
through storytelling.
That’s a
good question, isn’t it? How much should you
reveal through your writing? Perhaps you
have a really juicy situation or character
you’d like to write about, and the thought
of this won’t leave you alone. But you’re
hesitant because you think that someone may
think less of you for revealing it.
Having
fear of saying too much is understandable;
but let’s begin with a comforting thought:
nobody but you knows how much “truth”
there is to your fiction telling or how much
is purely imagination. Of course, you must
consider the audience you’re writing for. If
you’re writing erotica, then titillation is
what your readers are looking for. If you’re writing an article for a
local newspaper, then…you’ll want to keep
the juicy stuff to yourself!
Only you
can be the judge of the appropriateness of a
certain piece. You must, however, be aware
of libel!
Assignment What are some
subjects you consider to be taboo and you
would never consider making public?
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