|
Exercise #581: Craft
Posted 8/1/14
Today's exercise is the second in a set of three, presented by B Paul Dean.
(Find the first one here.)
Journey Step 2
Writers have styles and techniques as varied as the multitude sitting at keyboards. This journey is not about style or technique. Its focus is to help you focus on why you do what you do.
In Step 1, you told us your idea. Now it's time to populate that idea.
Determine the character(s) to tell your story, those that you X Y Zd in Step 1. Be specific with the important traits. Explain why you think the character(s) you chose will be the best fit for your story, keeping in mind that these will be acting out your idea. Close your eyes and see them, then tell us what they look like. Be as thorough as seems right to you, but remember: characterization is so important that it really demands separate studies, the depths of which are outside the scope of this journey. If you have more than one character, who has the viewpoint? Which POV seems best? You might try several; you might have several. If you cannot yet explain these aspects of your story, keep working until you can, because until you can explain your characters and their relation to your idea, your idea will have fuzzy scenes, and the characters may come across as if they were ill contrived.
Remember, nothing is too sacred to revise. You should leave elbowroom to allow your characters to move the story in directions you may not yet foresee. After you make your character sketches, you will probably need to bend your original idea. Do some housekeeping. Turn it on edge and
shake out the sawdust. Try to solidify those maybes and decide any this-or-thats of your original idea sketch. Your story will gain traction and take form, like each pass of the hands up and down a lump of clay thrown on a potter's wheel. Each pass refines the shape.
Critiquers, along with the usual technical critique, you might answer these questions:
* Was this piece helpful to you as a writer?
* Why or why not?
Word limit: None
Please use the subject line
SUB: Exercise #581/yourname
|
