Finding your story

FINDIN

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YOUR

STO

RY

A W

RI T

ING

WO

RK

SH

OP

BY

JEN

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MA

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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY STORY?

Story = what characters do/experience (action)+

in some place (setting) +

at some time (event)

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PLOT?

This happened

then this happened

and then this happened

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY STORY?

Characters (who want something)

in a particular place

and time

doing stuff (to get what they want)

ERNEST HEMMINGWAY’S 6 WORD STORY

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

https://brianocarroll.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/drama-faces-again-03.jpg

The writer

chooses

the best way

to tell their story

THE WRITER DECIDES …

- Form (poem, play, narrative, verse narrative) - Genre (horror, fantasy, historical, sci fi, romance,

thriller, realistic, mystery, gothic), - Characters (narrator, point of view) - Time frame (past, present, future) - Setting (historical place, contemporary, futuristic)- Events or complications (what goes wrong)

YOU FIND YOUR STORY FROM:- Memories

- Experiences

- Friends & Family

- Conversations

- Research – Facts / History

- Newspapers / Magazines / TV / Internet

- Other Books / Stories

- Everyday Life – school, home, shops, travel

- Imagination

GO TRAWLING TO ‘TRIGGER’ IDEAS

Read newspapers, magazines, internet sites, travel brochures, dictionaries, ancient myths, comic books

Listen to music and songs

Look at artworks, plays, films, emoticons, emails, shorthand, SMS texts, advertisements, billboards

KEEP A WRITER’S NOTEBOOK

Be observant. Keep the notebook with you at all times. Jot down

anything of interest. These may inspire you to write a story.

Think of yourself as bowerbird ‘collecting’ gems. Gems

will involve names, events, places, smells, sounds, taste,

thoughts, gossip, feelings, dialogue (external and

internal), imaginings, quotes, sayings, myths, meanings.

GO ON A CHARACTER HUNT

- Go for a walk, catch a bus, sit in a coffee shop

- Watch people leaving a train station

- Find ‘interesting’ characters who spark a story idea

- Another great place to ‘find’ a character is to look at

clothes in an op shop, St Vincent’s de Paul etc.

- Walking stick- Sunscreen- Gumboots- White leather shoes- Cigar

- Wig- False eyelashes- Scooter- Football jersey- Balloon

USE PROPS TO CREATE YOUR CHARACTER

USE PROPS TO CREATE CHARACTERS

Give them:

name, age, gender, profession, relationships, friends,

pets, hobbies, sports, favourite food, likes/dislikes,

political beliefs, personality traits, quirky habits, fears,

secrets, goals, past experiences, beliefs, appearance,

abnormalities, position in family, shameful past etc.

- phrases- names - euphemisms eg vertically challenged

- oxymorons eg original copy

- accents- exaggerations

- jargon - slang- swear words- excuses- lies- ‘child’ language- malapropismseg prostate/prostrate

EAVESDROP – COLLECT “SNIPPETS” TO USE AS DIALOGUE

MEMORIES …

- return as fragments- are not linear- rely on the sense (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch)- are associated with details such as emotions, fears,

thoughts, gossip, dialogue, sensations, inside and outside events, status (power) etc.

- are ‘constructed’ and not necessarily reliable

MEMORY EXERCISE: WRITE ABOUT THE FOLLOWING

- Your first temptation- A memorable fight/worst fight with a friend.- A time in your life when you lied.- A time when you heard something that changed your life.- A memorable photograph you took, or have in your possession.- When you cried.- A time when you took a risk.- The time when you got into the most trouble.- Your earliest memory.- Your favourite age.- Describe memories of the birth of a sibling.- When you conquered a fear.

AVOID THE CLICHÉ

- Clichés are overused phrases, sentences or plot lines

- They bore your readers

- Use fresh images in similes and metaphors

Examples: Her skin is pale like eggshells.

The sun is like a branding iron on my neck.

Dark clouds bruised the sky.

- Write unexpected plot lines

EXERCISE: WRITE A SIMILE OR METAPHOR FOR

- clouds

- fog

- cheese

- the ocean

- anger

- tears

TO AVOID CLICHÉ PLOTS ASK ‘WHAT IF?’

What if my character doesn’t like going to work?

What if a storm comes?

What if an evil wizard wants what the character has?

What if I put my character in a funny situation?

What if my character is in danger?

WHAT IF? EXAMPLE

A parcel arrives in the post.

The obvious conclusion is that it is a present.

In the ‘what if’ game we avoid the obvious.

- What if the parcel contains 1,000 pairs of undies?

- What if the parcel has been delivered to the wrong address?

- What if the parcel is empty?

REPEAT YOUR ‘WHAT IF?’

- What if the parcel is empty?

- What if the parcel is not really empty but contains

poisonous gases that are invisible and without odour?

- What if it’s a secret message that is decoded in the

sender’s details?

- What if someone receives the parcel, then immediately

takes their own life?

CHOOSE AN EVERYDAY SCENARIO AND ASK WHAT IF?

- A man walks into a bank- A baby is crying in its pram- An plane lands on the tarmac- A woman dives into a river- A person in black leather rides past on a Harley- A ship docks at a wharf- A car overtakes another

Congratulations!

You now have some ideas

for a plot.

SUMMARY

- Ideas are everywhere - Write your ideas in a notebook- They can come from written, visual or verbal sources- It’s up to you what you decide to do with your ideas- All stories start from ideas – some small, some big- Avoid clichés - Always ask ‘What if?’

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JENI MAWTER