01/10/2010 Week 2
* My work schedule has changed to 12 hour shifts & has proved to be a challenge.
I was able to be pretty consistent with my devotional, but didn't have time to journal.
Honestly I read assignments & today I will get them done. Here is a brief summary of what I learned/
Tuesday/MOTIVATIONAL-Thought: Don't let the lack of Grammar mastery slow your writing down. Learn what you can & then remember there are copyeditors who can help in the end.
Wednesday/WRITING CLASS- Assignment: Write a book review for a book you didn't like. Now that is hard for me, because if I don't like it I put it down & get another book. Also you need to give examples of what you didn't like about it. I am not going to skip it, so I will think hard about a book & write review this weekend.
Thursday/EDITING-Assignment:
For even short pieces of writing you need to have certain things in place before you put one word on paper:
1-start with an OUTLINE.
2-write a brief SYNOPSIS with a beginning, middle & end.
3-write a MASTER PLOT LIST for each character-it substantiates why they are in story.
4-create a BACKSTORY for each character- flesh out who they are & how they are interconnected, identify motivations & how these affect the plot.
Then you are ready to write- compare final to these lists & ask the hard question if different-why & should it be.
Of all the days Thursday is the hardest, yet the best assignment. In my excitement about an idea- I just wanted start writing but ever piece is not worthy of writing. If all the above can't be done, then I should probably look for another story. I am doing this assignment with a short story I am working on. I am finding that as great as I thought the story was- it may not in fact be a writable story. On my next post I will go into detail about why not:).
Don't be hard on yourself. Yesterday and today are the first two days I've really felt like writing or even thinking. I feel so much better after 10 days of a viral illness. :) Thursday's assignment is a great assignment I think I'll apply that one to the article I'm going to write. My creative writing assignment today is to go outside and take pictures of inanimate objects for fifteen minutes then free write about the experience or pick an object and write about it. The author is trying to help one break the habit of seeing the obvious.....and put a new angle on the familiar. Keep writing and encouraging.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenda- just what I needed to hear. Sorry about your virus- I was at home Friday & Sat with Olivia who has the flu. Her mom couldn't take off so I kept her. Praying I don't get the flu too. I haven't gotten much writing done, but I have gotten a lot of reading in.
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