Comments | elizawrites: Back in the saddle etc etc

elizawrites

Back in the saddle etc etc

Feb 02, 2010 10:00

School started again last week and, oddly enough, I was really ready. As I walked up Michigan Avenue to the building where the Fiction Department is located, I felt less apprehensive than I usually feel when I start new classes. Instead, I was, dare I say, actually excited, face-melting cold notwithstanding. I feel like I’m finally getting on my ( Read more... )

Comments 3

stargazzy February 2 2010, 22:32:23 UTC

What *is* the steeplechase? Did I ask that before? Hmm.

stargazzy February 2 2010, 22:32:33 UTC

Is there a worksheet or something for it?

elizawrites February 5 2010, 21:55:54 UTC

There's a general form. I guess it can change a little bit, but here's what I did last semester:

1st or 3rd person
whichever POV you didn't use in the first step
model telling -- writing about how something always is.
from the POV of an unlikely person
basic form -- story within a story, letter, diary entry, folktale
overall storyteller POV. This is omniscient 3rd person
dialogue interaction or script form -- dialogue only.
contemporary form -- tv story, radio play, newspaper story
POV that's attractive for some reason
mode of reality shift -- if the story was realistic, change to dream form
stylistic parody
any direction you're attracted to

Okay, reading that, it's a bit jargon-y. Let me know if you need me to clarify something.

You take each step and write at least two pages. If things are going well, then keep going, but as soon as you start to lose steam then move on to the next one. This is also meant to be written in one or two big chunks of time. The important thing is to keep moving the story forward.