Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Aspects of the Novel

The novelist E.M. Forster (1927) explains a story is ‘a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence’ and a plot is ‘also a narrative of events, with the emphasis falling on causality.’ (Forster, E. (1927) Aspects of the Novel, Harmondsworth: Pelican. p. 87.)
For example, ‘The king died, and then the queen died’ is a story. ‘The king died and then the queen died of grief’ is a plot.
This is because there is a reason given for the queen dying. In a story, someone dying is not in itself interesting. It is the reason for the death that fascinates the reader, especially if the reason is connected with something that has happened to, or been done by, another character.

Monday, January 08, 2018

Blank pages

"Remember, sometimes the best inspiration comes after the first few pages."
Prep
Gathering information or research.
Visualization: 'Unpacking’ an image, and discovering its significance through writing about it.
Length: Approximate before you write it.
Shape: Dialogue or description? Sections or scenes?"

Continue

The schoolroom was full of light, yet a bit worn at the proverbial heels. So many anticipations and expectations thwarted or encouraged in the space of 60 minute intervals, day in, day out. Each student wondering: Will this be mentor? Will this be nemesis? Will this teacher "hold forth" or be an "active learner" along side us? Give me your fresh ideas and enthusiasm, share with me your dreams and aspirations, and I will reach deep inside my soul to find my own. The scuffed and chalky floors, the lack of air conditioning, the noise from down the hall won't matter as I am transported through transference to a mystical, magical place full of pure, shared thought.
I stopped my flow of thought for the umpteenth time that day, hell, more like hour. I knew the words wouldn't be there when I turned back to the page. Well, there would be words, but they would be different. The direction would have shifted slightly and the rhythm would have skipped a beat or two. Perhaps the change would be noticed by the reader, perhaps not, but here was a another destination I would miss, another depot without a connection. Laying tracks requires some degree of privacy, I noted, and sounded the whistle.

Writing and routines

Routine seems antithema to my creative process. However, having a "room of one's own" aka space physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually is paramount. A window in one's mind, from which to survey experience, allows the muse to enter and also allows for the curtains to be drawn when we are not yet ready to reveal or confront what we know.

Free online writing wkshps

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/futurelearn/fiction

FutureLearn Start writing fiction...

So different and yet so much the same as her predecessors, the shy little kitten had become a young feline, strong and agile, full of attitude, replete with studied indifference. I watched her move from cat tree to cat bed to a corner of crumpled covers where I had just been sleeping. As I stretched a hand out to cuddle her, she jumped lithely to the window seat where a bird chattered enticingly, yet comfortably, out of reach.
I lie here propped up with a million pillows, observer of the observing. Her view is limited by a screen and panes of glass; she would not welcome full access even if it were to tasty tweetful feathers. She is a shy and cautious cat, hesitant to accept a caress, hiding at the first sign of infringement on her space. Her favorite spot always wherever I am not.
I yearn to hold her silky soft and purring, feeling the weight of her relaxation as she melts into my lap. But no, her spot is high on my chest, as close to being wrapped around my neck as she once was when a wee fur ball tucked under my chin.
No, now, her big feet with the extra toes, pick the tenderest spot on my chest to plant themselves, whether coming or going from my furtive, stolen embraces.