How about diving straight in? You know, "It's July of 1815, and ever since Bonaparte's stunning victory at Waterloo etc. etc."...?
My heart expands / 'tis grown a bulge in't / inspired by / your beauty effulgent.
William ,'Conversations with Dead People'
The Great Write Way, Chapter Two: Twice upon a time...
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
amych - Jan 03, 2008 10:00:13 am PST #9633 of 10001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Susan W. - Jan 03, 2008 10:49:08 am PST #9634 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Hm. I could do something like, "When Famous Name died in Premature Year, no one could have guessed that the death of such an obscure and insignificant young man would lead twenty-five years later to Event Y."
-t - Jan 03, 2008 11:35:27 am PST #9635 of 10001
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Yeah, I like that. I also think "What if" is okay and in the sci-fi tradition of describing alternate histories, but the "When So-and-so died" is grabbier.
Write whatever you have, MM! A scrap of dialog, a scene, an outline, whatever is in your head that is making you think the story could work. It doesn't have to burst full-grown from your forehead.
Pay no attention to the ideas I keep shoving over into the corner because I need to focus on doing laundry and unpacking. I want to read yours.
erikaj - Jan 04, 2008 10:23:24 am PST #9636 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Is anyone interested in taking a look at my essay that's sort of about sex, but without very many Dirty Parts...it's for the feministing yes means yes anthology(Well, if they accept it) Deadline's in March, but I want a few weeks to polish it. Thanks!
Typo Boy - Jan 04, 2008 10:37:06 am PST #9637 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Erika - if you want my take, my e-mail profile is good.
erikaj - Jan 04, 2008 10:39:23 am PST #9638 of 10001
Always Anti-fascist!
Cool...I'll finish writing the draft over the weekend and send it Monday. Thank you!
Susan W. - Jan 07, 2008 12:26:22 pm PST #9639 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Has anyone heard of a book on screenwriting called Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder? My local RWA chapter is having him in to give a workshop, and I'm trying to decide if it'd be useful to me as someone who's not a screenwriter and has no aspirations to ever become one, but who is trying to write a page-turning adventure story.
Typo Boy - Jan 07, 2008 1:23:29 pm PST #9640 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
You know what helps answer a question like that? Ask the person giving the workshop. If he is not a total jerk, he will answer honestly. And if he is a total jerk, there is a reasonable chance his reply will reveal it.
Amy - Jan 07, 2008 2:01:32 pm PST #9641 of 10001
Because books.
I haven't heard of it, Susan, but I don't know much about screenwriting either.
I think in terms of building a three-act story, though, the workshop could be really valuable. Because ten to one, he's not going to talk about script format but about story arcs.
Liese S. - Jan 08, 2008 6:03:31 pm PST #9642 of 10001
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."
Two verses about fear.
Why I Do What I Do
(and what it’s doing to me)
He said, "Two people I know were killed this weekend."
And I just nodded.
I asked him how it happened,
but not who, for fear I knew.
Thoughts On Introversion
He called with the invitation.
I declined, of course.
And then I lied with the reason
So he'd have something reasonable to say to them.
It wasn't until later that I realized
I couldn't go because I was still working.
But I'd given an excuse
Assuming I couldn't go because of fear.