Week 12:
1. I want you to think of some ideas for your own autobiographical short story. Think about your own experiences. "Write what you know" is a famous piece of advice. Start out by writing a piece called “I remember.” This piece is a brainstorm, free flow of thoughts that can work as a prewriting strategy. If you handwrite, this should be 30 lines at least. If you type, this should be 15 lines at least (12 point font). If you get stuck, just write “I remember” and restart. You may write about just one memory the whole time or a bunch of different memories.
2. Next, think of at least FIVE ideas of stories that have happened to you or someone that you know well that you can retell in a short story (creative license is fine here to fill in some details).
So that you have some other options, write down THREE more ideas in which you can be a little more creative. That is, you don't have to write about an actual instance in your life, but base it on what you know. Nathan Englander explains that sometimes, “'Write what you know’ isn’t about events… It’s about emotions. Have you known love? jealousy? longing? loss? Did you want that [video game system] so bad you might have killed for it? If so, it doesn't matter whether your story takes place in Long Island or on Mars – if you’re writing what you know, readers will feel it.”
3. Choose your top THREE story ideas from above. For each of those three story ideas, write a descriptive paragraph that focuses in on a character or a setting within that story idea, using imagery.
No comments:
Post a Comment