Welcome to episode 5 of Abuse Your Muse, a podcast for creative writing enthusiasts. Find show notes, discussed links, and other goodies at zannim.com.
Intro music:
“Duduk Improvisation” by Sergo.tel, shared under a Creative Commons license.
Mentioned:
- NaNoWriMo, starting November 1, 2012.
- Camp NaNoWriMo, starting August 1, 2012.
- The Snowflake Method
- Pre-NaNoWriMo entries, the bulk of which will be unveiled each day in October.
Assignment: Expand each sentence of your paragraph, into a paragraph each, spanning about a page total.
Questions:
- Where & When
- The society and culture in which your characters live?
- Particular season?
- Monarchy, democracy, other political or ruling system?
- Important times coming up: an occasion, the passing of a popular or important person, a religious happening, a festival?
- Another world, another dimension?
- Who
- Major protagonists?
- Major antagonists?
- What are their families like?
- Members of a particular class in social heirarchy?
- Mannerisms?
- Roles in the story?
- First names?
- How & What
- How will the story start?
- How will it progress?
- What will your characters look forward to or endure?
- What happens next?
- What happens at the most major climactic moment?
- What happens after?
- Why
- Why are you writing about this story?
- Why is this story important to your characters?
- Why are you not starting the story sooner, or ending the story later?
- Act 1
- What happens at the beginning of Act 1?
- What happens in the middle?
- What happens at the end of Act 1?
- How does your character change from beginning to end of this Act?
- Act 2
- What happens at the beginning of Act 2?
- What happens in the middle?
- What happens at the end of Act 2?
- How does your character change from beginning to end of this Act?
- Act 3
- What happens at the beginning of Act 3?
- What happens in the middle?
- What happens at the end of Act 3?
- How does your character change from beginning to end of this Act?
- Don’t forget the conclusion.
Get inspiration:
- Read the headlines of newspapers or magazines.
- Listen to conversations. Pay attention to those you participate in.
- Randomly search a word in Google Images.
- Take inspiration from your real life experiences. A blog or journal is a great source.
- Write about your daydreams or wildest fantasies.
- Make a cluster or mind map.
- Study characters on a television show or in a commercial.
- Free-write for a short amount of time.
- Think about a particular song and its lyrics, and what they evoke.
Mentioned:
- Pema Chödrön: “Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.”
- Unfilth Your Habitat, by the keeper of the blog UfYH.
- Adulting
- Explanation of the 20/10.
Title and closing music:
“The Wire” by Dan-O, shared under a Creative Commons license.
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