User: writing_101 (posted by ederyn) Date: 2008-10-12 14:36 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Tags: nanowrimo, writing tips

Oooh, NaNo's going to start up in just a few weeks, so we ought to begin planning for it now. Not that anyone has to join NaNoWriMo—no no no! But NaNo's an excellent motivator for the month of November, so we may as well take advantage of it, eh?

What's that? No ideas for a novel yet? Or maybe you have an idea for a plot but you're lacking some characters? Or perhaps you have characters, but no setting? Most of these came from writers_cafe or no_utopia, and they're excellent places to start:

( World Building )

( Character Building )

( How to Avoid Writing a Mary Sue )

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User: writing_101 (posted by cozzybob) Date: 2008-10-12 21:30 Subject: A test to eliminate backstory and make a scene stronger. Security: Public

E said I should post it, so here we go! You can blame her! Woot!


I found this really awesome exercise about eliminating back story, and making a scene stronger via the link about dialogue the post before E's:

http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingexercise1/ht/fowardmoving.htm

The challenge is to find a scene you don't particularly like (one that seems to be slow moving), and rewrite it as a screenplay. The idea is that, while writing it into a script, you're forced to think visually and through dialogue rather than narration. After the script is done, rewrite the scene again back into prose, and now you've got yourself a faster-paced scene with a stronger visual. (It's explained a lot better in the link... hee!)

Anyway, being tortured via insomnia, I decided last night to test it with an action scene that's been bothering me in my offline fic Stoop From Heaven. This is a GW fanfic, but there's no where it says you *can't* use fanfic, so here we go. ;)

Warning for bad language and violence!

( The scene written as a script. )

( This is the scene written back into prose. )

( This is the original scene. )


Doing this, I found it easier to spot inconsistencies in the action, as well as character's reactions. I think I rather like the rewritten version done this way, it seems to read better. I'll definitely replace it in the story.

Anyone else want to give it a go? It's rather hard to do and it takes forever, but in a bizarre way, it's also fun! It sort of makes me want to write a screenplay now. xD


EDIT: Oh, and I feel the need to say that even if I am happy with the rewritten version, I might need to add in some flowery-ness. Maybe. *ponders* One thing this certainly does is take away the literative beauty (metaphors, beat, ect) you may have had originally, and adding them back in is a pain in the butt. But it's still pretty effective with awkward scenes or a slow part of the story, I think.

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