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First draft:
Editing: The Amulet of Sìochàin
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| Creativity Workshop: Goals |
| Friday, 07 May 2010 19:04 |
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Having been thoroughly distracted by the General Election here in the UK, I'm posting my goals a little later than planned - but it's still Friday for me, so I think it's okay. ;) This wasn't the easiest task in the world (which of course bodes really well, since this is just the warm up) but I'm fairly pleased with them as they are. I think I now have a pretty clear idea of what I want to achieve, and I'm quite excited about starting to write these stories. Block One Goal: Explore different points of view Genre: Urban fantasy One of the issues I mentioned in my issues and interests post was that I seem to be slightly stuck in 3rd person POV. I'd like to explore both 1st person and 3rd person objective POVs and see how they turn out for me - it's been a while since I wrote in 1st person, and I'm not sure I've ever tried writing an entirely objective POV in fiction. The word objective, along with the concept of the Eyewitness television series my husband keeps telling me to watch, made me think it would be interesting to explore these different points of view within the context of one particular event. As a result, that will be the link between these four stories. I'm going with urban fantasy for this section. I think the event will take place at night in the middle of a city, not too busy but with a few bystanders, and will probably involve a shapeshifter performing some kind of rescue. (It will not be a werewolf, and there will be no vampires. This may only be for my own eyes, but there's enough werewolf/vampire fiction out there already. I'm thinking maybe the shapeshifter will be some kind of bird, but once I put pen to paper anything could happen.) So, that will be the key event that ties the four stories. Then they will each be in a different POV. In Week One, I want to try 3rd person objective - detached observation, what happened, how it happened. This is mainly for experimental purposes, but I want to try and ensure that I don't touch any of the characters' thoughts at this stage. This will also give me a skeleton for the following three stories. Then weeks two to four will each be from the point of view of a different character on the scene - I'll find out more about those in Week One, and then spend the first day or so of each week exploring those characters before starting to write. (In Week One I'll spend that time figuring out what actually happens - either that, or I'll jump right in like the pantser I sometimes am and find out with everyone else.) These three stories may not necessarily be set in precisely the same time frame as the first, since they may look at the effects of the event rather than the event itself, but the event will still be the catalyst. Block Two Goal: Explore different relationship dynamics Genre: Contemporary This block will actually touch on two points. The one I actually mentioned in my issues and interests post was that I wanted to explore different genres, in particular those which didn't involve magic. I'm already trying urban fantasy in Block One, but this is a rather more radical departure. I'd say it's more of an interest than an issue, since I genuinely love writing fantasy, but nevertheless this may be a bit of a challenge. Still, the issue I'm really focusing on here is relationship dynamics. (So if I end up with some fairy dust in there after all, that's okay. Really.) I'd never really thought about it until I saw Eliza's post on her issues and interests, but none of my characters really have any friends - certainly not at the start of my stories. They rarely have any close family either, and if they do, those family members don't tend to feature in the story much. I seem to struggle to write anything without incorporating some kind of romantic relationship, but other than that, most of my characters' relationships aren't really very meaningful. I don't have quite such a clear idea of the stories for this block yet, although I'm sure I'll get there. However, I do have four relationship types I'd like to explore:
I do know that I want this series to be set in a small town. I may also use the idea of a linking event here if I feel the need for some additional focus (although shapeshifting superheroes are definitely out of the question). However I hope that won't be necessary - I'd like to be able to keep the link as simple as location for this block. Block Three: Goal: To incorporate more description of setting without info-dumping, and to ensure that the setting is important to the story Genre: Fantasy The major issue I'd like to work on over the course of the workshop is my fear of using too much description. I've got to the point where I shy away from anything at all, so that a lot of the time I don't give any real impression of the setting of the scene or story in question. I want to work on feeding more description into my work, and I think a good way of trying to do that is by working on ensuring that my settings are important to the stories. For this one I'm going with my traditional stomping ground and throwing myself back into traditional fantasy. I think I've definitely been influenced by Merrilee's goal post, in which she mentions that her first block will explore heroic females - there's a band of mercenaries in my head now, and they seem to be led by a particularly bossy (and rather snarky) dark-headed female. I don't know her name yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. (If she's as insistent as I suspect she might be, I may have to bump this series up to Block Two, but I'm going to try and resist that.) So for this block, it'll be the characters who link the series. Their stories will take place in four different locations, which at this stage will most likely be the following:
And I think that's everything. I hope it is, anyway, because this is a ridiculously long post. Sorry about that. :) |
Comments
I can't wait to get started. Are you feeling like that, too?