TEN SIMPLE KEYS TO PLOT STRUCTURE Structure is something that every agent and executive in Hollywood talks about, and that all of us teachers/authors/consultants/gurus/whatever go on and on about, to the point that it can seem complicated, intricate, mysterious and hard to master. So I want present plot structure in a way that simplifies it – that will at least give you a starting point for properly structuring your screenplay without overwhelming you with rules and details and jargon. Here are what I consider ten key elements of structure – ten ways of looking at structure that will immediately improve the emotional impact – and commercial potential – of your script. THE SINGLE RULE OF STRUCTURE I once got to work with long time television writer Doug Heyes, who used to say that there is only one rule for achieving proper plot structure: What’s happening now must be inherently more interesting than what just happened.
Random Book Title Generator Hit a button to share with your friends Brought to You in League With... Leave a message for ANY other driver in the world, check your messages too! So funnny you'll ROFL, maybe PYP The best Comedic Wit in the world Put on your 3D Glasses & freak out! Random Movie Plot Script Generator Eye & Brain Melting Optical Illusions Your IP Address, spoken for the lazy Virtual Reality 3D Face Generator Other Sites & Ppl We Like Ripper's Oculus RiftVideo of the DaySausage DoggieNissan Figaro BlogUK Thunderstorm DetectorUK Bank Holiday DatesToy RayGun CollectorCool GadgetsUKDad Ukulele BlogWebcam DatabaseBaby Name DatabasaeHairyfriend Pet InfoBy Penny - jewellery from photos ``How To Speak and Write Postmodern'' Posted to alt.humor.best-of-usenet by Andrew C Bulhak on 20 June 1995, found in alt.postmodern. by Stephen Katz, Associate Professor, Sociology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada Postmodernism has been the buzzword in academia for the last decade. However, I think the real gulf is not so much positional as linguistic. First, you need to remember that plainly expressed language is out of the question. Sometimes you might be in a hurry and won't have the time to muster even the minimum number of postmodern synonyms and neologisms needed to avoid public disgrace. Now for the test. At some point someone may actually ask you what you're talking about.
Story Starters & Idea Generators One of the best ways to break through writer's block or stretch your writing skills is to pick a story starter and just start writing. Suggestions on how to use each generator are included with the generator. Caveat: There's always a temptation to keep looking for the "perfect" idea, but then you need to ask yourself...are you really just trying to avoid writing? Problem: You can't get a story started Solution: Archetype's Plot Scenario Generator What it is: This generator provides you with the event that gets the story rolling and a secondary conflict to keep you going! Problem: Your characters lack depth Solution: Archetype's Character Generator What it is: A quick character sketch filled with the kinds of little details that makes stories engaging: character gender, cardinal traits, weaknesses, and most prized possession. Problem: Your characters don't feel like "real" people Solution: Archetype's Everyday Problems Generator Looking for something you don't see? Getting Yourself Started
fifteen credibility street Rules for Poets, Now That Anyone Can Write If you use the word 'soul,' you will be shot. Rhymes are appropriate to children's books and high school creative writing assignments. Formulae are beautiful only in mathematics. Repeat after me: "Revolutionary content, revolutionary form." All nights are not endless; all rains not gentle; all skies not azure; &c. It is not a poem just because the line ends before the punctuation. Some writers toss down whatever words come to mind. No wonder we are not all poets. If it hasn't been edited, it is not a poem. It is as difficult to write a poem as it is to write a symphony. Don't kid yourself. The importance of a private memory doesn't justify art. Have you ever torn up a sheet of paper into small pieces, so bad was the poem written on it? If the artist doesn't distinguish between good and bad work, someone else will. Remember: even a monkey can mimic an artist. The world does not need another poem about a bad relationship. Poetry is about words, not ideas.
The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes Starting anything new involves mistakes. Tons of them, if you plan on being good. Although you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, there are a few that often go ignored. These mistakes accompany the first phase of anything and it is easy to repeat them in everything new that you do. I don’t claim to be immune to these mistakes. Motivation is necessary to start anything new. I’ve made this mistake dozens of times before. Long-term goals are great, but it’s the next-step goals that really matter. More correctly, too much false knowledge. It isn’t a sin to say, “I don’t know.” I’m privileged enough to have a journal that has recorded my highly erroneous predictions. It’s scary to start something new. How do you know what will work? When I commented that I exercised almost daily, many people informed me that this was bad. A lot of self-help is concerned with people giving up too early. Just because something is difficult, doesn’t mean it needs to be complicated.
Creative Writing Exercises No matter what stage you're at with your writing, it's always beneficial to work on craft and technique. These creative writing exercises target common problems and weaknesses. Switch Point of View Both first person and third person have their strengths and weaknesses; what works for one story may not work for another. A Day Without Modifiers While modifiers -- adjectives and adverbs -- can add to a story, too many, or the wrong ones, can bog down your prose and lead to weaker nouns and verbs. Avoid Back Story Unlike the other creative writing exercises on this list, this one asks you to work in another genre. Listening for Dialogue Not everyone starts out with an ear for dialogue, but fortunately it can be developed, like any other skill. Description Creative Writing Exercise Who's the most memorable person you've ever met?
Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle | CornerScribe Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle I don’t know about you, but I get inspired by all sorts of things, many of them downright weird. I love to listen to people talk. I overheard one of my coworkers the other day, “It’s like having sex on a bicycle. You never forget.” As my husband put it, “That’s f-ed up. Or the quote that kept running through my head last week. Sometimes I think about the people I’ve known, the stories I tell. Or how about the coworker who married a woman he’d seen in person off and on for a week; she worked at a resort where he was staying. Or my grandmother, the mother of nine children, about twenty years from oldest to youngest. Or our family friend, who totaled her husband’s car because she was sick of his drinking. I bet you’ve got some stories that would make great stories as well.
6 Ways to Hook Your Readers Although I consider myself an avid reader, I must admit I have a short attention span when it comes to getting into books. If you fail to grab my attention in the first few lines, I start spacing out. Most readers are like me. Most people don’t want to spend the first 50 pages trying to get into a book. Here are a few things I find annoying in the first lines of a story: Dialogue. The last thing you want to do as a writer is annoy or bore people. (N.B. 1. Put a question in your readers’ minds. “Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did.” 2. By starting at an important moment in the story, your reader is more likely to want to continue so he or she can discover what will happen next. “It was dark where she was crouched but the little girl did as she’d been told.” 3. Description is good when it encourages people to paint a picture in their minds. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” 4. 5. “They had flown from England to Minneapolis to look at a toilet.” 6.
Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips to Engineer a Productive Flow Focus is essential to getting work done. If you can’t engineer a productive flow to your work, everything crawls to the finish. Tasks become a sluggish crawl to the finish that is both inefficient and almost painful to work through. Any writer that has felt writers block or a programmer stuck on a difficult problem can probably relate from experience. Focus is also critical for quality. Athletes often describe it as “being in the zone” the sensation where self and time disappear and 100% concentration is devoted to the game. Getting into this state isn’t always easy. Eliminate Distractions - This may sound obvious, but it is easily forgotten. This website is supported, in part, by affiliate arrangements (usually Amazon). Debate is fine, flaming is not.
How to Write a Prologue for Your Novel: 6 steps The young woman was sprawled out on the ground, her legs kicking feebly. A dark mass was huddled at her head. A man, Henry could see through the darkness. He was whispering something to the woman, who was gripping at the man’s hands, which were wrapped around her throat. Henry thought the woman looked vaguely familiar, but he didn’t stare long enough to find out. Her body was going limp, and the man kneeling there was looking around, focusing on the mouth of the alley. Henry silently dropped back down among the refuse and waited, listening. Henry squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears so he wouldn’t have to listen to the woman’s strained struggles anymore. Reaching the number one thousand seemed to take him hours. The man, Trouble, was gone. Sightless blue eyes stared unblinkingly at his back as he left the alley.