I have not settled on a single story idea for the class yet. I have a few floating around that are not really concrete yet, and one that I had attempted earlier and would like to re-work. Let me know what you think.
1) A mother searching for her lost child. I don't really have any direction on what will actually happen in the tale, only the emotions involved. This pervading sense of fear and desperation. I don't really think the story would center on the actions the mother uses in her search, but more on the emotional journey she is on. That's all I have so far. Perhaps fear and desperation are really tools to hold off grief until one feels they are able to cope with it.
2) A young man losing himself and on the brink of giving in to his demons. Again, I don't have much, just this idea of this kind, compassionate young person who feels so completely frustrated, alone and tired of fighting the grey misty gloom that has settled around him. At what point does the fight in your life become worse than not having a life at all?
3) I wrote this fairy tale of a young girl, but people didn't really get the ending. I really like the ideas presented in the story, but would like to make the clearer to the audience. I am not sure that is an appropriate goal for this class though. Briefly, it speaks of dreams and hopes and a world that doesn't really get such things anymore.
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Hey, how did you add all our blogs? I am new to this. I hope you don't mind all of my contact, but so far you are the only one really responding to me. I know that's because I am usually late with my assignments due to the book problem. I hope I catch up soon because I really want the feedback.
ReplyDeleteAll interesting ideas, Christine! Let me start by saying that a fairy tale can be tough to tackle using the kinds of techniques we're exploring -- they tend to focus on flat, simplistic characters -- the point is typically the lesson to be learned. That said, it is possible to tinker with that mold -- so if that idea interests you most, don't abandon it yet!
ReplyDeleteI like the way your other ideas spring from character -- but a caution! We all tend when writing about a character's internal conflict to get inside that person's head and stay there -- to let internal monologue drive the story. The problem is that this is really a kind of "telling" rather than "showing" -- the character's doing the telling, which is better than the writer doing it, but we still don't get to see the person in action. So you'll need to find ways to show us -- to put the characters into action, revealing their struggles not only through their own thoughts, but through how the interact with other characters and/or their environment. Not easy -- but the reader will have a much richer, more engaging experience!