Genre is going along alright, we've had an assignment added to the list of things we have to complete, but that's ok. We now have to write a 2,000 word creative piece and a write back piece in which we take a section of someone else's work and write back to it, again 2,000 words. I've decided on what I'm doing for that, so it's just a case of writing it now.
In the meantime - we have weekly tasks to complete before the next weeks lecture (Commonly called homework!) This week we had a list of trigger words. I remember, I like, I hate etc and we had to just unload the first thing that came into our heads. My list is below. Not sure if it's right, but that's what came out of my head when I read the 'trigger' words.
The other task is to just write for ten minutes. I feel like I've done this particular writing task over and over again! So I'm in no real rush to write it again, I should dig out some old ones and compare them, to see if I remember the same things.
Anyway - here is my list
I remember: holidays at the beach as a child, endless days in the sun, riding my brothers BMX along the beach, trying to learn to surf, playing cricket with other kids near our caravan, trips to the shop where twenty cents would buy you a massive bag of lollies.
I hate: people who can’t indicate on roundabouts, road rage in general, people who belittle others for their own enjoyment or from the need to feel satisfaction, animal cruelty, child abuse, the ill treatment of others due to gender or sexual preference.
I love: Saturday afternoons knowing you have another twenty four hours before getting back into the grind of daily life. My nephews and their innocents in this world and how everything to them is just so simplistic. My mum for being one of the most amazing women I know.
I never: understand why people are nasty to one another.
I always: treat others as I’d like to be treated. Wear a seatbelt. Drink tea everyday.
I can: play drums, and kinda write.
I wish: my nephews a safe and happy future. To travel overseas before I die. To experience what love is really like.
I hope: I manage to get one thing published, become a better writer, successfully complete my studies
I miss: my grandfather, cheap fuel, my youth.
I believe: for every nice deed done, an equally bad deed is done to cause a counter balance. Life wasn’t meant to be easy, but why complain about it?
Feel free to do a trigger list of your own if you like. Comment me the link if you do, I'll be interested to read them.
That's all I've got.
Showing posts with label Genre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genre. Show all posts
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Taking a step back - Genre 003
I've decided to take a step back and plan more re my creative piece. I've got 2,000 words and I want every one of those to bloody rock! So I'm thinking I need to do a bit more planning. I've got the thoughts in my mind, I've just got to be able to remove those, place them into words, and more importantly put them into 2,000 words. That fucking word count is bullshit for a third year writing student! 5,000 minimum would have been a fraction better!
So that's where I'm at really. The other subjects I'm undertaking are doing my head in already. But I'll solider on, the worst that can happen is I'll fail the subjects I've taken this semester - which would suck, but wouldn't be the end of the world for me. I'll just re-do them. I'm not one to stress over stuff like that, it's not after all life and death! Besides 'worry' can't fix anything!
I'm off to the beach this weekend to hang with my cousin, as it's his birthday. So if the 'rain' stops it should be a nice day, if not we'll be hold up at his sisters place watching Zombieland ;P
That's all I've got.
So that's where I'm at really. The other subjects I'm undertaking are doing my head in already. But I'll solider on, the worst that can happen is I'll fail the subjects I've taken this semester - which would suck, but wouldn't be the end of the world for me. I'll just re-do them. I'm not one to stress over stuff like that, it's not after all life and death! Besides 'worry' can't fix anything!
I'm off to the beach this weekend to hang with my cousin, as it's his birthday. So if the 'rain' stops it should be a nice day, if not we'll be hold up at his sisters place watching Zombieland ;P
That's all I've got.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Writing Genre - Process 002
In honour of 'The ScoMan' who diligently proof read my Nanowrinmo piece. My male lead will be called...... Scott :P
I've re-read this, and I'm not happy with it. I don't think it's punchy (Excuse the pun) enough. I can see what I want to write in my mind, but it's not coming out in words.
Anyway.. This was the fight intro I wrote. Let me know what you think, remembering that I've got a 2,000 word limit, so I've not got a lot of space to talk about 'beads of sweat dripping from his brow'!
He wasn’t sure just why his flatmate had attacked him, what he did know was he was currently in a fight for his life. Blow by blow of fists and feet rained down upon him and he did everything is his power to fight his now extremely aggressive flatmate Michael off. Scott’s legs jarred from the force of the kick which pushed Michael off him, far enough away for Scott to get to his feet. Michael said nothing, other than grunting at Scott, launching at him again, his arms flaying around with no real direction other than to make contact with Scott’s body. Michael ran at him and Scott quickly stepped to the side, tripping Michael up. He fell to the ground, slaming face first onto the glass coffee table, shattering it into tiny piece which embedded itself into his face like a pin cushion.
That is when Scott noticed it. A hit to the head like that would put most people on their arse. But Michael got up, his eyes a vibrant green, face covered in blood and glass, he snarled at Scott, like a dog would, if you where trying to take its food away. Scott had to think on his feet; clearly fighting Michael off wasn’t going to stop him right now. He looked behind him as Michael again made a run for him. Scott grabbed the door to the pantry, and shoved the staggering Michael into it, before securing it. A bit of time out in there with the baked beans was what Michael needed, long enough for Scott to find out some answers.
Scott slumped down with his back to the pantry door, his body still being hammered from Michael’s attempts to break the door down. ‘Fucking hell’ He moved away from the door. ‘What the fuck is wrong with you Michael?’ Scott yelled through the door. Expecting an answer, but knowing full well he wasn’t about to get a polite conversation out of his flatmate. Scott secured the door with some furniture and sat down to assess the situation that had just unfolded.
Let me know what you think. I just think it reads like a typical 'zombie' story intro. Or maybe that's just me.
With WAY too much shit to read for the three classes I'm taking this semester...
That's all I've got.
I've re-read this, and I'm not happy with it. I don't think it's punchy (Excuse the pun) enough. I can see what I want to write in my mind, but it's not coming out in words.
Anyway.. This was the fight intro I wrote. Let me know what you think, remembering that I've got a 2,000 word limit, so I've not got a lot of space to talk about 'beads of sweat dripping from his brow'!
He wasn’t sure just why his flatmate had attacked him, what he did know was he was currently in a fight for his life. Blow by blow of fists and feet rained down upon him and he did everything is his power to fight his now extremely aggressive flatmate Michael off. Scott’s legs jarred from the force of the kick which pushed Michael off him, far enough away for Scott to get to his feet. Michael said nothing, other than grunting at Scott, launching at him again, his arms flaying around with no real direction other than to make contact with Scott’s body. Michael ran at him and Scott quickly stepped to the side, tripping Michael up. He fell to the ground, slaming face first onto the glass coffee table, shattering it into tiny piece which embedded itself into his face like a pin cushion.
That is when Scott noticed it. A hit to the head like that would put most people on their arse. But Michael got up, his eyes a vibrant green, face covered in blood and glass, he snarled at Scott, like a dog would, if you where trying to take its food away. Scott had to think on his feet; clearly fighting Michael off wasn’t going to stop him right now. He looked behind him as Michael again made a run for him. Scott grabbed the door to the pantry, and shoved the staggering Michael into it, before securing it. A bit of time out in there with the baked beans was what Michael needed, long enough for Scott to find out some answers.
Scott slumped down with his back to the pantry door, his body still being hammered from Michael’s attempts to break the door down. ‘Fucking hell’ He moved away from the door. ‘What the fuck is wrong with you Michael?’ Scott yelled through the door. Expecting an answer, but knowing full well he wasn’t about to get a polite conversation out of his flatmate. Scott secured the door with some furniture and sat down to assess the situation that had just unfolded.
Let me know what you think. I just think it reads like a typical 'zombie' story intro. Or maybe that's just me.
With WAY too much shit to read for the three classes I'm taking this semester...
That's all I've got.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Writing Genre - Process 001
Hello everyone,
I've been out all day today. However I'm here to give you all a quick update on just where I'm at with this Genre piece.
When I write, I like to make sure I have the readers attention quickly. That 'oohh what happens next' is important to me as a reader, so as I writer I like to deliver that to my audience.
Because this piece is 2,000 words it restricts the 'beginning middle and end' of a normal story. But the chunk I'm planning to write will hopefully be fast paced action, in a horror fantasy environment that will have appropriate amounts of violence in it and allow for the story to be short and sharp, but still leaving the reader satisfied.
Getting inside my readers minds.
I've literally thrown together a quick survey on genre (You'll see what I mean about thrown and quick when you click the link!) I've done it to get a better understanding of what other people think of genre, such as their favourite genre and why they like it. So if you've got 5 mins spare could you please have a look at it and answer the Q's.
Genre Survey
In the meantime - this is the opening lines to my genre piece thus far. I originally wrote a fight scene, and then the character (yet to be named, I'm open to suggestions) escapes and is then in the scene below. But I thought I might 'build' the suspense. Let me know and I'll put the opening fight scene up tomorrow and you can tell me which one works better.
A shard of light beamed into the darkened room, this sun was coming up, and the sound of his heart was deafening in his ears. He consciously control his breathing, He didn’t want to get discovered here, as he knew he’d be dead in less than a minute if he was.
He quietly moved toward the light squinting through the small crack in the wall, the outside light hurt his eyes, and took a moment to adjust, blurry vision becoming sharper, he held his breath as his eye darted left and right in search for any sign of them outside. He couldn’t hear anything, but that meant nothing.
He’d been held up in this place for two days now. Staying low, keeping as quiet as he could. He’d have to make a break for it eventually though, as his water was almost gone. He needed a weapon however, as without something to defend himself he might as well stay in this place until he withered and died.
There was nothing left in the house, it had been boarded up, and anything that could be used as a weapon had been already taken by who ever had got there before him. He squinted harder through the crack, turning his head so he could try and see further down the street. His heart pounding in his chest, his mouth dry, he swallowed hard and thought to himself. ‘Fuck I don’t won’t to die today.’
That's all I've got.
I've been out all day today. However I'm here to give you all a quick update on just where I'm at with this Genre piece.
When I write, I like to make sure I have the readers attention quickly. That 'oohh what happens next' is important to me as a reader, so as I writer I like to deliver that to my audience.
Because this piece is 2,000 words it restricts the 'beginning middle and end' of a normal story. But the chunk I'm planning to write will hopefully be fast paced action, in a horror fantasy environment that will have appropriate amounts of violence in it and allow for the story to be short and sharp, but still leaving the reader satisfied.
Getting inside my readers minds.
I've literally thrown together a quick survey on genre (You'll see what I mean about thrown and quick when you click the link!) I've done it to get a better understanding of what other people think of genre, such as their favourite genre and why they like it. So if you've got 5 mins spare could you please have a look at it and answer the Q's.
Genre Survey
In the meantime - this is the opening lines to my genre piece thus far. I originally wrote a fight scene, and then the character (yet to be named, I'm open to suggestions) escapes and is then in the scene below. But I thought I might 'build' the suspense. Let me know and I'll put the opening fight scene up tomorrow and you can tell me which one works better.
A shard of light beamed into the darkened room, this sun was coming up, and the sound of his heart was deafening in his ears. He consciously control his breathing, He didn’t want to get discovered here, as he knew he’d be dead in less than a minute if he was.
He quietly moved toward the light squinting through the small crack in the wall, the outside light hurt his eyes, and took a moment to adjust, blurry vision becoming sharper, he held his breath as his eye darted left and right in search for any sign of them outside. He couldn’t hear anything, but that meant nothing.
He’d been held up in this place for two days now. Staying low, keeping as quiet as he could. He’d have to make a break for it eventually though, as his water was almost gone. He needed a weapon however, as without something to defend himself he might as well stay in this place until he withered and died.
There was nothing left in the house, it had been boarded up, and anything that could be used as a weapon had been already taken by who ever had got there before him. He squinted harder through the crack, turning his head so he could try and see further down the street. His heart pounding in his chest, his mouth dry, he swallowed hard and thought to himself. ‘Fuck I don’t won’t to die today.’
That's all I've got.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Happy Birthday to me :)
Followers will know today is my birthday - note this date down loyal readers, you'll be tested on it this time next year :P
I had a great day today, got a sleep in, got gifts (See list below) went to Uni, came home and went out to dinner with family. Gave some serious consideration to my Genre project which I'm planning on running by you in a moment. I'm currently being a total Nanna and drinking a cup of tea, before I head off and watch Doctor Who on ABC2.
So birthday gifts....
What I refer to as 'The Norm' consists of clothing that can be bundled into the following: shirts, shorts, jeans, socks, shoes and undies etc. So I got 'The Norm' Plus some dvd's, some vouchers to buy more stuff and some online vouchers for books. Overall I had a decent haul.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who sent me happy birthday wishes on facebrothel, twitter, here or via text. You know who you are ;)
Alright Uni... *Puts on serious face*
I've got a class this semester called writing genre, which doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's all about the various genres. The overall picture is we have to choose a genre to write within, we have to look at the conventions of that genre and decided if we will write to them, or against them. Then we have to give a blurb at the beginning of the creative piece as to what we're doing and why.
This consists on two processes. A draft of 2,000 words. Which is work shopped, marked and counted as 20% Then we submit that piece with changes etc as the final creative piece (Still confined to 2,000 words!!!) which is another 40% There is then an essay about the chosen genre, why we chose it, the history behind it (Fill in the blanks here I'm sure you get what I mean) that's another 30% Then 10% is for participation. i.e turning up to a minimum of 13 of the 15 lectures, engaging in the class, offering feedback. As they like to reiterate that 10% could be the difference between a pass and a fail! This statement is correct as in my first year there was a girl who didn't bother to turn up regularly to the lectures and consequently failed the subject!
Anyway I'll get to the point. I'm planning on writing about the process involved for my genre piece in this blog. I'll mark it with something like 'Uni Genre' in the subject line, so if you don't want to read about it you can skip that entry. (I won't be offended I promise!) But I'd like to document the process of selecting the genre I'm going for, writing about it, generally just allowing an insight into how my mind works around this creative writing process. (Now there's a scary thought!)
So to get the ball rolling, I've decided to look at Horror. I want it to be a fast action paced, heart pounding, life threatening moment or 'snippet' (I mean 2,000 words is a sneeze, and not a lot of room to move in) I'm thinking of a zombie theme. I plan to use David Moody's Hater (I've you've not read this book, seriously get into it - it's bloody amazing!!!) as a reference piece. I may even write from the POV of one of his characters? I.e the one on the other side of the 'hater' attack. Again 2,000 words is so bloody restricting. Everything is up in the air right now. However that's the plan at the moment though. If you'd be interested in reading about the process of how I go about doing this piece, please let me know.
Also if you're a new reader who I've managed to leech from Scoman. Please don't be shy and say hello. I promise not to bite... Honestly!
Anyway Doctor Who is about 20min away, time for a shower and press the 'on' button on the air-conditioning.
That's all I've got.
I had a great day today, got a sleep in, got gifts (See list below) went to Uni, came home and went out to dinner with family. Gave some serious consideration to my Genre project which I'm planning on running by you in a moment. I'm currently being a total Nanna and drinking a cup of tea, before I head off and watch Doctor Who on ABC2.
So birthday gifts....
What I refer to as 'The Norm' consists of clothing that can be bundled into the following: shirts, shorts, jeans, socks, shoes and undies etc. So I got 'The Norm' Plus some dvd's, some vouchers to buy more stuff and some online vouchers for books. Overall I had a decent haul.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who sent me happy birthday wishes on facebrothel, twitter, here or via text. You know who you are ;)
Alright Uni... *Puts on serious face*
I've got a class this semester called writing genre, which doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's all about the various genres. The overall picture is we have to choose a genre to write within, we have to look at the conventions of that genre and decided if we will write to them, or against them. Then we have to give a blurb at the beginning of the creative piece as to what we're doing and why.
This consists on two processes. A draft of 2,000 words. Which is work shopped, marked and counted as 20% Then we submit that piece with changes etc as the final creative piece (Still confined to 2,000 words!!!) which is another 40% There is then an essay about the chosen genre, why we chose it, the history behind it (Fill in the blanks here I'm sure you get what I mean) that's another 30% Then 10% is for participation. i.e turning up to a minimum of 13 of the 15 lectures, engaging in the class, offering feedback. As they like to reiterate that 10% could be the difference between a pass and a fail! This statement is correct as in my first year there was a girl who didn't bother to turn up regularly to the lectures and consequently failed the subject!
Anyway I'll get to the point. I'm planning on writing about the process involved for my genre piece in this blog. I'll mark it with something like 'Uni Genre' in the subject line, so if you don't want to read about it you can skip that entry. (I won't be offended I promise!) But I'd like to document the process of selecting the genre I'm going for, writing about it, generally just allowing an insight into how my mind works around this creative writing process. (Now there's a scary thought!)
So to get the ball rolling, I've decided to look at Horror. I want it to be a fast action paced, heart pounding, life threatening moment or 'snippet' (I mean 2,000 words is a sneeze, and not a lot of room to move in) I'm thinking of a zombie theme. I plan to use David Moody's Hater (I've you've not read this book, seriously get into it - it's bloody amazing!!!) as a reference piece. I may even write from the POV of one of his characters? I.e the one on the other side of the 'hater' attack. Again 2,000 words is so bloody restricting. Everything is up in the air right now. However that's the plan at the moment though. If you'd be interested in reading about the process of how I go about doing this piece, please let me know.
Also if you're a new reader who I've managed to leech from Scoman. Please don't be shy and say hello. I promise not to bite... Honestly!
Anyway Doctor Who is about 20min away, time for a shower and press the 'on' button on the air-conditioning.
That's all I've got.
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