Fantasist's Scroll

Here’s a variation on last week’s writing exercise.
Instead of using a “cliched” title or phrase, use the title from one of your favorite books or authors. Of course, you must write a totally different story than the one associated with your chosen title, but that can be half the fun. For example, you might want to rewrite a favorite story but with your own ideas about what the characters would do. Or, perhaps you want to continue a story where the author left off. Both are fine ways to start, but remember that you’ll need to go back and edit the characters so that they are yours, not your favorite author’s characters anymore. And, keep in mind, that means more than just changing the names!
Another possibility is to take a favorite title and write a story in a totally different genre. As an example, I love Ernest Hemingway and I think his titles are often quite evocative, but I love fantasy and science-fiction. So, perhaps “The Sun Also Rises” might be a good working title for a sci-fi epic! And, “The Old Man and the Sea” might take on some interesting connotations as a fantasy story filled with old gods and high magic.
The point here is to let your imagination run wild. This is meant to be an aid to creativity that gets you writing when you might have some trouble starting. As always, though, remember to change the title to your own and edit anything that doesn’t belong in your final work out before submitting your story for publication.

A working title helps me write.
When I was a kid in grade school, I knew I wanted to be a writer. It was the Fifth Grade, in Mrs. Ploen’s class, that I first started writing creatively and recieving praise for doing so. That was the same year that my older brother got tired of telling me about the science-fiction books he was reading and shoved Ringworld into my hands to read for myself. It was, as you might imagine, a pivotal year.
I still go back to the method of writing that I learned that year. Our teacher would write a title on the board for us and demand a story. I’m sure there were minimum requirements in pages or words or both, though they escape me now. That was our only constraint, however, that title. We could make our story into anything we wanted, as long as it had something to do with the title we’d been given. I managed to take “My Adventure At The Circus” and turn out a fantasy piece about a boy going to an underground kingdom of dwarves where he became the fated saviour of their entire way of life. Not bad for a kid in the Fifth Grade. Heck, there was even a recognizable plot. That’s more than I can say for some of my later work, frankly.
I still go back to that technique because it’s usefull for getting me started. These days, I may change the title when I’m done, but using that kind of working title gets me started, which is often the hardest thing in the world for me. This is a method that can work for you, as well. You can come up with a title in many different ways. You can use my very own Story Starter, or you can simply use a cliche. (Here’s one list of Cliches and Weak Phrases by Jessica Page Morrell to get you started, if you need help.) So, pick a cliched working title and then start to write a story. If nothing else, it will get you started writing something, which is the only way to produce anything. If you’re lucky, it will give you a story that can be worked into something for sale. Just don’t forget to change the cliched title to something that works better before you send it off!

So, what are you waiting for? Get writing!

Does your writing have a sound track?
When you write, can you hear music in your head that matches the scene you’re writing? Frankly, I’d be suprised if you don’t. Maybe when you hit a stumbling block or a “tough scene”, the music fades away, but when things are rolling along, if you pay attention, I’ll bet there’s music up there. In a way, it’s almost inevitable, given how pervasive movies are in our culture. I know, for me, when I’m writing an action scene, I always hear music that matches the scene. And, what’s more, that musical score is influenced by movies that I’ve seen recently. For the longest time after seeing the Professional for the first time, every fight scene I saw in my mind’s eye was set to ethereal opera. And, then, after seeing some other movie, it was smooth jazz that provided the counter-point for all the action.
And, sometimes, when I need to capture a certain feel in my writing, I’ll put on a particular kind of music. Sometimes it’s quick, sometimes slow, but almost always it’s different from how I’m feeling when I try to write and can’t quite get it. In my case, I know that music really effects my work because of my love for movies. Often, I’m trying to capture something with words that I can see in my head as clearly as if I’d seen it on a movie screen. One of the highest compliments I ever recieved was in writing class when the teacher told me that I had a very cinematic style of writing. (Though, in retrospect, I’m not sure he meant it as a compliment.)

So, here are three creativity exercises to try:
First, randomly pick a piece of music, play it and try to write what you feel when you listen to the music.
Second, pull out a story or scene that has given you trouble in the past. Now, put on some music, or different music than what you normally play while writing, and try to rework the piece with the different music setting the tone.
Third, as you write, or plan, your story, plan what music should be playing if someone were to make the story into a movie. Write, or rewrite, with that in mind.

But, most of all, keep writing!

I know a few things about human nature.
It may only be a few things, but they can be important, especially in fiction writing. When I was in high school an English teacher told me that the most dangerous people are those who feel they have nothing to lose. Think about that for a minute. It really makes sense. If a person feels like they have nothing left to lose by taking an extreme measure, of whatever kind, then what would stop them from doing it? What’s left to lose? Nothing, so there’s everything to gain.
And, anyone backed into a corner is libel to fight. That’s a two edged sword, though. First of all, it seems obvious that a person will fight if they’re forced into it. Nothing all that remarkable there, right? Well, take that with the other statement and you’ll see that a combination of these two things can make for a deadly opponent. Secondly, can you imagine a person who would NOT fight when backed into a corner? Why would they not fight? What could make them so deviate from the “normal” response?

In both cases, you have potential for great characters. Imagine a tragic hero who loses everything and feels that they must strike back. Surely they will make a formidable foe who will not rest until justice is served. Or, suppose that it’s a villain. Truly, an understandable, possibly likeable, antagonist who will devil the hero endlessly. Great plots there.
But, the more interesting is the “hero” with a learned helplessness syndrome. How can they win with so much going against them? What makes them panic and how do they go about avoiding it or dealing with it? Lots of room for character development there.

So, enough about human nature, go forth and write!

Well, not quite that bad…
Still, having read a plethora of fiction set in a variety of time periods, I can tell you, one of the biggest mistakes modern writers make is using modern language in historical settings. Or, worse, completely misusing historical language. This seems to be an especially large problem for new or amatuer writers of fantasy or historicals set in the pre-1900’s. Luckily, C. J. Cherryh has an answer for those poor unfortunate souls: Pre- and Post-1900’s Language. It’s far from complete, which she admits herself, but it’s certainly better than nothing and it is a great place to start.
Also, anyone looking at creating their own world, with its own linguistic twists on English, would do well to look through this file. It’s a great look at ways that English usage has changed, especially in terms of slang and common usage.