Tuesday, September 24, 2013

What If Stories Part 2

Tina and Buster

A while back, I wrote about "What if" stories? 

These stories are fun to write, because asking "What if?" stretches our imaginations. It makes us see beyond the everyday. It helps us think about things that could--or couldn't--happen. 

So here are more ideas for your very own stories that ask, "What if?"


  • What if your dog and cat plotted against you? 


  • What if a talking banana popped out of your toaster?


  • What if the world was square?


  • What if your school turned into an amusement park?


  • What if the ocean was pink?


  • What if there were no oceans? 


  • What if the entire world spoke the same language?


  • What if you created a map that bossed people around?


  • What if a gorilla showed up at your front door? 


  • What if a lonely hairy tarantula wanted to be your best friend?


Have fun writing a "What if" story. Here's the start of mine. "What if" you wrote one, too? 



Tina and Buster

Lately I noticed that my dog, Tina, and my cat, Buster, were spending a lot of time together. They ate their meals together. They slept on the sagging end of the sofa together. They even watched TV together, and Buster hates TV.

Normally Tina and Buster avoided each other. What was going on? Could they be plotting something against me? 

When I caught Tina hiding my shoes in the backyard bushes, and Buster sprinkling kitty litter in my bed, I knew something was up....


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Adverbs


Adverbs get no respect. 

In case you've forgotten your English grammar, an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs usually tell us when, where, or how an action is performed. (Are you asleep yet?)

Often adverbs are "ly" words: 


  • She ran slowly.
  • He quickly ate his lunch. 
  • She really liked him. 
  • He traveled adventurously


But not always: 


  • She drove fast.
  • He never ate breakfast.
  • The leaves were quite red.
  • I almost traveled to Japan.


So why don't adverbs get respect? Because many people think we writers overuse them.

Look at the some of the sentences above. Could we use a more vivid verb instead of an adverb? Are we being lazy writers?


  • She raced. (Instead of drove quickly.)
  • He wolfed his lunch. (Instead of quickly ate.)
  • He skipped breakfast. (Instead of never ate.)
  • The leaves exploded with red. (Instead of were quite red.)


Not an adverb in sight, and we used strong verbs: raced, wolfed, skipped, exploded. 

Try this at home: go through a story you're writing and highlight every adverb. Then see if you can replace the verb and adverb ("drove quickly") with a strong and vivid verb ("raced"). 

Of course, we don't want to cut every adverb. We really, really, really don't want to do that! 


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Villains


I've been thinking about villains again. You know, those bad guys (or girls) who make our stories interesting.

Yesterday in my Shakespeare class I discovered that the word villain comes from the same root as villager. The dictionary defines the common root as, "a rustic, a boor." 

Huh? How did a person who lives in the country become an evil villain? Sometimes English words change meaning that way.

So I was thinking about villains, and how fun it would be to retell a fairy tale or folk tale from the point of view of the villain.


  • "Little Red Riding Hood" from the point of view of the wolf.



  • "Cinderella" from the point of view of the evil stepmother.



  • "Hansel and Gretel" from the point of view of the witch.


You get the idea. 

Pick your favorite tale and try retelling it. How does your villain see the world? Why does the witch want to cook Hansel and Gretel? In your story, you can find out! 


Monday, September 2, 2013

A Tasty Treat in Our Writing


Believe it or not, these "books" are a cake! They're from a celebration at Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I received my MFA in Writing.

Wouldn't you love to taste one of these cakes? Imagine being able to eat a book! 

Taste is one of the senses we most often neglect when we write. Maybe it's because some things taste yucky (like burnt broccoli) or different (like purple potatoes) or just plain weird (like cayenne ice cream). Some foods have a funny name (like quinoa) but are delicious.

Tasting food is part of life, so why not include different tastes in our stories? How does your character react to lavender birthday cake, chocolate waffles, or green peas with lemon sauce? 

For fun, list your 3 favorite foods. Then include these foods in a story and have your characters taste them. What do they think? 

My favorites are blueberries, chocolate ice cream, and sour cream potato chips. 

Remember to include a detailed description: "She licked the velvety chocolate ice cream cone with pink and blue sprinkles. A smooth river of chocolate filled her mouth and swirled in eddies to her throat." 

Give your characters a tasty treat. Let them design (and eat) their own cake!