ELEMENTS of FICTION
Please keep in mind, this is Exercise #1! Haha! I hope within time the exercises will develope my writing skills and I hope it will be obvious from one exercise into the following ones. I look forward to watching my skills hone into more colors and become more vibrant in a sense, with clarity and definition, not just a blobby mess. I'm excited to begin.
I have an idea. I will share the exercise in the beginning of each blog and if you'd like to join me in this/these exercises, by all means, please do. And perhaps we may see a fun trend develop into other blogs and see how the same scenario or the same elements provided will create an amazingly different story with each writer! A different piece of art to behold. Oooooh yay I'm excited!
Ok, here's one limitation: (Author, Bernay writes), "I don't want to see any polite stories." In order to keep you from long-windedness, hot air, and the temptation to stray from the point, we have kept many of these exercises down to a 550-word limit. When you don't have much space, you learn not to waste words. When a student goes much over the word limit his or her work tends to sound fuzzy and padded. Each exercise is meant, like a well-designed container, to hold the material destined for it."
A quote to remember: (The work of the masters is for the writer the best education, the best inspiration of all.)
Joyce Carol Oates, PARIS REVIEW Interview:
Interviewer: How do you describe the perfect state in which you can write from early morning into the afternoon?
Response: One must be pitiless about this matter of "mood." In a sense, the writing will create the mood. If art is, as I believe it to be, a genuinely transcendental function--a means by which we rise out of limited, parochial states of mind--then it should not matter very much what states of mind or emotion we are in. Generally I've found this to be true: I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes...and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.
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First sentences are doors to worlds. --Ursula K. Le Guin
PART I. BEGINNINGS
Chapter 1) FIRST SENTENCES: BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE
(Examine first lines of stories in big and little magazines, story collections, and anthologies. Discover that many first sentences put the reader in the middle of things. That is the basis for this first exercise.)
EXERCISE: Write ten of your own opening lines for ten different stories. When you read, look for opening lines that immediately pull the reader into the story. And if you keep a journal or notebook, consider starting a new section and adding one first sentence each day--for the rest of your life.
OBJECTIVE: To get into the habit of beginning your stories in the middle of things. Because you are not obligated to finish these stories, this exercise lowers the emotional stakes and helps to shake up and surprise the imagination.
EXAMPLES from students:
She was trying to tell the joke right but it was his joke and she had to keep checking with him. FRANCES LEFKOWITZ
Jason Dyvik's heart, like all bartenders' hearts, was a needy and gluttonous muscle. ERIC MECKLENBURG
Nothing more to say--the storm, son walking further along the cliff than dad, normal as you please, and the sea reached up and snicked him. PERRY ONION
By the time I was ten I had concluded that death was just a matter of moving furniture. AMANDA CLAIRBORNE, "JEMMA"
My mother explained what sex was the day after I first had it. CHRISTY VELADOTA
Are you my mother's real daughter Rona asked me after Bertha died. LYNDA STURNER
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My Writing Exercise #1:
1) I awoke on a cement floor in a cold dark room, finding my legs and arms cramping bound by rope.
2) "The car screeched to a stop, after hitting the young boy on the tricycle," he told the police officer at the scene, "she must have been going about forty-five miles an hour in this residential neighborhood!"
3) Reaching for the alarm button, she found her hand touching something wet and cold, opening her eyes curious to see what has been discovered but her cat slaughtered right before her!
4) Melissa grabbed her keys and headed for her car to satisfy her craving for a delicious chocolate chip ice cream cone.
5) Unable to sleep, he wrote the dreaded letter informing his fiance the significance and benefit of the nuptial agreement for both of them.
6) While watching the news, he pulled the ticket from his jean pocket and hesitatingly looked at the numbers to find that he had each and every number shown on the tv screen and jumped to his feet and viewed the numbers again to find that he WON!
7) The children ate the food on their plates as if they hadn't eaten in days and when they scarfed down the food as if competing with one another, Brian scooted out of his chair and away from the table and ran out the door!
8) I sat on the grass with old man Harold while he tossed pieces of bread to the ducks in the little pond and watched as a tear fell from his left eye--he expressed his great sadness and feelings of loneliness, living without his precious and deceased wife of one year, a week ago marking the anniversary.
9) The young gal bolted from the car, climbed three flights of stairs with determination, walked down the dark hallway to find a note taped to the front door that warned all tenants of a mysterious man flashing women in the laundry room at night.
10) "I am on my way to the hospital as my only brother has been in a serious car accident and he's in I-C-U right now--officer, he's the only brother I have and if I don't get to the hospital quickly, I may never see him again!" she gasped and talked fast with tears in her eyes seeking approval looking up from her chair to the opposing actor standing on the stage of the classroom.
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
Well, there you have it, my ten opening lines for today's writing exercise! Yeehaw! I've done this exercise before and I don't remember where I put the darn paper I wrote them down on. I'm sure I could find it in my bag of writing materials, but I won't bother to look for it tonight/this morning. It's now 4:30am as I was reading before I started the actual ten opening lines. There is a long list of examples in the book and I was reading up on them before I wrote my own. I only listed a few of the examples on here.
So any of you want to attempt this exercise as well? Please let me know if you do so I may read yours as well. I'd love to see what others come up with in this exercise. Whew... sigh, that was challenging but fun. I feel a little relieved getting some of the juices flowing again and onto the screen for viewing.
I'm off to a delicious start and excited for the next exercise tomorrow!
Have a great day ya'll,
I'm off to fluff the pillows and curl up to them,
Christy
Please keep in mind, this is Exercise #1! Haha! I hope within time the exercises will develope my writing skills and I hope it will be obvious from one exercise into the following ones. I look forward to watching my skills hone into more colors and become more vibrant in a sense, with clarity and definition, not just a blobby mess. I'm excited to begin.
I have an idea. I will share the exercise in the beginning of each blog and if you'd like to join me in this/these exercises, by all means, please do. And perhaps we may see a fun trend develop into other blogs and see how the same scenario or the same elements provided will create an amazingly different story with each writer! A different piece of art to behold. Oooooh yay I'm excited!
Ok, here's one limitation: (Author, Bernay writes), "I don't want to see any polite stories." In order to keep you from long-windedness, hot air, and the temptation to stray from the point, we have kept many of these exercises down to a 550-word limit. When you don't have much space, you learn not to waste words. When a student goes much over the word limit his or her work tends to sound fuzzy and padded. Each exercise is meant, like a well-designed container, to hold the material destined for it."
A quote to remember: (The work of the masters is for the writer the best education, the best inspiration of all.)
Joyce Carol Oates, PARIS REVIEW Interview:
Interviewer: How do you describe the perfect state in which you can write from early morning into the afternoon?
Response: One must be pitiless about this matter of "mood." In a sense, the writing will create the mood. If art is, as I believe it to be, a genuinely transcendental function--a means by which we rise out of limited, parochial states of mind--then it should not matter very much what states of mind or emotion we are in. Generally I've found this to be true: I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes...and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
First sentences are doors to worlds. --Ursula K. Le Guin
PART I. BEGINNINGS
Chapter 1) FIRST SENTENCES: BEGINNING IN THE MIDDLE
(Examine first lines of stories in big and little magazines, story collections, and anthologies. Discover that many first sentences put the reader in the middle of things. That is the basis for this first exercise.)
EXERCISE: Write ten of your own opening lines for ten different stories. When you read, look for opening lines that immediately pull the reader into the story. And if you keep a journal or notebook, consider starting a new section and adding one first sentence each day--for the rest of your life.
OBJECTIVE: To get into the habit of beginning your stories in the middle of things. Because you are not obligated to finish these stories, this exercise lowers the emotional stakes and helps to shake up and surprise the imagination.
EXAMPLES from students:
She was trying to tell the joke right but it was his joke and she had to keep checking with him. FRANCES LEFKOWITZ
Jason Dyvik's heart, like all bartenders' hearts, was a needy and gluttonous muscle. ERIC MECKLENBURG
Nothing more to say--the storm, son walking further along the cliff than dad, normal as you please, and the sea reached up and snicked him. PERRY ONION
By the time I was ten I had concluded that death was just a matter of moving furniture. AMANDA CLAIRBORNE, "JEMMA"
My mother explained what sex was the day after I first had it. CHRISTY VELADOTA
Are you my mother's real daughter Rona asked me after Bertha died. LYNDA STURNER
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
My Writing Exercise #1:
1) I awoke on a cement floor in a cold dark room, finding my legs and arms cramping bound by rope.
2) "The car screeched to a stop, after hitting the young boy on the tricycle," he told the police officer at the scene, "she must have been going about forty-five miles an hour in this residential neighborhood!"
3) Reaching for the alarm button, she found her hand touching something wet and cold, opening her eyes curious to see what has been discovered but her cat slaughtered right before her!
4) Melissa grabbed her keys and headed for her car to satisfy her craving for a delicious chocolate chip ice cream cone.
5) Unable to sleep, he wrote the dreaded letter informing his fiance the significance and benefit of the nuptial agreement for both of them.
6) While watching the news, he pulled the ticket from his jean pocket and hesitatingly looked at the numbers to find that he had each and every number shown on the tv screen and jumped to his feet and viewed the numbers again to find that he WON!
7) The children ate the food on their plates as if they hadn't eaten in days and when they scarfed down the food as if competing with one another, Brian scooted out of his chair and away from the table and ran out the door!
8) I sat on the grass with old man Harold while he tossed pieces of bread to the ducks in the little pond and watched as a tear fell from his left eye--he expressed his great sadness and feelings of loneliness, living without his precious and deceased wife of one year, a week ago marking the anniversary.
9) The young gal bolted from the car, climbed three flights of stairs with determination, walked down the dark hallway to find a note taped to the front door that warned all tenants of a mysterious man flashing women in the laundry room at night.
10) "I am on my way to the hospital as my only brother has been in a serious car accident and he's in I-C-U right now--officer, he's the only brother I have and if I don't get to the hospital quickly, I may never see him again!" she gasped and talked fast with tears in her eyes seeking approval looking up from her chair to the opposing actor standing on the stage of the classroom.
**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****
Well, there you have it, my ten opening lines for today's writing exercise! Yeehaw! I've done this exercise before and I don't remember where I put the darn paper I wrote them down on. I'm sure I could find it in my bag of writing materials, but I won't bother to look for it tonight/this morning. It's now 4:30am as I was reading before I started the actual ten opening lines. There is a long list of examples in the book and I was reading up on them before I wrote my own. I only listed a few of the examples on here.
So any of you want to attempt this exercise as well? Please let me know if you do so I may read yours as well. I'd love to see what others come up with in this exercise. Whew... sigh, that was challenging but fun. I feel a little relieved getting some of the juices flowing again and onto the screen for viewing.
I'm off to a delicious start and excited for the next exercise tomorrow!
Have a great day ya'll,
I'm off to fluff the pillows and curl up to them,
Christy
