Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Limerick Exercise; Short Story Group

This afternoon, please try your hand at writing a limerick or two.

A limerick is a  5-line poem (usually in anapestic meter) with a rhyme scheme of (AABBA). Limericks were originally meant to be obscene or dirty. They are still often meant to be humorous. The first, second and fifth lines are longer than the third and fourth in meter.

The form appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century and popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century. The following limerick is of unknown origin:
The limerick packs laughs anatomical
Into space that is quite economical.
  But the good ones I've seen
  So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical.

Here's a dirty one: (anonymous)

A phobic young virgin named Flinn
Shouted before she gave in
   "It isn't the deed
   Or the fear of the seed,
But the big worm shedding its skin!"


Well, enough of that. Now on to some practical and (hopefully useful) advice about storytelling.

The Clues to a Great Story: Ted Talk with Andrew Stanton (author of John Carter of Mars, Wall-E & Toy Story)

TASK: Get together in groups of 2-4 and discuss Andrew Stanton's advice. Apply it to stories, movies, novels you have read this year or in the past. Share your ideas with your peers.

Then, please brainstorm plots, premises, and characters that would likely fall into your genre or style.
A. Characters: make a list of characters in your journal
B. Create premises for short story ideas. A premise is a 1-sentence description of the basic idea of your story.
C. Plot: create plot events for your story ideas. Include lists of plot events appropriate to your chosen genre.
During the second half of class, please make a decision as to which genre of short story you want to read and focus on in the next week or two:

A. Romance/Realistic Fiction (Cowboys Are My Weakness or What Am I Without Him?)
B. Fantasy (Fragile Things)
C. Mystery (Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)

For the remaining time in class...

Fiction Videos for Groups: (please watch and learn!--feel free to take notes in your journal!)
A. Fantasy/Sci-fi: Creating Worlds & Tips for Writing Fantasy 
B. Writing Detective Fiction & How to Write a Mystery 
C. Tips for Writing Romance & Writing Lovable Romance Heroes 
D. Literary fiction versus commercial fiction & How to Write Fiction Stories 
E. Writing Historical Fiction tips & Memoir Writing
F. Don't Mistake Words for WritingBad Writers Have Nothing to Say (Tips for Screenwriters)
HOMEWORK: Once you have decided please pick up these books from the library and begin reading one of the short stories in your collection. Complete at least 1 story from your collection. Decide on a group how many pages you will read for our next class. 

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About this course!

This course stresses understanding the characteristics & techniques in the literary genres of fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing. This course will continue to build on students’ reading and writing skills begun in previous creative writing classes. Readings and discussions of works by major writers in the field will be examined as inspiration and models of fine writing. This educational blog is designed for the use of the students at the School of the Arts in Rochester, NY.