Martian Chronicles Project

The Martian Chronicles writing project will consist of 3 interlocking stories (similar in style to Bradbury's structure in his novel). This week, you will be asked to write 3 stories (completing them by Tuesday of next week). You will have time to write in the lab and can progress your stories and their length at home, if you need to. But first, some writing advice:

According to Ray Bradbury in his non-fiction writing guide: Zen in the Art of Writing, Bradbury mentions a technique he uses to come up with ideas. He says that he imagines a hallway with a door at the end. When he begins a story, he imagines himself walking down the hallway, turning the doorknob, and entering this "room" or "space" behind the door. Then he starts writing what comes to mind. Try this exercise as often as you need to complete your stories/poems/plays, etc.
Some good advice from Damon Knight (Science Fiction Author):

1. "You can't write about a general character in a general setting--[to keep a story going] you need a paricular person in a particular place, feeling a particular way, in a particular situation."

2. "Each time you answer a question [about character, setting, situation, feeling] you will be closer to finding out what happens in the story."

3. "Editors are often reluctant to publish any short story that ends with the death of a sympathetic viewpoint character."

4. "After writing a 1st draft, go back over your story and: criticize your own story. By asking questions [about craft] now, you will save yourself the embarrassment of having others ask them later."

5. Remember to draw on your own experiences if you need to, but also rely on research to flesh out an idea.

6. Constraints (like prompts) can help limit your imagination and give you a good place to start writing.

7. "In a story we expect a quality of completion, of roundedness, which sets it apart from a sketch, an incident, or an anecdote."

8. "There is an implied contract between the author and the reader that goes something like this: Give me your time and pay your money, and I'll let you experience what it's like to be...a trapper in the woods, an explorer in the Martian desert, a young woman in love with an older man, a dying cancer patient...etc. You must look hard at the offer you are making: would you accept it, if you were the reader?"

9. "A story has a shape; you can't see it all at once, but it's there. A good story has a pleasing shape, like a vase or a violin; a bad one has a meaningless, haphazard shape, like a pile of junk."

10. "Every story is a machine designed to evoke an organized series of responses in the reader. When the writer is clumsy, the mechanism shows. In a good story it is concealed and we are not aware of it, but it is there just the same, and every part of it has its function."

Use one of these techniques to write a short story draft.  

Story #1: Write a story of your choice of genre (Romance, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Adventure, Western, Realism, Historical Fiction, Horror/Suspense, Literary, etc.) You should have a central character and write from this perspective, either in 1st person POV or 3rd person-limited (or over the shoulder) POV. Identify a setting and a problem (essentially a situation and a complication). You will be writing two stories that are eventually linked with this one, so keep that in the back of your mind. Instructions for the 2nd and 3rd stories will be forthcoming.  

HOMEWORK: Please complete The Martian Chronicles. There will be a test on this book Wednesday. Complete your first draft if you didn't finish in the lab today.