shakespeare reduced and other abbreviations

There's no way that all of Shakespeare's plays should be able to fit into a single average length perofrmance but the Reduced Shakespeare Company managed to do that at a performance at The Oldham Coliseum last week.

Humour, 3 male actors with wigs, costumes and props, a fairly simple set and a lot of energy gave an enteratining whistle stop tour of the Bard's output. 

Could you do that with your life? Make a descriptive list of key events and then develop that into a poem or performance piece. Could you do 2 separate accounts of your life? One that is known and you don't mind sharing, and a less known or inner life?

Think of the things you do regularly, your failings and successes and use them throughout to aid the structure of the piece. Try to create a story and not a list (or a CV)

Films plots.

Watching good films is one of life's great pleasures for me. I appreciate everything from the words spoken to the scenery chosen. Some films follow a fairly transparent route from start to finish while others ie Indie Brit Films and French Films take risks with plot. Others can be based loosley or closely on books with varying outcomes.

Have a look at books on writing films.  

One thing I like to do is consider the plot in its most basic form and then think of a story of my own that follows that plot. This isn't new. Plots are recycled all the time. I have a book about Silent Movies in which the business of recycling plots by changing settings and times was a big job for writers of the time.

Try this -

Think of a film you like

Write the plot out in a series of 10-15 sentences.

Use the plot line to construct a story of your own, set in another time and place.

Use a bit of writerly skill to make it difficult to see at a glance the film you got your idea from.

Novel in a month. NaNoWriMo

Hardly news but November is the month in which writers can join an international event that involves writing a 50,000 word novel. It's a tough call but thousands of people do it.

I have an idea that I'd like to work on and I'm going to give it a try. My life is busy enough and I don't know how I can write almost 2000 words a day but if other busy people are doing it I'm going to try.

For much more information go to nanowrimo.org where you'll find all the help and support you need.

Get that novel written. You know you want to.

Mystery and perspectives

Look at the untrimmed hedge in the above photograph. It is at the back door of a house owned by a man who teaches languages at a college.

Write a short story from three perspectives about this situation.

The first perspective could be that of a neighbour, the second from the man who owns the house and the third, a person of your choosing. 

What message does the untrimmed hedge give to the people involved? 
How does it affect them?

It should be interesting to write. Think of a few plot ideas before you start.

You can write each perspective in a first or third person voice, You can choose to write each perspective as

1. A short story in its own right with  a structure, start, middle and end.

or

2. Each story can follow on from the last to build up the whole. 


Have fun.

NAWE National Association for Writers in Education.

NAWE is the National Association for Writers in Education. 

Their remit is quite broad and they offer a lot of services to writers who work in education and welfare. Subscribers can receive newsletters, job information, details of courses and up to date industry views and insights from people who are prominent and informed. At the moment they are taking bookings for a large annual conference. They offer a really good mix of stuff - more than I've mentioned.

I'm not advertising for them but I find what they do useful and interesting and subscribe to a monthly e-bulletin that tells me about opportunities in the world of writing, some of which I can tell others about.

You can visit their website for an idea of what they do at nawe.co.uk

Confucius Quotation

'Have no friends not equal to yourself'

Confucius.

An interesting quotation. Are the friends in your circle your equals? What does this make you, and them? 

Drama isn't made when things are equal and the same. Is there anyone in your circle who doesn't fit because at some level they aren't equal? Have you ever not fitted because you weren't equal? It's uncomfortable to think about but isolate a person, or a time in your own life and write about it.

In order to fictionalize something real you could write in the third person. Try to create a sense of structure by framing an incident with a 

start  - when did the situation arise and what was it like? 
middle - what happened to the people involved? 
end - how did things turn out?

First sentence story prompt.

Write a short story of no more than 2000 words beginning with the opening sentence


They ordered coffee and while they waited for it to arrive, sat awkwardly, wondering what to say.

In the story, in any order, include the words jewelled, interruptions and ring.


Have lots of fun.