This thread was the brainchild of myself, Crimson King and Evil Eye. We're all interested in increasing the amount of new writers back here, so this project came into being.
Writing can be an intimidating art form, as many people look at a 400 page book and their eyes glaze over. "I can never write anything like that", is usually the first thing someone says. To that, we respond YES YOU CAN!- just not yet.
All writers have to start somewhere, and that is the goal of this thread, to encourage people who may have never had an interest in writing, or those who do but find the task of putting together an entire work to be a daunting one. Every week or so, either myself, CK or EE will introduce a new topic for you to work on specific skills separately.
By taking this approach, it is our hope that we can break down the job of writing into smaller, more manageable pieces that aren't as scary as staring at a wall of text. We will be here to offer constructive criticism and to guide you through the process of each specific task, as will the other regulars of the Creative Minds forum.
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY! We aren't here to baby anyone, but we do want to encourage and support those people who have not traditionally been a part of this section of the forum. To that end, I would also ask that CM regulars refrain from participating in the projects, at least initially. This is geared towards beginners, and we would much rather have your help in nurturing new writers.
Without further ado, here is the first project!
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Suggested by Crimson King:
STEP 1
Describe the following picture in 100 words or less:
Try to make it fit into some kind of larger scene, but if you can't, that's okay. Just try to describe the tree as if you're describing it to a recently blind person who's never seen this tree scene before. Use your five senses to craft an image in that person's head. Good luck!
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STEP 2
Add a character to your scene, and have your character interact with the tree in some way. Do not exceed 300 words in your scene.
Pretty simple, right? Don't be fooled. The first part of this workshop was carefully scripted and focused to introduce you to some of the elements of creative writing in a non-threatening way. Now, you have to be creative. We're not going to tell you what to write about, or how you should write it.
The ultimate goal is to slowly have you construct a short story. This is a critical step in that process, as this character will determine the direction that your story is going to take now. So take risks, think creatively, and most importantly, have fun!
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NEW ASSIGNMENT
Design a protagonist for a story. It can be male, female, dog, cat, alien, tall, short, whatever you want. Post the characters vitals in this thread in the following format:
EDIT- This assignment is open to everyone. You don't need to have completed the previous tasks.
-------------------------------------------
NEW ASSIGNMENT PART 2
Part 2: Give your character a personality.
The first step was to give your character an outside, now you're filling out the insides as well. Who is he? What does he do for work? How does he interact with people? Why does he act the way he does?
Make sure to go beyond the usual stereotypes of the "badass assassin" or "geeky virgin" or any of the hundreds of characters that have been crammed down our throats all of our lives. We are making characters, not caricatures. Think about yourself, and the people you know and how complex and unique they are. Real people have deep thoughts, conflicting interests, flaws and virtues both great and small. I'll say it again: we're building a PERSON, so make sure that your character's physical and mental descriptions are as thorough as possible so that you know exactly who you are dealing with.
Go beyond the questions I posed, both in this part of the assignment and the first part. Make your character as complete and fully realized as possible, because he will be key to future parts of this project.
Writing can be an intimidating art form, as many people look at a 400 page book and their eyes glaze over. "I can never write anything like that", is usually the first thing someone says. To that, we respond YES YOU CAN!- just not yet.
All writers have to start somewhere, and that is the goal of this thread, to encourage people who may have never had an interest in writing, or those who do but find the task of putting together an entire work to be a daunting one. Every week or so, either myself, CK or EE will introduce a new topic for you to work on specific skills separately.
By taking this approach, it is our hope that we can break down the job of writing into smaller, more manageable pieces that aren't as scary as staring at a wall of text. We will be here to offer constructive criticism and to guide you through the process of each specific task, as will the other regulars of the Creative Minds forum.
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY! We aren't here to baby anyone, but we do want to encourage and support those people who have not traditionally been a part of this section of the forum. To that end, I would also ask that CM regulars refrain from participating in the projects, at least initially. This is geared towards beginners, and we would much rather have your help in nurturing new writers.
Without further ado, here is the first project!
------------------------------------------------
Suggested by Crimson King:
STEP 1
Describe the following picture in 100 words or less:
Try to make it fit into some kind of larger scene, but if you can't, that's okay. Just try to describe the tree as if you're describing it to a recently blind person who's never seen this tree scene before. Use your five senses to craft an image in that person's head. Good luck!
-------------------------------------------------
STEP 2
Add a character to your scene, and have your character interact with the tree in some way. Do not exceed 300 words in your scene.
Pretty simple, right? Don't be fooled. The first part of this workshop was carefully scripted and focused to introduce you to some of the elements of creative writing in a non-threatening way. Now, you have to be creative. We're not going to tell you what to write about, or how you should write it.
The ultimate goal is to slowly have you construct a short story. This is a critical step in that process, as this character will determine the direction that your story is going to take now. So take risks, think creatively, and most importantly, have fun!
-------------------------------------
NEW ASSIGNMENT
Design a protagonist for a story. It can be male, female, dog, cat, alien, tall, short, whatever you want. Post the characters vitals in this thread in the following format:
You don't have to include all of this information and you can certainly add more if it will help you. What I want is for everyone to have a very clear mental image of the character, because the clearer the image is to you, the easier it is for you to describe that character to the reader. Remember, when you're writing, you're not just dealing with names. You're dealing with people.Name:
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Distinguishing Features:
EDIT- This assignment is open to everyone. You don't need to have completed the previous tasks.
-------------------------------------------
NEW ASSIGNMENT PART 2
Part 2: Give your character a personality.
The first step was to give your character an outside, now you're filling out the insides as well. Who is he? What does he do for work? How does he interact with people? Why does he act the way he does?
Make sure to go beyond the usual stereotypes of the "badass assassin" or "geeky virgin" or any of the hundreds of characters that have been crammed down our throats all of our lives. We are making characters, not caricatures. Think about yourself, and the people you know and how complex and unique they are. Real people have deep thoughts, conflicting interests, flaws and virtues both great and small. I'll say it again: we're building a PERSON, so make sure that your character's physical and mental descriptions are as thorough as possible so that you know exactly who you are dealing with.
Go beyond the questions I posed, both in this part of the assignment and the first part. Make your character as complete and fully realized as possible, because he will be key to future parts of this project.