Hello, writers.
Oh. Wow. Thank you.
I’m overwhelmed. This was really not something I expected at all.
Needless to say. You guys are great. This just bowls me over.
The new laptop will support a newer browser that the new dKos 4 will
work with, and I’ll be able to read your comments without waiting five
to ten minutes for them to load, and without kvetching.
Thank you.
Here’s a question we haven’t discussed in a while: What’s your favorite piece of writing advice? And your least favorite?
Tonight’s challenge is in two parts.
If you’ve ever looked at the various websites where writers post their queries and synopses for critique, you may have noticed a certain sameness in the novels that
many people are working on. Below are some common tropes.
Challenge part one: Come up with a twist to one of
the following plots. Change something about it.
1. A callow youth (male or female) is the Chosen One who must obtain
the sacred jewel of Togwogmagog in order to save the kingdom.
2. The protagonist either dies on page one or is dead before then, yet
she’s tied to this world until she can make everyone sorry they were so
mean to her.
3. The passive female protagonist is the love object of a supernatural
being: werewolf, vampire, demon, or, with increasing frequency, angel.
She is extremely grateful for this.
(We’ve talked before about the rule of 20—listing 20 different ideas.
The first few will be ones that other people also come up with. As you
keep listing, you come up with more original ideas. Somewhere around
#17 you’ll hit something truly brilliant. You might try that when
twisting one of the tropes above, if you want.)
Challenge part two: Write the opening scene. There
should be a threat in it, either to life or to the status quo. (For an
extra challenge, limit yourself to 100 words.)
Hope people have fun with this one.
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