Getting Started Ideas

January 1, 2011

Gather your thoughts together.  You have a main idea, a beginning point, an ending point so it is now time to use creative writing techniques that I have developed.  These techniques are for short stories and for plays.  Usually for those more interested in submitting writing for contests around the United States.  I know there are deadlines for these writing contests.  Tennesse Williams Literary Festival http://tennesseewilliams.net/ has a one-act play and short story contest deadline is in November.  Ernest Hemingway Festival  http://www.insideflorida.com/event/hemingway-days/  and http://www.sloppyjoes.com/lookalikes.htm Short Story contest deadline is March - so you still have time for that.  Two local Indianapolis playwrighting events are the Diva Fest and the Fringe Festival  - deadline is January 15, 2011 for the Fringe Theater - http://indyfringe.org/

Lesson 1 - Find a growth chart at least 6 feet long (preferably laminated) to hang on your wall.  You can make your own or buy a fun one and have it laminated at a local teacher store.  If laminated an erasable marker is great and you can use different colors for ideas.  When something is definite it can be written in permanent marker on your growth chart.  This is a really great way to outline and focus on the sequence of events in your story. 

Write the Beginning (short idea version) and remember this will most likely change settings.  Then fill in the Ending.   Now let's divide the growth chart into five sections - we will use (Wikipedia) Freytag's Analysis:

 Freytag's analysis

Freytag's pyramid.

According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.
Although Freytag's analysis of dramatic structure is based on five-act plays, it can be applied (sometimes in a modified manner) to short stories and novels as well.

 Exposition

The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the protagonist, the antagonist, the basic conflict, and the setting. It ends with the inciting moment, which is the incident without which there would be no story. The inciting moment sets the remainder of the story in motion beginning with the second act, the rising action. While the exposition may employ the rhetorical mode also known as exposition, the two are not perfectly synonymous.

Rising action

During rising action, the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves or actions unknown.

 Climax

Main article: Climax (narrative)

The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist.

 Falling action

During the falling action, or resolution, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt. Summary: The falling action is that part of the story in which the main part (the climax) has finished and you're heading to the conclusion.

 Dénouement, resolution, or catastrophe

The dénouement (pronounced /deɪnuːˈmɑ̃ː/, /deɪnuːˈmɒn/) comprises events between the falling action and the actual end of the drama or narrative and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Etymologically, the French word dénouement is derived from the Old French word denoer, "to untie", and from nodus, Latin for "knot." Simply put, dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot.
The comedy ends with a dénouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative.

I think that this is a big chunk of information to analyze for today.  So keep those creative thoughts flowing.