Today I heard on the news about a house invasion in the Vanoouver area. Stolen from the residence was $750,000 worth of silver bars. The police officer interviewed said it is the hope and wish of the RCMP that people do not keep large amounts of cash or valuable metals in their homes, but, if they do, they should "keep it to themselves." She said that it was obvious that the theives knew what they were looking for.
How's that for an idea for a story! Hard to believe, but, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction.
Some questions to ask about this incident to pump it up to a story or a poem:
- why was all that silver in the house?
- where did it come from?
- how long had the owner been "collecting" it?
- what was it eventually going to be used for or what was the owner planning to do with it?
- who else knew about it?
- how did the information leak out?
- what about insurance? (Can you insure that under your regular house insurance??)
Anyway, scan the newspapers. Find the odd stories. Take a line or an idea and go to town with it!
Remember to change the names to protect the innocent and the guilty.
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short stories. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Who Do You Write Like?
Try this for fun (our class had to do it for an assignment): copy a few paragraphs from your blog or some other writing that you've done--fiction is best--into the dialog box at the following web site:
www.iwl.me
Click on the ANALYZE button, and presto! the program will analyze your writing and tell you who you write like.
As you can see, I've been analyzed.
I write like Kurt Vonnegut, famous and influential 20th century American writer. This didn't sound too bad, though I admit I had never read anything by him. So a few clicks on the keyboard and I brought up a few excerpts.
Hmm. What if I don't want to write like Kurt Vonnegut? I read some weird futuristic stuff, some stuff that was obviously influenced by his World War Two military service, and some stuff I just didn't get.
Maybe another piece of my writing would bring up another name. I found a story I had written back in my feminist awakening days and plugged it into the Analyzer at iwl.me. This time a new name that I had never heard before: Chuck Palahniuk. Okay, check him out. Wow, hmm, ooh, lots of police stories, prostitutes, drugs, awful things happening, blood, violence, etc., etc. Certainly not my first pick for curling up on the couch on a winter's eve for an engrossing read.
Anyway, today I went to the public library and took out three of Palahniuk's novels. The dust jacket of one of his books tells me that his books are "generation-defining" (another Douglas Coupland?) and that he's sold more than three million copies of his novels. Okay, maybe I should reconsider. Who wouldn't like that to be said about his or her writing?
I also took out Vonnegut's Bagombo Snuff Box. It's a collection of his uncollected short fiction (that means previously unpublished in book form). I've sat here for the last hour reading four short stories, totally engrossed in the author's craft. Now I see why he's counted as one of the recent American greats.
I've changed my mind. I'll wear the Kurt Vonnegut badge.
Maybe I should give Palahniuk another chance. I think I'll check out his non-fiction.
Oh, and if you want to do the rest of the assignment from our class: write a 750 word essay comparing and contrasting your writing with that of your doppelganger,* using the four elements of the craft (point of view, characterization, setting, and imagery) as a starting point.
*doppelganger: (from German, literally, double-walker) a ghostly counterpart of a living person. Similar to an alter-ego.
www.iwl.me
Click on the ANALYZE button, and presto! the program will analyze your writing and tell you who you write like.
As you can see, I've been analyzed.
I write like Kurt Vonnegut, famous and influential 20th century American writer. This didn't sound too bad, though I admit I had never read anything by him. So a few clicks on the keyboard and I brought up a few excerpts.
Hmm. What if I don't want to write like Kurt Vonnegut? I read some weird futuristic stuff, some stuff that was obviously influenced by his World War Two military service, and some stuff I just didn't get.
Maybe another piece of my writing would bring up another name. I found a story I had written back in my feminist awakening days and plugged it into the Analyzer at iwl.me. This time a new name that I had never heard before: Chuck Palahniuk. Okay, check him out. Wow, hmm, ooh, lots of police stories, prostitutes, drugs, awful things happening, blood, violence, etc., etc. Certainly not my first pick for curling up on the couch on a winter's eve for an engrossing read.
Anyway, today I went to the public library and took out three of Palahniuk's novels. The dust jacket of one of his books tells me that his books are "generation-defining" (another Douglas Coupland?) and that he's sold more than three million copies of his novels. Okay, maybe I should reconsider. Who wouldn't like that to be said about his or her writing?
I also took out Vonnegut's Bagombo Snuff Box. It's a collection of his uncollected short fiction (that means previously unpublished in book form). I've sat here for the last hour reading four short stories, totally engrossed in the author's craft. Now I see why he's counted as one of the recent American greats.
I've changed my mind. I'll wear the Kurt Vonnegut badge.
Maybe I should give Palahniuk another chance. I think I'll check out his non-fiction.
Oh, and if you want to do the rest of the assignment from our class: write a 750 word essay comparing and contrasting your writing with that of your doppelganger,* using the four elements of the craft (point of view, characterization, setting, and imagery) as a starting point.
*doppelganger: (from German, literally, double-walker) a ghostly counterpart of a living person. Similar to an alter-ego.
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