hello everyone, i am new to this site so not sure how everything works yet. this post may seem a little bizarre, but here goes. I have graduated with a BA in English literature and i would love to be able tow rite creatively, a short story for example. but i really have no idea where to start. i dont even have any ideas of any sort of plotlines or characters. can someone please help? many thanks, ivy xx
How about taking an interesting historical story - that would start you off with a plot and characters?
Hello, welcome to the board! And think of the kinds of things in stories that inspire you. Is it magical creatures? Is it a roller-coaster romance? Is it schizophrenic going through intense therapy at a mental ward? Or maybe a specific time period or genre? Think of things that made you want to get your BA in English Literature. Take a stroll in the park or through a mall, people watch (creepy I know, but it works!). Listen to instrumental/classical music, that genre usually can play with the emotions and thoughts of a person and that's where I get part of my inspiration. Hope that helps
you don't need to - you can read, this is aiming to be fiction not an academic essay. A quick check on the Internet try the BBC site or Wikkipedia and find a story that captures your imagination. You will be making a lot of it up anyway. With the historical person you can pick parts of their personality - you have a timeline laid out you can even make characters up to tell your story. Also did you study Classical Literature to any level - that can give you a good idea. Dickens, Thomas Hardy etc give a feel for their era. Austen for hers. The Brontes for theirs. Homer, Plutarch etc going further back.
Hello Ivy, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Review Room before you post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out the RPG forum for improvisational fiction. Also try our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
The great thing about creative writing is that it comes from you. It can be anything and everything you want. I'm an English major at my college and I was in the same boat. I took a creative writing class that wet my appetite but there really wasn't much teaching the in field at my college. The best advice I can recommend is start small. A nice goal for yourself. Then write.. roaming the forum helps a good deal too. There are plenty of people here who post writing exercises in blogs and all sorts of other ideas or things to help get you started. The main thing is.. if you want to write.. WRITE. Can't get anywhere if you don't .....
Welcome. As for plot and character help, my advice is that you eavesdrop and watch people. It really helps to listen to other people, watch their body language and so on and it can help you to create a character from it. I'd look at some poems and/or song lyrics because you can derive a plot from there usually, and/or listen to music. You could also make a daily diary/journal of what you've been doing every day, in as much detail as you can, and a plot may come out of it.
