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mary rosenblum
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Hello all
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday forum.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
workshopping story ideas. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you're all having a
good week.
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mary rosenblum
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I've got ewe in labor even as
we speak, so I'm anticipating new lambs later today. Spring is definitely
here.
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mary rosenblum
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Last Friday at our After Hours
forum, we talked about generating a novel plot from a rough concept...
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mary rosenblum
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and we really ran over our
'long' hour with ideas from the audience.
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mary rosenblum
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So I thought it was worth
doing another little 'hands on' workshop...
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mary rosenblum
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where you can toss an idea up
here and we'll see how many stories of what length we can get out of it.
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beryl
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You hit my heart...I love lambs
from live to ceramic. Congrats
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mary rosenblum
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Ah, I have some real cuties,
beryl.
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mary rosenblum
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I'll have to see if I can get
some digital snaps and post 'em to my blog.
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geezer
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People caught in 1906 San
Francisco Earthquake
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, that's a lovely broad
topic, geeze...
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mary rosenblum
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and you could come up with
hundreds of stories from it.
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mary rosenblum
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What you have here is a
powerful setting that will directly influence the characters...
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mary rosenblum
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And as you vary your
characters, you vary your stories.
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mary rosenblum
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In this type of story
generation, you can create characters with an internal conflict...
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mary rosenblum
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and then combine those
characters with the cataclysm of the earthquavck
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mary rosenblum
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Ideally the external pressure
of the earthquake will bring your internal conflict to a climax.
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andi
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looking for their families
praying their alive
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mary rosenblum
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That's one. You could have a
character who had a conflict with someone in his/her life...
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mary rosenblum
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parent, sibling, what have
you.
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mary rosenblum
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And as they search through the
rubble and struggle to help survivors, they resolve that conflict.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a short story plot.
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geezer
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POVs A fireman, his sweetheart,
corrupt official, lost child
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, lots of potential, from a
murdery mystery to a love story to a fast paced thriller type read...
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mary rosenblum
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you name it.
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tory
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Add that convicts escaped, lots
of new potential
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mary rosenblum
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Yes...our firefighter might
find an unexpected ally, where the corrupt politician simply takes care of
himself.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
workshopping story ideas. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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info
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I've been pondering on making y
characters more real. I have been wondering, what if my characters don't
give me much information to work with? How much of me do I put into a
character without them becoming me and still tell their own adventure?
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mary rosenblum
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Info, you need to be careful
about falling into the 'my characters are real' trap.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, you want to MAKE them
real, but you have the final power over who they are.
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mary rosenblum
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They really don't have the
self will to tell you or refuse to tell you anything. :-) To me it sounds
more like a metaphor for 'I haven't figure out who my characters are
yet'...
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mary rosenblum
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and that's a valid reason to
hold off.
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mary rosenblum
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I don't generally start
writing something until that character really 'feels' real to me.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not because he/she hasn't
TOLD me enough...it's because I just haven't thought that person through
enough..
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mary rosenblum
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to feel real to me. I have to
invent more past for this person, more experiences in his/her childhood or
early years...
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mary rosenblum
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to make that person seem
autonomous.
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mary rosenblum
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Why not make up some childhood
or early scenes...pivotal moments in your character's past?
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mary rosenblum
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The more you know about that
character's past, the more you'll know about that person now.
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mary rosenblum
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You can even write some scenes
out if you want. That's good practice. :-) Whether you do it as an
assignment or just for your own benefit. ;-)
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janecj333
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What about this fireman singles
him out from all other firemen caught in thr quake? What makes him worthy
of being a mc in a novel??
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mary rosenblum
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But that's YOUR job, Jane.
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mary rosenblum
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All you do is put the camera
on him and make him real.
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mary rosenblum
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Then he's worthy of being in
your novel.
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mary rosenblum
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That's what characterization
is all about.
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mary rosenblum
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Taking the reader beyond the
label.
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geezer
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Convicts go to bank where
sweetheart is take her and politician hostage
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mary rosenblum
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That's a nice action plot,
geeze...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you wanted to keep the
earthquake theme, the quake happens in the middle of the standoff. :-) Of
course the hour was a bit...
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mary rosenblum
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wrong for business hours.
You'd have to figure a way around that.
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paminnapa
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A futuristic story...criminals
are banished to islands or planets....(CA had a major earthquake and
separated into an island...) an attorny who put all the criminals there
gets framed for being to close to something and ends up working with Josh
an ex police framed for coming to close to the same thing.....they have to
work together to stay alive ....
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mary rosenblum
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That could work, Pam. I've
seen some stories along that line...
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mary rosenblum
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I would make sure you create a
world where the practice of doing this makes sense...
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mary rosenblum
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if you just state it as
background, it's probably not going to fly.
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mary rosenblum
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But figure out how we got
THERE from here, and make it clear to the reader, and it can work.
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janecj333
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ok...he suspects that he has
leprosy (caught while growing up in India) and that it will end his career,
and hasn't told anyone, esp his wife
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mary rosenblum
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That's certainly a strong
personal conflict...and a real one in that day, before we understood
leprosy.
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janecj333
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he avoids touching people for
fear of spreading the disease...
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mary rosenblum
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It would have to be a recent
appearance of skin lesions.
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mary rosenblum
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You could also simply make him
a real person with a marriage that is on the brink of falling apart.
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mary rosenblum
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Even something that mundane,
handled powerfully with real people, is a compelling internal conflict...
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mary rosenblum
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that when coupled with the
strong external conflict of the quake and everything happening...
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mary rosenblum
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could make a very powerful
short story or even a novel.
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mary rosenblum
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Although for the novel you'd
have to add major subplots, all converging on that earthquake
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janecj333
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why is his marriage falling
apart? something he has done, or his wife's betrayal, a child's death in an
accident and they blame each other
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mary rosenblum
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Could be any of those. :-)
That's all part of developing your character and all would work...
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mary rosenblum
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the child's death would be
particularly powerful, since he's going to see many children die or at risk
in the aftermath of the quake.
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geezer
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There were gas mains burning and
they found that do to curruption the was no water to fight the fires
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mary rosenblum
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There would be another
compelling plot component.
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mary rosenblum
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You could end up giving the
firefighter the opportunity to kill the corrupt politician or let him
die...
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mary rosenblum
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and his choice would be a
powerful climax to the story, whichever choice he made...
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mary rosenblum
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and his choice would depend on
the character you created.
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paminnapa
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something i just started working
on last week...will it work?
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mary rosenblum
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Your future story has good
potential, pam, if you create a believable future world.
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mary rosenblum
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(Sorry, I missed this when I
posted your idea).
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mary rosenblum
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Just be careful not to
transplant 2006 to the future and add in the 'all criminals to the island'.
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janecj333
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Raymond Carver did well with the
mundane, but it seems as if commercial fiction dominates the bookstores
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mary rosenblum
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Raymond Carver wrote
commercial fiction in his day, jane.
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mephistopheles
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Mary there is a law in Japan
that says a criminal if not caught for murder in (now 25 years) was 10
years, is free and clear of committing the murder, so perhaps that can be
worked into the story line?
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mary rosenblum
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That's an interesting law,
mephis.
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mary rosenblum
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Nothing like coming face to
face with the murderer of your loved one who managed to escape justice
for...
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mary rosenblum
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the requisite time. Would
create a very powerful point of conflict, that's for sure.
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mary rosenblum
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We do have something similar
for many crimes...the statute of limitations.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
workshopping story ideas. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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janecj333
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There has to be a reason for criminals
to be banished. Their families want to visit them, and banishment makes it
very complicated. Is a new rehabilitation technique being tried on them,
something no one wants leaked?
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, jane. That's the kind
of thing you have to think through in SF.
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mary rosenblum
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What editors mostly see is the
current day moved forward into the future with one change added in...
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mephistopheles
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I have thought about using that
law in a few short stories or perhaps a novel, but have not really figured
out how to begin the story should I begin with the murder or the profile of
the killers mind before he/she commits the murder?
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mary rosenblum
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That depends on what you want
to do with it, mephis.
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mary rosenblum
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This is one where I'd decide
what climax/resolution I was after.
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mary rosenblum
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Is it the confrontation with
the victim or victim's family?
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mary rosenblum
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Is it the change in the
criminal over time?
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mary rosenblum
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I think your central
conflict/resolution will determine where you begin here..
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mary rosenblum
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as will your POV choice.
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mary rosenblum
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Will it be the criminal? Will
it be a victim? Victim's family? Cop or ex cop?
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dwkav
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Maybe it's as simple as there's
no more room for prisons. They had to be moved to make room for housing
developments, business parks, etc.
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mary rosenblum
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That could be, but again,
think of reality here. (I know, SF isn't REAL, but it's based on
extrapolated reality, unlike fantasy...well the good stuff is).
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mary rosenblum
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If the planet is SO full that
there is NO space left, how do we all eat?
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mary rosenblum
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What do we do with our
garbage?
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mary rosenblum
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Pollution?
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mephistopheles
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I keep thinking of "Silence
of the Lamb" and how it began with the murder in prison/psychiatric
and being interviewed by a profiler to better understand the criminal mind.
I don't want to copy that beginning so I feel like I need to start with the
murder first and then the profiling and backhistory filling in some of the
gaps up to the killings.
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mary rosenblum
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You could do that mephis. That's
a form that works well, when the payoff for the reader is not...
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mary rosenblum
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the murder itself but rather
the mind of the criminal or a possible future victim...
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mary rosenblum
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or just seeing how the tangled
web gets woven.
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janecj333
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When you mention moving a sf
story forward, you're describing a story without a well-developed
milieu...a house dropped in a mundane Oz
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, and while you find
examples of that in SF, they tend to...for the most part...be rather weak
and unimpressive stories.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes not, when the author
has a much stronger point to make...
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mary rosenblum
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look at Ray Bradbury's fifties
suburbs on Mars.
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mary rosenblum
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He had NO intention whatsoever
of extrapolating the future... he was using metaphor and had no interest in
any kind of reality, and they...
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mary rosenblum
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would probably be classed as
American literature if he hadn't published in SF, alas.
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mephistopheles
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thanks that helps me a lot, I am
venturing into mystery for the first time.
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mary rosenblum
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Cool, meph.
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mary rosenblum
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Actually you can find quite a
few examples in mystery of stories where we see the crime at the start...
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mary rosenblum
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and know from the beginning
who did what to whom. The strength of the story...
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mary rosenblum
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involves the unraveling of the
crime by those involved.
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janecj333
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Maybe a private company has
contracted to test new vaccines on the criminals. As long as they're on
another planet, the relatives won't know they died of horrible
complications to the experiment.
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mary rosenblum
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You could do that, but you'd
need to postulate a government that could pull that off without any public
attention or outcry.
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mary rosenblum
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That implies pretty tight
media control. But that's very doable.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
workshopping story ideas. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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andi
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my mc was a model and left to go
home to take care of her father. i wouldn't need to say too much about that
do i
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, you would, andi.
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mary rosenblum
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There's a lot of potential
here in a lot of ways.
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mary rosenblum
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Why did she become a model?
What does it mean to her?
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mary rosenblum
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What was her relationship to
Dad?
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mary rosenblum
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Has her modeling career
changed the values she was brought up with?
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mary rosenblum
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How does she feel about giving
up that career, the fame, the attention...
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mary rosenblum
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to become an unpaid nurse?
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mary rosenblum
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What future is waiting for
her?
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mary rosenblum
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Can she return to the youth-
and trend- obsessed modeling world after Dad or will she be too old or out
of fashion?
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mary rosenblum
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In other word, what is she
sacrificing, is she doing it willingly, how did she feel about Dad before,
how...
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mary rosenblum
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does she feel about him now,
and how will she feel about him by the end of the story?
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mary rosenblum
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There is a LOT there to sort
out.
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mary rosenblum
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And as with most
stories...your character will determine the nature of this story.
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mary rosenblum
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Take fifty people and you'll
have fifty different stories here!
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mary rosenblum
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What I"m saying is that
his is a rich little canvas, and you can paint a bunch of very different
pictures.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a magic key to fiction.
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mary rosenblum
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Change the character and you
have changed the story.
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mary rosenblum
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And here's a little litmus
test...
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mary rosenblum
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if you can change the
character and the story does NOT change...
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mary rosenblum
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your character is probably a
plot puppet.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
workshopping story ideas. If you're new here, remember that you need to
click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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YOur story has all that
potential, too, Pam.
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mary rosenblum
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Depending on who your
characters are, their relationship and their actions..
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mary rosenblum
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can be very different even in
that powerful setting of the prison island.
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mary rosenblum
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Hmmm...Pam, you know you have
the potential there for the SFnal 'Lord of the Flies.'. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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One valuable exercise when
you're first coming up with a story idea...
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mary rosenblum
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is to think of the story in
terms of two or three very different characters.
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mary rosenblum
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See if one of those character
types doesn't suddenly galvanize that story to a new...
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mary rosenblum
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plain of energy.
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janecj333
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So if you replace your
altruistic character with a greedy politician, the story falls apart
because his actions don't ring true anymore
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mary rosenblum
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Well, the story might not fall
apart, depending on what you do with that character.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember, even if you're going
to make your MC a greedy politician...
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mary rosenblum
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he needs to be a real
character. And real people have complex reasons for doing everything they
do...
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mary rosenblum
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even if it's being greedy and
stealing from the public.
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mary rosenblum
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It's hard to think beyond the
stereotype with that sort of character...
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mary rosenblum
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but if you can do that, then
you have a powerful character even if readers may not approve of him.
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andi
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thank you Mary You gave me a lot
to thank about and work out. It's going to be a time travel story
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mary rosenblum
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Interesting, Andi. In the
Romance genre? Time travel romance seems to be a big hit. :-)
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andi
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yes. i thought i'd try that. i
read a lot of time travel romance.
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mary rosenblum
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Oh good, Andi.
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mary rosenblum
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It's always a good idea to
write what you read. :-0
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mary rosenblum
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-)
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janecj333
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I am wondering who could best
tell Pam's story...the detective, the detective's ally, or maybe someone
inside the prison, a doctor who doesn't agree, a prisoner with capability
to act , or maybe a relative who finds out about the conspiracy from coded
letters home
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mary rosenblum
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Good question.
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mary rosenblum
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I know I usually try out my
story ideas through different POVs to see which one 'clicks' for me.
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mary rosenblum
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Usually, one seems to be the
best choice to carry the story.
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mary rosenblum
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And sometimes, you discover
after you begin that another character actually has a larger stake in this
story...
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mary rosenblum
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than you thought.
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mary rosenblum
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That person may work better as
your POV.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't be afraid to play around
with stories before you write them...whether they're short or novels.
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mary rosenblum
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Twist them, tug at them, turn
them upside down.
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mary rosenblum
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It's so much easier to switch
POV characters at this point...
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mary rosenblum
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then AFTER you've written the
first 100 pages of your novel! LOL
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mary rosenblum
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I had originally intended a
different main POV for my current novel...but he didn't work...
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mary rosenblum
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because I needed more
involvement outside of his sphere of influence.
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mary rosenblum
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So I used a different
character as my main, and he's a very strong secondary.
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mary rosenblum
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One of the most important
things you learn as you write, and one of those bits of knowledge that
divides amateur from pro...
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mary rosenblum
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is the ability to see stories
as mutable, to make BIG changes.
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mary rosenblum
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Most of us, when we start,
come up with a story and stubbornly stick to it.
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mary rosenblum
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I did it, too. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Later on, you realize that
it's not THIS story that counts, it's STORY.
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mary rosenblum
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And it becomes easier to make
big changes so that you end up with a powerful story.
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mary rosenblum
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Rather than a more polished
version of THIS story.
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mary rosenblum
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One of the exercises I use in
some writing workshops is to ask participants to write a short short
story...
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mary rosenblum
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and then I have them do the
story over again through the POV of another character in that story (of my
choosing. :-))
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mary rosenblum
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It's a VERY good exercise.
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mary rosenblum
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Generally when you shift
characters, you change the entire focus of the story...
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mary rosenblum
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because of course now you have
a different internal conflict to be resolved.
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mary rosenblum
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Your new POV has his/her own
interests, agenda, personal issues.
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mary rosenblum
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Next time you're not happy
with a story...try switching POV to other characters and see if that
doesn't help it.
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mary rosenblum
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Anyone else have an idea you
want to play with?
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beryl
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I've read novels where the story
reads well, good conflicts, but as the author pulls the story together
there isn't enough resolution to a conflict or two. Wouldn't it be better
to save those conflicts for a different story even though they work well at
the beginning?
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mary rosenblum
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Could be, beryl, or simply to
resolve them. Alas, not all published books are shining examples of
powerful prose. Wish it were so.
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info
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when working on a story idea and
character creation, is it better to develop just one character or three or
four if you have then to create?
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to develop all my major
characters pretty fully, info. That helps me be sure I have the right MC
for the story.
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heal
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Yes a child loosing parents and
sibling to flue epidemic
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mary rosenblum
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That could be a powerful one,
heal.
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mary rosenblum
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You have the setting...is the
Spanish flu or a near future avian flu? How does that child survive...
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mary rosenblum
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what people does he/she meet
and how to they help shape the adult this child will become?
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mary rosenblum
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That could be a VERY strong
character story and you have a lovely empty stage that...
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mary rosenblum
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you could populate with a host
of richly drawn characters.
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mary rosenblum
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That story will depend
entirely on whom your POV meets and what their interactions are like.
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mary rosenblum
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I do suggest that you might
decide for yourself where you want to take this...
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mary rosenblum
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how you want it to end.
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mary rosenblum
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THat will help you choose the
characters and events to fill in between.
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paminnapa
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with todays society is it better
to have a strong female MC or does it matter?
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mary rosenblum
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OH, sigh.
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mary rosenblum
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You know, this is a bit of a
complex answer.
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mary rosenblum
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I started writing SF because I
couldn't find any to read that had a decent woman POV.
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mary rosenblum
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But I would be lying to you if
I said that in general, a female POV will get you more readers than a male
in any genre except romance.
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mary rosenblum
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That said, I more often than
not write female POV, but not exclusively..
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mary rosenblum
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but then again, I have never
written with sales or the market in mind. I write what I want to write.
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mary rosenblum
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You're not going to lose huge
numbers of sales if you use a female POV, but in many genres it will affect
you.
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mary rosenblum
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Mystery and, sigh, SF being
two.
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mary rosenblum
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Thriller, also.
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mary rosenblum
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That's still a very
male-reader dominated genre.
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tory
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I read that even in children's
lit (or TV) girls will read/watch stories with male or female leads, boys
will not. Seems that goes on into adulthood.
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geezer
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In my library, the men treat
anything that smacks of romance or has a Libber for the MC as toxic waste.
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, it's still a reality.
WHich is why some writers use their initials instead of that female first
name.
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mary rosenblum
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S'why I don't use initials,
btw. :-)
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geezer
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Astronauts bring a virus back
from Mars
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mary rosenblum
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Here you have a powerful plot
that's probably going to drive the story, geeze...
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mary rosenblum
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you're going to have to deal
with that virus.
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mary rosenblum
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Your characters will determine
what we get to see...is your MC a scientist, one of the astronauts, someone
not part of the space program at all?
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mary rosenblum
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But this is one where it's
probably going to work as a plot driven story. Your characters will
determine what aspect of that virus's effects we see.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want to get into the
science and maybe the tech behind the trip, use the scientist or
astronaut...
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mary rosenblum
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if you want to explore the
social aftermath of the virus's effects, pick a regular citizen...maybe a
relation of the scientist or astronaut? (That way..
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mary rosenblum
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you can keep us in touch with
the science as needed).
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janecj333
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Maybe the virus is the main
character :)
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mary rosenblum
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Well, in effect it is, if the
virus-attack plot drives the story. :-)
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speckledorf
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I have a very pregnant mc
getting an envelope out of a rusty mailbox beside a dusty dirt road. Any
ideas what in the mail and why she is alone?
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geezer
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Or the sleezy politicians that
wouldn't give them the cash to make safrguards. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, that's another aspect.
Gonna be negative MCs, but you might come up with a MC that has a
connection to one of those politicians somehow.
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mary rosenblum
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Wow, speck, that's another
blank canvas waiting for a host of stories. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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One of my favorite writing
exercises for myself, is to pick up interesting cards at card shops...
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mary rosenblum
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shuffle them, deal one out,
and then use it to inspire a story. This is like one of those cards!
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mary rosenblum
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Your answers to those
questions are entirely going to determine this story.
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mary rosenblum
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Might be a letter from a
brother she never knew she had...she was an only child...
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mary rosenblum
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and it leads her into family
history that suddenly makes strange complications in her life make sense...
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mary rosenblum
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and maybe involves her in a
much larger plot, should you want to go that way.
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mary rosenblum
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Could be the letter that
informs her her hubby is not coming home, he's found the love of his
life...
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mary rosenblum
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and suddenly her safe and
orderly world of wife and mother is shattered.
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mary rosenblum
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Could be a letter stamped
'found in empty mailbag' addressed to a resident who...
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mary rosenblum
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lived in the house before her
that propels her into a crime committed...
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mary rosenblum
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years ago and never solved.
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mary rosenblum
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How's that for starters? See
why it's such a fun game? Snatch up those interesting cards next time you
notice them.
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geezer
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the virus got her husband. The
mail is an offer to come to her aunt
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mary rosenblum
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There you go. :-) The near
future version.
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andi
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a runaway dog going home again
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mary rosenblum
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Well, you could do that from
the dog's POV (realizing that Incredible Journey is breathing down the back
of your neck!)
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mary rosenblum
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Or connect that dog to a
runaway kid...
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mary rosenblum
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and resolve both their
stories.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe the dog finds his way
home and the kid is following...
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mary rosenblum
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and the dog's owner is the
right one to give that kid a home.
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beryl
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Letter says that she doesn't
qualify for any financial help and husband had a dibilitating accident on
their little farm and is in the hospital.
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mary rosenblum
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That's a good 'personal
tragedy' mainstream story.
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mary rosenblum
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We can follow her as she goes
from housewife who lived in the protective shadow of her husband...
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mary rosenblum
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to a woman with a profitable
store who supports them both, watching her confront obstacle after
obstacle.
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geezer
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Dog meets up with a homeless
Viet vet. Brings him some warmth and humanity
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mary rosenblum
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That's another good version.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu could focus on just the
pair, or ultimately connect them up with the dog's owner.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe the wanderer, in the
process of trying to take care of the dog, finds a new grip on life.
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beryl
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Viet. vet finds the owner is a
single, lonely woman overcoming a series of hardtimes and ....
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mary rosenblum
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Yep...that could turn into a
nice little romance.
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andi
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i wrote one of a dog going home
for an assignment but that dog was left behind by his owners when they were
camping.
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mary rosenblum
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Did you try it with Dog and
Kennel magazine, andi?
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mary rosenblum
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One of my students sold a
'lost dog' story he wrote for an assignment there.
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andi
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no think they would take it
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mary rosenblum
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You'll find out if you send it
to 'em. :-)
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andi
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okay i will
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mary rosenblum
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Good!
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been fun.
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mary rosenblum
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You all came up with some
great ideas.
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mary rosenblum
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Try the card game thing.
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mary rosenblum
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I have a big box of those
cards...
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mary rosenblum
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I add to it whenever I notice
something eye catchin.
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mary rosenblum
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And I've published several
stories that had their origins in that box.
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geezer
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Is there a lamb yet?
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mary rosenblum
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Hang on...let me grab the
binocs and look. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Yep.
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mary rosenblum
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At least one... Just standing
up.
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tory
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Mary You mean greeting cards?
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, the kind you find in
card shops...not holiday cards...
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tory
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Mary, do the sheep need
assistance giving birth?
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes. I've been a local
sheep and goat midwife for over 25 years. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I've pulled LOTS of kids and
lambs.
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geezer
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Hey! Congratulations!
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, I've been waiting for
that girl to lamb for two days now! Talk about the watched pot!
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beryl
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Takes me back to a great moment,
I was bottle feeding a lamb that stop feeding long enough to kiss my nose
:-) I could have died happy right then.
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mary rosenblum
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They will indeed kiss your
nose! LOL
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mary rosenblum
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Got to go see if I've got a
ewe or a ram...a friend of mine is taking the ewe lambs this year to start
her flock.
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mary rosenblum
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See you all tomorrow for our
casual chat.
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mary rosenblum
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Same time and place.
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mary rosenblum
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I'll give you the lamb update
then. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place:
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mary rosenblum
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Writing Craft: Forum
Transcripts.
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