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WorldCrafters Guild

Workshop:What Is An Idea For A Story And Where To Get One

This post is from the WorldCrafters-L Newsletter and was written by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Folks:

I found some email notes in my backlog of mail and bespoke a few
people directly regarding Assignment 1.

I discovered that some of them hadn't realized there is an Assignment
1 -- meaning they didn't get the Newsletter post in which I described
that Assignment.  One asked about getting ideas for the Assignment
from various TV sources.

I have yesterday and today encountered two STERLING sources for Ideas
for this exercise.

#1.  On a CNBC newscast, they featured a museum (or something like
that) which is presenting the 50+ films of Alfred Hitchcock.  For the
youth among us, Alfred Hitchcock is, I think, possibly THE leading
figure in the Horror/Suspense -- but mostly in the Suspense -- genre.

Stephen King is his successor, not pre-emptor.

Hitchcock also succeeded tremendously on TV.

His "gimmick" was that though he was the producer and/or writer, he
appeared himself in every film.

The news item floated by me while I was busy doing something else --
but one sentence flash-burned itself into my mind leaving my mouth
hanging open.  So I wrote it down for you.

His "secret" (which I've known and heard before, and used myself on
occasion -- but which it never occurred to me to put into one of my
little essays in the Workshop) is -- "It's not what is going to
happen.  It's WHEN it's going to happen."

That is the formula for successful "Suspense" genre.

And from a writer's point of view, it is also the great secret to
ROMANCE GENRE WRITING because sex, and love, are really all about
"when" not what.  Everyone reading the story already knows what.
It's WHEN that's the killer supsense generator.

It's also the primary plot driving force in good SITCOM such as "I
Love Lucy"  (which old show would make a splendid venue for this
exercise if comedy and/or SitCom is what you want to master.)

So if you're looking for a framework to hang the exercise upon --
think, "What can possibly be going on with these characters that has
its whole significance bound up in WHEN it happens?"  (i.e. do they
have sex before or after the wedding?  Does the old man die and leave
his millions to them before or after they declare bankruptcy?)

#2. The second source of IDEAS:  I was watching my tape of the
EARTH:The Final Conflict episode that was broadcast here on Saturday
night May 8th, 1999, and ONE SENTENCE flashedburned itself into my
mind scintillating with story ideas as well as producing monstrous
admiration for that rather placid show.

Near the end of the episode, Dahan and Ian are about to do one of
Spock's "acts of logical desperation" -- make a heroic last stand, a
futile gesture of heroism.  (read my Military SF novels under the
byline of Daniel R. Kerns to see what I think of THAT) -- and Dahan
spoke of the tale that might come out of their deed, as a Klingon
might, and said, "If told often enough, and believed enough, a good
story is a powerful weapon of war."

The reference was to "Horatio at the Bridge" -- the hero who works a
delaying action that saves the day.

So ask yourself, "What could THESE characters in THIS situation do
that would constitute a powerfully heroic but futile gesture that
could become a legend that would change the future?"  Then skip up to
the future and find the people to whom that legend "Speaks" and see
what effect those long dead heros have on modern people.

Sime~Gen fans note -- this is the "formula" Jean used to generate
FIRST CHANNEL from HOUSE OF ZEOR.  The legend of Rimon Farris is the
heroic story that generated the world of HOUSE OF ZEOR.  (Remember,
Jean Lorrah is an English Professor and Chaucer Scholar who knows her
classics.)  We plan to have FIRST CHANNEL up on the web for free reading, but meanwhile pb copies can be found via the Virtual Selyn Listserv. 

For Assignment 1, write a snatch of dialog, a bit of description, a plot-outline, an
exercise based on one of the essays posted in the workshop using
"futile heroic gesture -- a good story that moves future
generations -- a story as a weapon of war" as the basic theme.  (the
war in question might be the war of the sexes)

HINT: "Ideas for Stories" especially "crazy" ones -- come from
THEMES.  An Idea is a Theme.  A theme is a philosophical statement
about the nature of reality, of life, and/or of Divinity.  It is a
belief -- an idea.  The "idea for a story" is nothing but a THEME --
it is what you want to SAY with that story.  The theme is what the
story means.

If you find a clever way to say what most people believe but can't
articulate for themselves, you will very likely make MILLION$.
People like fiction best that states their own subconscious beliefs
about reality -- their Ideas.

The next most popular Ideas are the ones that people are currently in
internal conflict over -- hence the burgeoning of the Romance field
in the wake of Women's Lib.  Conflict is the essence of story and of
plot -- Theme is the essence of conflict.  People like characters who
are suffering similar internal conflicts as themselves.

Also note, several of JEAN LORRAH'S tutorial essays on the reasons
certain developmental decisions were made between us about Sime~Gen
have now been retrieved from the printed fanzines (by Ronnie Bob
Whitaker) and Marge Robbins has posted them in Rimon's Library.  I
have linked them to the WORKSHOP where they
belong, so note this URL and browse through it.
http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/rimonslibrary/articles.html   will take
you to many such articles by Jean and others -- with more to come.

Most of the Sime~Gen novels
professionally published have a romance at the core, with "action"
wrapped around that so we could sell it, decades before there was
such a thing as Futuristic Romance.

http://www.simegen.com/school/workshop/index.html   will take
you to the Workshop index page where at the bottom, you'll find
the link to ASSIGNMENT 1 and subsequent Assignments as they are
posted.

http://www.simegen.com/school/workshop/Assignment1.html   will
take you directly to "YOUR FIRST SHOWCASE" which is Assignment 1.

If you know anyone else who has signed up for the school but might
not get this NL, please forward this issue to them and urge them to
sign up for the NL.  The NL is where you get your notifications of assignments, deadlines, and CHAT Events.

In another NL in the near future, we'll be announcing the DEADLINE
for Assignment 1 and where to go to read the syllabus for this summer
course.  That deadline will be soon.

PASSWORDS:

Our Webmaster, Marge Robbins, (one of our best writers -- check out
her Chanel stories inside Sime~Gen which you can find via Rimon's
Library) is making us password protected Bulletin Boards
and a protected URL for the Showcase.

According to our current plan, your homework pieces will be posted for MEMBERS OF THIS SCHOOL ONLY
to see.  And ONLY THE TEACHERS will have the password to post
commentary on your work to the Bulletin Board -- and only you, the
registered students will have passwords to get into those boards.

You will be expected to read (or at least scan) other student's
pieces and the commentaries about them posted to the boards.

We're trying to set it up so that there will be a direct link from
the web page to the BB topic discussing that story.  We expect
references from one posted piece to appear in discussions of other
posted pieces -- regardless of genre.  As I pointed out above, the
best way to learn to plot a Romance is to study Alfred Hitchcock.

Don't fret and worry too much over "keeping up"  -- we are trying to
design this school so that if you miss out on something (such as
reading all the pieces posted) you can catch up during the intervals
between courses.

The DEADLINES will pertain to your turning in your Assignments -- and
the more time you're able to devote to reading the posted texts, the
better your work will be.  The more time you devote to learning to
write, the sooner you'll reach selling level.  But you'll never stop
learning this craft.

We will have plenty here for selling authors to learn and practice in
their next book.  So set out to learn at your own pace and at your
own level.  And set yourself to learn DEADLINES on this exercise.

This summer's course has as one objective inculcating a feel for the
DEADLINE and how to accomodate it without throttling your personal
productivity and creativity.

To make a living from writing, you must know how long it will take
you to execute a particular piece -- and how long that piece will be
when it is finished.  "Discipline is the mark of the artiste."

Our teaching staff isn't complete yet, but watch this NL for
announcements about that.


Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Sime~Gen Inc. and the WorldCrafter's Guild writing school are now on
www.simegen.com -- you can sign up for the school.
Go to http://www.bb.com/looptestlive.cfm?BOOKID=1540&StartRow=19   to
read free, my first novel  House of Zeor.