The 24-hour story
Aug. 19th, 2008 07:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
j_cheneySo, this is one of the major challenges of the WOTF workshop. In theory, you could do this at home.
Conditions:
1) You are given a random object
2) You go to the library and do some research
3) You talk to a stranger
4) You write a story and turn it in at the end of 24 hours.
So, in my case:
1) I was given a small glass globe with glass flowers inside.
2) I picked up the books "Les Fleurs du Mal" and "Paris in the 20's"
3) I talked to the 63-year old salesman at the track shoe store (He didn't start running until he was 50, but he and his wife now run the local marathoning group. I got their e-mail addy, so I can mail them if I ever want to come into town and run. I also got fitted for a new pair of shoes, since Nu-Balance is discontinuing my style.)
Ok, 3 didn't make it into the story.
I'll confess, that the moment I looked into that globe, my first thought was of "Les Fleurs du Mal". Baudelaire wrote any number of creepy, debauched poems (for that time) and I immediately thought of the vampire poems in FdM. I wanted to go for a 'steampunk'y story where the globes with flowers represented the souls of the people of Paris, and the 'gardeners' are supposed to destroy the ones that turn evil (only one decides to hide them and preserve them instead, including those of the vampires).
I did a bunch of research and outlined the story, and then, too tired to write, I went to bed (say, 11 PM).
I woke up at 4AM, stole into the bathroom and started writing. As soon as my fingers hit the keys, my POV character changed from a barrister to a botanist. OK, that made sense. Then the rest of the outline went out the window. (This is a thing that often happens to me).
I stopped to eat brekky, then back to work. I recall telling different people that the story was unlike what I usually wrote (and having at least one other individual tell me the same about their story) which made me suspect that the time pressure was warping my brain. I ended up with a non-steampunk story (which was called a 'club' story by others) with a very misogynistic protagonist who was quite unsympathetic.
I finished the first draft with about 5 minutes to spare. I was not the last, though. ;o)
Then I got selected as one of the 3 to have my draft critiqued. ::heavy sigh::
First, everyone assumed that the POV character was female. I can fix that.
Second, his motivation was unclear. I knew that before I even finished, and I can clean it up.
Third, the mechanism of the 'bulb' was unclear. I can fix that, too.
Verdict? I need to add a scene, change a few things, clean it up, and do some period research (especially period botanical research). But on the whole, it proved that I can write a first draft in 24 hours that's decent, although not what I consider a saleable draft.
I suppose the object lesson is: I can write faster than I do, I just need to be more disciplined.
So, I hope to get this one out pretty quickly, as I now only have 4 things out. Wish me luck. ;o)
Conditions:
1) You are given a random object
2) You go to the library and do some research
3) You talk to a stranger
4) You write a story and turn it in at the end of 24 hours.
So, in my case:
1) I was given a small glass globe with glass flowers inside.
2) I picked up the books "Les Fleurs du Mal" and "Paris in the 20's"
3) I talked to the 63-year old salesman at the track shoe store (He didn't start running until he was 50, but he and his wife now run the local marathoning group. I got their e-mail addy, so I can mail them if I ever want to come into town and run. I also got fitted for a new pair of shoes, since Nu-Balance is discontinuing my style.)
Ok, 3 didn't make it into the story.
I'll confess, that the moment I looked into that globe, my first thought was of "Les Fleurs du Mal". Baudelaire wrote any number of creepy, debauched poems (for that time) and I immediately thought of the vampire poems in FdM. I wanted to go for a 'steampunk'y story where the globes with flowers represented the souls of the people of Paris, and the 'gardeners' are supposed to destroy the ones that turn evil (only one decides to hide them and preserve them instead, including those of the vampires).
I did a bunch of research and outlined the story, and then, too tired to write, I went to bed (say, 11 PM).
I woke up at 4AM, stole into the bathroom and started writing. As soon as my fingers hit the keys, my POV character changed from a barrister to a botanist. OK, that made sense. Then the rest of the outline went out the window. (This is a thing that often happens to me).
I stopped to eat brekky, then back to work. I recall telling different people that the story was unlike what I usually wrote (and having at least one other individual tell me the same about their story) which made me suspect that the time pressure was warping my brain. I ended up with a non-steampunk story (which was called a 'club' story by others) with a very misogynistic protagonist who was quite unsympathetic.
I finished the first draft with about 5 minutes to spare. I was not the last, though. ;o)
Then I got selected as one of the 3 to have my draft critiqued. ::heavy sigh::
First, everyone assumed that the POV character was female. I can fix that.
Second, his motivation was unclear. I knew that before I even finished, and I can clean it up.
Third, the mechanism of the 'bulb' was unclear. I can fix that, too.
Verdict? I need to add a scene, change a few things, clean it up, and do some period research (especially period botanical research). But on the whole, it proved that I can write a first draft in 24 hours that's decent, although not what I consider a saleable draft.
I suppose the object lesson is: I can write faster than I do, I just need to be more disciplined.
So, I hope to get this one out pretty quickly, as I now only have 4 things out. Wish me luck. ;o)
