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Article ideas

by sabeth
Posted to Diaries, Diary on Fri Sep 16, 2005 at 04:07:15 AM PST
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Kinda quiet around here. Opinions sought.

I've some vague ideas for possible articles for Write On! Any feedback about which ones sound most interesting/useful/prone to generate discussion -- or the opposite -- would be appreciated. (Actual writing of articles will probably depend on what ends up being easiest to write, though ...)

Present Tense Narration
Pros and cons, similar to the Second Person story, with examples.

Passage of Time
May include issues such as the scope of a story in terms of timespan, conveying the passage of time, and keeping timelines straight. I'm sort of wrestling with this myself, but maybe it can get some discussion started.

Both Sides of the Story
Oh no, it's another POV story! Hopefully this one will be different, though. Not so much focused on the narrative technique (first/second/third person) as choosing the narrator for the story and how the narrator influences the way events are told. Some examples included in the story, but I was thinking of proposing an exercise to try and tell the same events from the POV of different characters (hence the title). Side effect could be to flesh out villains or otherwise unsympathetic characters by trying to get in their heads.

Beginnings (and/or Endings)
The old "best beginnings to a novel" story. Some discussion of what makes a good beginning, mostly an invitation for readers to share their favorite beginnings of stories and encourage comments/participation. Endings could be part of the same article, or a sequel. (Probably should be a separate story -- personally I think endings are harder, and there are fewer really good ones).

Favorite Characters
More audience participation -- less analysis in the article itself about what makes a good character, because it's so subjective. Which characters do people like and why -- are they heroes, villains, sidekicks, or ambiguous?

Vote in poll, or comment, please. (Or both!) What would you like to read about, and what would you like to comment on?

See also, janra's article ideas from the Wiki.

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Poll
Which article would you most like to see?
  • present tense 0%
  • passage of time 0%
  • narrator / POV 66%
  • beginnings and endings together 0%
  • beginnings, endings as separate stories 33%
  • characters 0%
  • you know what I'd love to read an article about ... (see my comment) 0%

    Votes: 3
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    Article ideas | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
    Some great ideas here (3.00/0) (#1)
    by janra on Fri Sep 16, 2005 at 04:18:51 AM PST
    Personally I think your "choosing a narrator" idea would make the best article, but the favourite beginnings/endings/characters might draw out more commenters :-)

    At any rate, please do add whichever ideas you choose not to write at this time to the article ideas list! You can drop the paragraph description onto a page for that article, and anybody interested can toss in a few ideas I probably will, when I find time and internet access at the same time.

    (Oops, time to get back to work...)
    --
    Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?

    thanks! (3.00/0) (#3)
    by sabeth on Fri Sep 16, 2005 at 08:15:31 AM PST
    I am kind of partial to the narrator one, too. I'm hoping the exercise part of it might encourage some people to post. The "what's your favorite ..." ones should be easy to do, though. My fear is only, "what if you write an audience participation story and no one posts?" ;)

    I'll update the wiki page as well, but I thought this might have a bit more visibility as I'm not sure how many people know about the wiki, or have stumbled onto that page. Actually, if you have time it would be cool to have a quick sketch of the ideas that are already there -- might encourage more people to brainstorm/contribute to them if there is a starting point or outline there. (Or the examples might inspire some people to think of ideas for their own articles....)

    --ich sage nicht, was ich will, sondern was die Sprache will--
    [ Parent ]

    another thought (3.00/0) (#2)
    by janra on Fri Sep 16, 2005 at 08:13:34 AM PST
    For the "favourite characters" idea, why not have "most memorable characters" instead? I think that might make for a more interesting topic from a writer's point of view - what makes a character really stick with a reader for (sometimes) years after putting down the book?

    Then it'll also be more inclusive of well-done antagonists too. There are people out there who count villains as their favourite characters, but most people like protagonists because most writers want the reader to like (or at least care about) the protagonist and write accordingly...
    --
    Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?

    indeed ... (3.00/0) (#4)
    by sabeth on Fri Sep 16, 2005 at 08:23:32 AM PST
    there are lots of ways to think about "favorite" or "best," especially in terms of characters. There are characters one might like as characters but wouldn't want to know them in real life. It should certainly be inclusive of the "characters you love to hate" category.

    "Most memorable" might also include characters that you didn't like at all -- sometimes it's a character who ruins a book and that isn't appealing either as a person or as characterization. It makes an impression, but not at all a positive one! Although I think readers are less likely to dwell on that kind of character -- and if they do, maybe the author has accomplished something after all ...

    --ich sage nicht, was ich will, sondern was die Sprache will--
    [ Parent ]

    Article ideas | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
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