Apr 29 2009
An interesting way to get things started
2009-04-29
One of the last stories I was asked to do for my writing class involved each person pulling an object written on a slip of paper out of a hat. We then had to pick a city in the world, outside of the US, and write the story. I pulled “stolen wedding ring” and chose Paris. It seemed fitting.
The hard part was that we had to do research. My professor wanted us to write these stories as if we were very familiar with the city. He wanted detailed descriptions. Sadly, mine did not turn out as well.
I know that many writers do such research when writing stories. I think that all writers do research, whether they acknowledge it or not. Any time a writer watches people, or observes events, they are researching. Now, doing actual hardcore research on a city is not exactly my idea of fun, especially with finals this week and graduation this weekend, but I think it would make for a very interesting story. It could sort of help get things started.
Some of the other objects were interesting as well. An old bottle of champagne, the oldest part of the Great Wall of China, an old Bible. All of the things seemed like they were old, but I think that was part of the journey in the story. It would have been a fun exercise if we had more time in the class, or to do on my own. I wasn’t happy with the story I had written, so I’m hoping to redo the story and post it up here at some point. Or, at least a draft of it.
I hope everyone out there is enjoying this nice weather! I’m off to have an ice cream picnic outside. Enjoy!
Jimmy
