Writing Blog

20230406 Lessons Again

April 6, 2023, 4:30pm

Last lesson for a couple of weeks.

The dialogue stuff they did was technically fine. Dad got the hang of getting a good mix of formal language and the way people actually speak, Mum was still a little stiff with her dialogue choice, and the daughter is also struggling with what to put in and what to leave out.

So, we come to Lesson 7 - Put what we've done together
The idea is when we come back to this in 2 weeks, they will have written a short story with organic descriptions, at least two characters and dialogue. No more than 750 words; I don't want them to panic over writing a novel.

Then we'll look at Lesson 8, which will be an introduction to world-building. I've already given them some YouTube videos to watch.
Hard v Soft Worlld-building, using Studio Ghibli  
Fantasy world-building  
More fantasy-based, but extended out  
The beginning of world-building  

I should also point out all three have read at least 2 of my books (daughter has read 4), so they know I use real-world settings most of the time. But, I explained, I still needed to know everything about the settings - distances, where things are, consistency in placement, etc. The world might have been built by reality, but I still need to put in the changes that fit my story and make the world come alive.

At least, I hope it comes alive...