How the crap do u research into the short story medium? (1 Viewer)

[Alimoe_KG]

apparently, theres all this emphasis both on the concept and the medium. When they sed research ur medium.....i assumed just know wat teh hell a short story is and read soem short stories to impress the marker u've actualli dun some reading. Now ppl are talking damn ESSAYS on short stories.....wtf? -__-. Can any1 plz tell me where such essays on short stories are? =D
I want a DUmmies guide to researching the short story medium

 

[_muse_]

well my teacher has just told me to research and find "how to" guides to writing a short story (these can be found by googling "How to write a short story")

she also told me to READ short stories, particularly edgar allen poe...

essays on short stories?! havent heard that one before..

 

[Alimoe_KG]

well my teacher has just told me to research and find "how to" guides to writing a short story (these can be found by googling "How to write a short story")

she also told me to READ short stories, particularly edgar allen poe...

essays on short stories?! havent heard that one before..

HAHAH! net guides to writing a short story ay =P.
Edgar allen poe?! well wat im doing is ...im reading short stories that pertain to my topic. So maybi poe pertains to ur topic ? becuz it sure has nothign to do with mine ^^

 

[_muse_]

poe has NOTHING to do with my topic. i dont read them for their content, i read them for their structure, taking in how he puts everything together.

yea well if u live in a crummy town like mine, net guides are heaven sent.

 

[Alimoe_KG]

poe has NOTHING to do with my topic. i dont read them for their content, i read them for their structure, taking in how he puts everything together.

yea well if u live in a crummy town like mine, net guides are heaven sent.

hahahah! hav some pride in ur town, no matter how crummy

i take it ur not writing a postmodern story? =)

 

[jhakka]

How the crap do u research into the short story medium?

Don't, but say you did.

Actually, just read a lot of short story and stories in the genre you want to write in. Mention specific titles, etc etc.

 

[KungPow]

Research is easy. You can start off with those "How to" books/sites first (although books are probably better unless the site is from a well known author) and make sure to make it look like you've actaully read it (if you haven't) by talking about stuff that particularly stood out to you in the guide, or things which helped you.

Another easy one is reading short stories. Poe is great. I talked about Poe's writing style in A Tell-tale Heart and how I wanted to do something similar (showing that reading short stories has actually influenced you). Heck, the mention of Poe lit up my teachers face!

Once you've got your basics down you can focus on more specific stuff, like writing better dialogue or ways to immerse your reader. You don't even have to had done this stuff. As long as you say you've done all this stuff the teachers will be happy. Unique research methods are also a bonus. I'll let you figure that one out on yourselves though.

 

[Alimoe_KG]

Research is easy. You can start off with those "How to" books/sites first (although books are probably better unless the site is from a well known author) and make sure to make it look like you've actaully read it (if you haven't) by talking about stuff that particularly stood out to you in the guide, or things which helped you.

Another easy one is reading short stories. Poe is great. I talked about Poe's writing style in A Tell-tale Heart and how I wanted to do something similar (showing that reading short stories has actually influenced you). Heck, the mention of Poe lit up my teachers face!

Once you've got your basics down you can focus on more specific stuff, like writing better dialogue or ways to immerse your reader. You don't even have to had done this stuff. As long as you say you've done all this stuff the teachers will be happy. Unique research methods are also a bonus. I'll let you figure that one out on yourselves though.

Hahahah! any specific "how to" books or sites u wuld recommend? The stuff i need to read in my genre i've got covered, and unfortunately, poe must tragically be excluded.
Still, I wuld realli love to light up the teachers face :d just for the comical effect

 

[nerd_it_up]

english extension 2

i'm absolutely screwed with ext 2
our treacher has told us nothing of researching 4 short stories
im going 2 fail majorly

 

[shafqat]

you can read short stories related to your area of focus, or even stories generally
try to find stories with interesting techniques or features, and incorporate some into your story, and then you can make the link in the reflective essay
remember to photocopy pages of stories and stick them in your journal
date and reference them
also as Airness alluded to, there are other unique research methods, such as photographs, articles, even non-fiction research (eg if ur writing about a particular location or society), ive even seen candy bar wrappers stuck in journals
just remember the research is a crucial part of ext2, just as important as the final product

 

[Alimoe_KG]

i'm absolutely screwed with ext 2
our treacher has told us nothing of researching 4 short stories
im going 2 fail majorly

hahaha, u poor thing *pat pat pat. This thread is here to help u find out how to research into ur medium!!! :d research is overrated. As long as u sound like u hav researched u'll be fine. In the end, its still ur concept and ur story thats goign to impress them. the research is probabli jsut icing on the cake for the marker so they'll feel that writing ur thing has indeed been an academic exercise for u and not just a fun pastime ...which for me it is ^^

and shafqat, shuld i realli be photocopying pages from the books i read? i guess it does show i havnt just made up the book out of thin air ^^. okai thanks!!! :d

 

[shafqat]

about photocopying pages, it'll fill up ur journal nicely

 

[nick1048]

when I was doing this particular text type I went about reading a great deal of short stories and examined what made them tick. Some of them were poor examples, as you want to get a feel of what NOT to do. Others were wonderful, taking huge chunks of information and representing them in a very small space ^_^. "A Legend In His Own Lunchbox" is one of those Egnlish Textbooks that teaches u the stylistics of a short story. There are plenty of resources, you just gotta find them and if all else fails ask jeeves XD XD. goodluck man, I'm doin a critical response now

 

[Alimoe_KG]

EXCELLENT! =) hahah good idea...put in some short stories and say "after reading such examples, i have an astute understanding of what the hell not to write! In that regard, this shitass story was the most useful story i've ever read and contribued greatly to my knowledge of short storys...." *marker ticks

 

[nick1048]

part of knowing what your have to do is knowing what you dont.

 

[AlabasterMan]

Yeah, on that, one of the guys who did really well in 4u from our school came back and gave us advice for the research... Basically, it boiled down to this. Your research doesn't need to be more than superficially related to your story. But then you come along with multiple colour pens and a highlighter and make it look impressively thought-out. Also, you use the unrelated topics in this way. Use me for an example. I'm writing crime fiction. Science fiction. About the evolution of the mind. . I'm running out of research topics so I research Darwin, or Shrodinger. And then, in one small part of my story, a reference to that person, or their work, or the concept of reality they held, or the ethical position they took - whatever! crops up. And hopefully the marker gets it, and hopefully it adds more dimensions to your story. But either way, it looks good if you need more research.

 

[Alimoe_KG]

Yeah, on that, one of the guys who did really well in 4u from our school came back and gave us advice for the research... Basically, it boiled down to this. Your research doesn't need to be more than superficially related to your story. But then you come along with multiple colour pens and a highlighter and make it look impressively thought-out. Also, you use the unrelated topics in this way. Use me for an example. I'm writing crime fiction. Science fiction. About the evolution of the mind. . I'm running out of research topics so I research Darwin, or Shrodinger. And then, in one small part of my story, a reference to that person, or their work, or the concept of reality they held, or the ethical position they took - whatever! crops up. And hopefully the marker gets it, and hopefully it adds more dimensions to your story. But either way, it looks good if you need more research.

HAHAHA yea...teachers love seeing highlighters ... But the research you're talking about would be research into the topic. Personally, that's the easy bit for me, the hard bit is figuring out what the markers want in terms of research into medium. But thanks to ppl, i have a semi-idea now =D

 

[princesssfi]

From what i've looked at along the way, books by
Peter McFarlane (he was writer in resdience at our school for a week )
JOhn Marsden - everythign i know about writing
Gary Disher
they're mostly pretty good - ideas on how to make your dialogue better, character development etc. i didn't think i'd actually read them until i did and found it really useful.
Natalie Goldberg is also good...