How to go about starting a story... (research etc..) (1 Viewer)

[boasboy]

well.. right now.. im in year 11.. and i feel like starting my major work for next year.. so i was wondering how to get started..?

like.. i plan to write either horror.. or historical fantasy (faction xD~) so.. will i haveto like stick to the conventions of my genre? or can i like change some of it and justify it.. and like.. make up my own genre or something xD..

i havent actually done any research about what this course is.. but oh well.. first hand advice from you experts would be good as a start..

thanks in advance.! xD~

 

[jhakka]

"It's not the research that makes the story, but rather the story that determines how you should lie when people ask you about research."

If you want to write in a particular genre, make sure you know that genre, its conventions and how they have changed over time. That way you can decide how you want to approach the genre you've chosen.

 

[Monkey Butler]

Or you can just call it post-modern and do whatever the hell you want... that seems to be popular with markers... as long as you can justify any of the weird shit you do, you'll be fine.

 

[jhakka]

Or you can just call it post-modern and do whatever the hell you want... that seems to be popular with markers... as long as you can justify any of the weird shit you do, you'll be fine.

Postmodern is a popular excuse for not being able to write.

That's not to say, however, that no postmodern writers are good.

 

[Shamburger]

If you're starting this early you'd probably benefit from coming up with a few ideas and developing them a bit. When I started writing mine, I had about definite ideas. I developed plots and characters until I decided that one was clearly better than the rest. Even if you still use the idea that you've got right now, at least it'll give you some insights.

Take a look at the marking guidelines (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/english_ext2_mark_guide.pdf) The markers have a hard-on for form and convention, so it'll help to research your genre and the short story form. That means things like reading up anything you can find that relates to your ideas as well as any short stories you can find. You can also read writing guides, go to HSC lectures, whatever you can find. Even if it doesn't actually help you write out your mw, it'll help your mark and the earlier you can start the better. Originality's another big thing, and research into genre and form helps this as well. You've got be be able to come up with something unique while staying within the guidelines of your chosen form and genre.

And before you do anything, get a spare exercise book to use as your logbook/journal/whatever and write down everything you do, whether it's research or character development or anything. It'll really help with your other assessments like the report and the reflection statement. Also, it gives the markers something to go on if they aren't happy with the evidence of research shown in your reflection statement.

I'm not exactly an expert, but I hope this helps anyway

 

[zerzillia]

i am not sure if this is sound advice, and i'm not an expert, but this is what i think you could do with you starting in yr11 and all:

- research

there's a few parts to this.
first of all, you need to look at the marking guidelines and syllabus requirements. also, reading past major works and reflection statements MAY help. or it may not. you might lose your confidence because they're written so well. just don't let it bother you if you intend to read it. you might gather ideas from other people's work and this is a good way to start too (but i didn't start that way. it really depends on how you want to do it).

then you should look at the conventions of your genre as jhakka said. i am not really into horror, if i'm you i'd do historical fantasy. with both you need to research not only on what the features of each genre have but also how a short story is written. so alot of research is involved (research = photocopying texts, lol. hehe, partly joking. well, you do need to spend a great deal writing but research is time-consuming too.)

when you're researching about your genre, you should read famous novels/texts written in that genre. that way you've got a good bibliography.

i can't think of others....

- writing/drafting

i think it's important to start writing. if you don't have a clear plot or haven't decided yet, you can experiment and start your drafts. doesn't matter if they're not good, you can still include them in your journal and discuss why you decided not to use them etc. many of my early scenes end up not being included in my final drafts but that's okay.

editing is important! you might hate to come back to what you've written (if you're like me) and rewrite/edit them, but it is needed. also, beware of a monster called the writer's block. you might get them. in such cases, eat them. *munch* my way to overcome it is read, read, read. and tell yourself it's time to get on with it. eventually you'll get on with it (if not the assignments will make you get on with it).

well, i don't know what else i can say, this is my advice to yr11s.
goodluck with your major work!