Mod C Creative Help (1 Viewer)

[Phoenix.Ashworth]

Hey guys, yesterday I received my notification for my mod C assignment, where we have to write a creative and do a multimodal presentation. The stimulus for the creative is "they know they want to get somewhere but they don't know if the somewhere even exists yet." I have an idea for it (still in very early stages of thinking about it though) and I would very much appreciate some feedback or advice!

The main character is a 27 year old female who is a surfer and lives on the West Australian coast (setting is ocean and beach vibes). She had experienced a traumatic shark attack and is struggling trying to recover from the incident. I interpreted the stimulus reference of "somewhere" to be a figurative somewhere. She knows she wants to get somewhere in terms of moving on from the incident and getting back in the water where she feels most at home. However, she's not sure if she's ready, not sure if this state of fearlessness even exists yet, or if it's even possible to push aside the past memories. The story will basically unravel her internal conflict in the present while jumping back to memories of the attack and memories of why she loves surfing.

Again as I said, it's still very early stages of the idea and I'm not sure whether it's a strong enough inclusion of the stimulus. Any tips, feedback, constructive criticism would be very helpful. Also if anyone has other ideas that fit the stimulus, that would be useful as well!

Thanks!

 

[whatsup1812]

Np

 

[slightly_above_average]

This feels like a synopsis to a novel, it wont work as a shorty story imo. Human psychology being the focal point of your narrative is just too hard to write about with word limits. Katherine Mansfield (read psychology) does this well, but her short stories are like 10 pages long. Sure psychology and internal discourse could be an element of your story but it shouldnt be the primary focus.

Additionally, your story feels very cliche (sorry).

It took me literally 1 minutes to find a film very similar to your idea.

Soul Surfer:
Bethany, a young surf champion, loses an arm after getting attacked by a shark while surfing in the sea. Her faith in God (bruh) and support from family and friends help her surf again.

Keep in mind this is a 2 hour film, so is 1000-2000 words really enough to retell this kinda story?

If you continue with this concept, what I predict is that your story is gonna be bloated with exposition. In your narrative you NEED something to actually happen. It shouldnt just be inner monoluge+inner monolouge+inner monologue......+inner monologue (remember show dont tell). YOU NEED EXTERNAL CONFLICT TO FUEL INTERNAL CONFLICT. But here you have the main conflict take place before the story so you dont really have anything to write about. Sure you are going to have flashbacks going back to your external conflict and then forth to your internal conflict but it will feel disjointed. (ill send you my story on how I link external and internal conflict, although it is shit)

Your link to the stimulus is slightly weak. It is good you recognise it is better to be figurative than literal, but you are reaching a bit too much. I would interpret this stimulus as the false promises of hope/love (kinda like religion heh). Or maybe even reflect on your own life, youre working your ass of at school but are you sure about the end product? Are you certain on what job or degree youll end up with? Do you actually know what your school work is going to amount to? This stimulus focuses on uncertainity i reckon.

Basically you need to constrict your ideas to a singular event which embody the ideas in the stimulus. Your scope currently is too wide, you need to consider word count and try not to spell out a novel type story. My short story is literally just 2 conversations but takes up like 2000ish words.

Additional note: Remeber to give your character a flaw. Every compelling character ever is riddled with flaws, take Jaime Lanister for example.

 

[Wizjaro]

Honestly I'm gonna have to disagree. I think if done skilfully it could make for a good story. I find the best stories explore the psychopathy of their characters and do so well through the words. I will say its probably easier to go for a more physical story. Personally I interpret the question to be some sort of ambition/goal that they are striving for but seems somewhat unnattainable. Also writing about your life is always good since you'll most likely be able to describe the details better. I think with the way your story is going, internal monologue and dialogue between characters is essential.