May 2018 - Scott Writes Stuff

Romeo and Juliet Visit a Marriage Counselor

Romeo and Juliet Visit a Marriage Counselor

Published by Scott on May 30, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we turned the tables. Instead of me editing a viewer’s work, I showed off the edits made to a story that I’d written.

A few weeks ago, we wrote a story to submit to Storyzine. I recently got back my edits for the story, and I figured going over them would be a good learning experience.

I wanted to show that every writer, regardless or experience level, gets back tons of edits on their work. My story was no exception — it was covered in them!

I don’t want to post our story just yet, since hopefully it will appear in the magazine, but I will say this: the story’s title is “Dead Ringer.” Whatever could that possibly mean?

After that we did a writing prompt and chat voted for this one submitted by Bradifi3d: Romeo and Juliet have successfully escaped Verona and have started their life together, but it’s only just then they realize just how much they hate being around each other.

Here’s what we came up with:

An Assassin Finds Her True Calling… in Theater

An Assassin Finds Her True Calling… in Theater

Published by Scott on May 28, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we worked on dialogue.

Chat came up with a ton of suggestions for two characters to have a conversation or an argument, and after voting we ended up with this one: an assassin weary of their job and a mark pleading for his life.

We started by just writing the dialogue between the two characters and nothing else. Then we went in and made their personalities stronger and more distinct from each other. Finally we went in and added all the narration, body language, and dialogue tags needed to bring it all to life.

Here’s what we came up with:

Giving One Viewer’s Story a Complete Makeover

Giving One Viewer’s Story a Complete Makeover

Published by Scott on May 25, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we tried a spin on something we’ve done before: editing a viewer’s story.

The previous times we’ve done this, we usually only edited the first few paragraphs. But this time, the story was short enough for us to edit the entire thing, start to finish.

The lucky victim, er, viewer was geibielle, who was kind enough to let us edit their story. Huge thanks to them!

Here’s what their story looked like before and after:

Werewolves in Love… Except When They’re Human

Werewolves in Love… Except When They’re Human

Published by Scott on May 23, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we tried something new: writing about the same object in a GOOD way and an EVIL way.

What this means is you write about the same object (a rice cooker, a photograph, a house, etc.) and describe it in a happy/fun way, then describe the exact same object in a foreboding/malignant way.

This is a great exercise to force you bring out the emotional significance of an object, rather than merely describing it as-is.

I left it up to chat to decide what we’d write about, and they voted on this: Halloween party decorations.

Here’s what we came up with:

A Dragon with a Secret

A Dragon with a Secret

Published by Scott on May 21, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we did something new: talking about how to write a good setup and payoff.

This is something I’ve brought up a lot when chat has suggested ideas for a prompt. Quite often, chat will suggest a cool idea, and I’ll say, “Okay, but what’s the payoff?”

Here’s an example from a few streams back. The idea of being annoyed by an old woman writing a check to pay for her groceries is fine, but what’s the payoff? Our payoff was that the protagonist ended up paying with a traveler’s check, bringing it all full circle.

So we went over what makes a good setup/payoff, came up with some examples, and then wrote a story with a good setup/payoff.

Here’s what we came up with:

The Creepiest Story We’ve Written on Stream

The Creepiest Story We’ve Written on Stream

Published by Scott on May 18, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we did an exercise we haven’t in a while: a story swap.

Like the previous time we did a story swap, myself and a viewer both started a story with the same randomly-generated sentence, wrote half a story, swapped them, and then finished each other’s.

This time is was katrinahopes who I swapped with, and our opening sentence was: “I want to buy a onesie… but know it won’t suit me.”

Here’s what both of us came up with:

What if a Human Could See All the Colors a Mantis Shrimp Can?

What if a Human Could See All the Colors a Mantis Shrimp Can?

Published by Scott on May 16, 2018

For the last stream’s exercise, we wrote a submission to fellow writing streamer Erica Drayton’s online magazine StoryZine.

Like last time, we had four prompts to pick from and chat voted for this one: “Cleaning out your attic you find a chest that doesn’t belong to you. What’s inside?”

I don’t want to post our story just yet, since hopefully it will appear in the magazine, but I will say this: the story’s title is “Dead Ringer.” Whatever could that possibly mean?

After that we did a writing prompt and chat voted for this one submitted by the stuffed alligator: “Every human is born with one animal trait, such as the eyes of an eagle, the four stomachs of a cow, or the skin of a chameleon. You have the eyes of a mantis shrimp.”

For those who don’t know what makes a mantis shrimp’s eyes special, check out this comic by the Oatmeal.

Here’s what we came up with:

The Power to Control Time and Space with Terrible Puns

The Power to Control Time and Space with Terrible Puns

Published by Scott on May 14, 2018

For the last stream, we tried a new exercise: going over how to write action scenes.

This all started when someone in the Discord mentioned that they were having difficulty turning a wrestling move into writing on the page. Here’s what they were trying to write about:

I know nothing about wrestling,
but I know that’s not an easy thing to pull off… in writing!

So to work on writing action scenes, we first went over how to write a good action scene. Then we did an example for the above video, and then another one that chat voted for.

Here’s what we came up with:

When an Old Lady Pays for Her Mountain of Groceries by Check

When an Old Lady Pays for Her Mountain of Groceries by Check

Published by Scott on May 11, 2018

For the last stream, we tried a new exercise: taking a mundane/miserable activity and writing it in an interesting way.

Stories aren’t always about explosions and aliens; sometimes it’s good to have conflict, mystery, and vivid descriptions in the more mundane parts of life. That’s what this exercise was all about.

To do that, chat voted for a mundane activity, and then we wrote a story about it. They chose this one: Waiting in the checkout line while someone ahead of you pays by writing out a check.

Here’s what we came up with:

A Clown Who Lied about Juggling on His Resume

A Clown Who Lied about Juggling on His Resume

Published by Scott on May 9, 2018

For the last stream, we went over how to fix one of the most common writing mistakes: setting the scene/tone at the beginning of your story.

As opposed to movies and video games that are visual mediums, written stories only have the words on the page to get across the pictures/feelings into your head. So while stories and video games can use images and music to help set the scene/tone, for a story, you have to do it manually.

This means while it’s tempting to start off a story with action, it’s not always the best choice. Usually it’s better to start by taking some time to establish the who, what, when and where, so that the reader can visualize what’s going on. You could have the most heart-pounding opening ever, but if we can’t see it/feel it, then we’re not going to care.

To show this, we wrote the beginning of a story two ways: (1) where we set the scene/tone poorly, and (2) where we set the scene/tone better. Here’s what we came up with:

Month: May 2018