Story writing is a simple art. The skeleton of a story takes birth in the imagination of the writer. However, flesh and blood are added based on expectations, experience, filters, biases, skews, and the writer’s objective. At some stage, the characters start commanding the narrative and force the writer to become their slave. They predict what happens next. Once formalised with the initial reaction- action and inaction they form their responses to the situation. The writer keeps sharpening the story and chiselling the characters till it is time to emotionally amputee the association and let the world be privy to the thoughts. It is the most challenging phase, as the writer keeps believing that there is scope to improve and, at times, unknowingly corrupts the output to a stage- when there is no option but to kill the darling- a story that is not moving forward.
I have been constantly experimenting with genres and subjects to avoid getting trapped and keep learning. My projects, such as paranormal, poetry, advertising, marketing, romance, motivation, creativity, and innovation, demand a specific treatment. However, the toughest is writing a short story, where words are at a premium. The character situation must develop fast, resolve, and wrap up within no time.
Long Vs Short.
A long story is simple. It has the luxury of space and words. However, it has a challenging task of keeping the reader engaged. Every chapter is a challenge. It must move and build the story, yet it must keep the reader thirsty for more. And to keep that pace alive through some 60,000 words is no mean achievement for any writer. You are still on solid ground with a character map and a fishbone structure and know well in advance what will happen; yes, there are fresh ideas and new inspirations that introduce new twists and tweaks- but they are still manageable.
With such an understanding, life was a bit cosy while my next novel, a romance-murder-mystery, took shape. It was still in its infancy, and its rough skeleton was taking shape when my urge to experiment and be adventurous bit me.
Feeling comfortable with the progress of my next novel, a romance-murder mystery, I decided to take on a new challenge. I committed to writing a weekly blog, using the prompts provided by #BlogChatter for its #BlogCahheterBlogHop—an experimentative collective writing. The task seemed simple enough: I was to weave the prompt into my article, blog, or story on any subject.
At some point, around four weeks ago, to ease their own lives, they shifted to a set of words as a prompt. The writers were free to use them—all or a few—to create their prompts and write for the weekly blog.
When the prompts shifted to a set of words, I saw it as an opportunity to start a new story. Sharpen my story writing skills. I began writing one chapter a week based on the fresh set of # the word prompts shared by #BlogChatter.
It is a story with an undisclosed destination, a narrative that is constantly evolving and finding its direction within the unknown fresh set of directional words. The characters, locations, situations, and emotions are now heavily influenced by the new set of words, as they strive to remain true to their anchor and values.
A different experience.
Oh, it is so much more exciting and fresher.
It is like finding a different way to hone writing skills and sharpen imagination. Logically keep the chapter flowing yet connected and take the story forward based on someone else’s directional words. Try to access and ensure that each word is part of the short self-imposed limit of around 500 words. It must make sense as a stand-alone- as it is a blog piece and yet be connected for the reader who might want to read it as a series.
I have written a few chapters of the story. The prompts are mostly shared on Tuesdays. I am enjoying the task and have decided to use it as a tool in my next workshop. You can mine and replenish the word prompts in multiple ways – like books, dictionaries, word clouds, friends, relatives and even Netflix. Try it out. I am sharing the sample word prompts released by BlogChatter, and it may trigger a different story in your mind. Why not just let it take shape and pen it down? It will help sharpen your imagination and help enhance creativity. And if you want to see what is happening- you can access the chapters of my story with an undisclosed destination below. This is a cool trick to enhance your story writing skills.
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If you want to read the story and see how it develops, you can access it here. Chapter 1 – Rainy evening in a resort at Mukhteshwar of the story with an undisclosed destination. Chapter -II. The beaches and whispering Mukhteshwar. Chapter III Mukhteshwar encounter. And Chapter IV- Shadows of a Dream.
