Dheera's Workshop of Whimsy

Hi Everyone!

It has been sometime since I was here. I hope you all have been writing up a storm! Here are some topics incase you are having a difficult time thinking up of what to write about.

Write about a hobby you are passionate about.When did you start? Who started you off? What it does for you Write everything you feel about your beloved hobby.

Write about what scares you the most.

Write about the best place in the world. You can make this up and create an outlandish space or it can be some place you have experienced.

About your teacher…good or bad and what impact she/he left on you.

About the area you live in. Use all fivesenses while describing it.

Whom do you love the most in the world? And why.

About your pet.

The best book you have ever read.

Write about what role colours play in your life.

About a struggle you had to experience to achieve a goal.

Choose a friend at school. Write about her as though she was your best friend. Then change her into your worst enemy and then make her into someone you observe from a distance without having a view on her.

About the seasons and which one suits you th most.

This should keep you busy for sometime. Do continue sending me your work at fingerprints2009@gmail.com.

Lots of love,

Dheera

Hello Everyone!

Sorry to have missed posting last week but I had many pieces of creative writing to edit! Thank you all for keeping me so busy!!

This week, I have an interesting audience of younger children. So I am going to devote this week to the 6 year olds.

Welcome and here is a writing tip for you.

Describe a New Animal

Invent a new animal. Describe what it looks like, where it lives, what it does, what it eats, is it dangerous? Think as funny as you like. Nothing that you write is silly or anything to be shy about. Go as whacky as you want! Once the animal is ready write a short story about it!

Send me your new animal story at fingerprints2009@gmail.com

See you next week!

Dheera

Hello again!

Here is something I read about what best stories are about.

‘The best stories have a strong theme, a fascinating plot, a fitting structure, unforgettable characters, a well chosen setting and an appealing style.’

Try using all this in one story (Phew!) and you will surely have a winner on your hands.

Today’s writing tip is: Make a list of all the things you are scared of. Pick one and write about it in detail, using all five senses. Describe every detail.

Send it to me at   fingerprints2009@gmail.com

Best,

Dheera

CHARACTERS AND SETTING have a few things in common. You have to know both of them well. Even if your main character is wicked, the reader must like him to read about him/her.

It is true in real life that even the wickedest have some good in them. Give your character a balance of good and bad. It can be more good than bad if you like but some quirkiness is essential to make anyone interesting.

Similarly the bad guy must have some redeeming feature.

Choose your characters from everyday people you meet and then magnify certain aspects of heir personality.

Make the setting of the story interesting. If you know the place you are describing well, you will be able to paint a word picture which the reader will be able to see.

For style and tone, just remember that your language must be simple and the story line clean. By that I mean don’t go into flash back and come into the present so many times that you confuse the reader. At first, just try to tell a simple tale with a beginning a middle and an end. Try not to narrate too much. Intersperse it with direct speech, it makes the page look lighter and makes for easier reading.

And finally edit your story several times before sending it in. Use the best words, phrases, sentences that you can. Ask yourself, is this the very best I can write? If the answer is yes, press send!

I am waiting!

XOXO

Dheera  

Hello again!

I have chosen one questions to answer this week.

Suamna (13 years) says she finds it difficult to show something happening. She is more comfortable telling the reader about it. She asks why it is better to show rather than tell.

Answer: Telling is recounting the tale and is not as impact ful as showing it happen. By showing it happen, through conversation/interaction or even by a description, you are making the reader a part of what is happening. To give a small example. You can say, the boy felt sad. Or you can say, the boy’s chest heaved and a tear rolled down his cheek. The former is telling and the latter showing what really happened.

To work on this skill, thinkof little incidents in everyday life and first just describe them, then rewrite them in a ‘showing’ way.

Do send me  your pieces when they are done!

PLOT

So then back to plot.

Plot is the structure or sequence of events in your story. The boy went to the market…has no plot. The boy went to the market on the day there was a bomb blast…has the beginning of a plot. So basically, the way the story unfolds is the plot. The story itself is the plot.

Here is an exercise: Take whatever you are writing currently and divide it up in summary form into : 1) the description of character and settings; 2) the action in which conflict develops; 3) the climax; 4) where the resolving process begins; and 5)  the final resolution. This then is the structure or plot of your story.

Write away the summer heat!

XOXO

Dheera