(Creative Writing. Source)
Boundless freedom isn't always helpful. Creative constraints are the requirements necessary to achieve a certain goal. Constraints help drive discovery and invention. They also help us create something new and useful. Often, discoveries are made for other applications due to constraints on a certain goal. Penicillin, synthetic dye, plastic, and gunpowder were all made on accident when trying to address constraints of other problems. Rather than thinking of constraints as the boundary of creativity, they are instead the creation of it.
What do all heroes have in common? For one, they start in ordinary worlds but then have quests in a special world. Then there is a certain pattern that is followed: 0) Status Quo, 1) Call to Adventure, 2) Assistance, 3) Departure into the special world, 4) Trials, 5) Approach of the hero's worst fear, 6) Crisis, or the hero's darkest hour, 7) Treasure, where the hero gains something, 8) Result, 9) Return into the ordinary world, 10) New life, 11) Resolution 12) Back to Status Quo. In a way, we are all heroes by leaving our comfort zone and following the pattern.
Fictional worlds still have physical and societal rules just like the real world. Fiction authors are constantly creating their own worlds. How are these worlds created? Start with a basic place in time, either the past, present, or future. Create a timeline of what past events shaped that world. Think about societal values, government, power, belief system, etc.
The point of fiction is to create the illusion to the reader that they're living in the story. Descriptions help the readers feel what the characters feel. Instead of generalizing and using the word sound, an author describes the type of sound to the reader. Choose words well in order to engage the senses. Then create unexpected connotations among the story elements to engage the imagination of the reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment