Tag: Using a trope in your writing

Winter Storms

On By Terry ConnellyIn prompt, Uncategorized, Writing promptLeave a comment

            Some winters are rather mild: little precipitation and temperatures not too extreme.  When it’s like this, we can walk outdoors, work in the garden, go hiking in a nearby park.

            Then there are winters in which there’s nonstop rain, tornadoes, hail and snow that grows deeper by the day.

            It’s frigid indoors and out. Even when bundled up from the tops of our heads to the tips of our toes, we freeze. We put electric blankets on our bed of layer so many blankets that the weight presses down on our stomachs.

            Some days we don’t leave the house. The roads are slick with ice or flooded with still falling rain. Snow is piled up over the tops of cars and streets are impassable. Trees whose roots are loosened by rain, topple over. Winds blow and howl like a banshee.

            Winter storms impact what we can do and how we go about doing it.

            Your task is to write a story in which a storm plays a major role.

            A good place to begin is by narrowing down what type of storm happens. Choose something familiar. If you live in tornado alley, then a tornado might be the first choice. If you are plagued by downed power lines whenever a stiff wind blows, then include that in your story.

            Make the effects extreme in order to build tension.

            Have fun with this one.

Inspiration Sources

On By Terry ConnellyIn Uncategorized, Writing prompt1 Comment

Objects hidden in drawers and closets or stuffed on garage shelves can be the inspiration for good stories.

Think about some of the things you have stuffed deep in the back of your closet. Old shoes worn on a hike to the top of Yosemite Falls? A sparkly dress from your high school prom? A pair of pants that you wore when you weighed 100 pounds more than you do now?

The stories these objects would tell are priceless.

Prom night might have been a disaster. Your date showed up late, and instead of wearing a tux, he borrowed a too-big suit from his older cousin. It hangs like a robe and in spots, is shiny from use. He wore his old tennis shoes, scuffed and dirt splotched.  No tie. Wrinkled pink-dyed shirt from when a pair of his sister’s panties went through the white wash.

At the dance, he drank heavily, spiking the punch with a flask he had tucked into his inside pocket. The more he drank, the more uninhibited his unskilled dancing became. He laughed and talked so loudly that everyone in the room heard every word he slurred out.

Or maybe you want to write about that hike. It was a gorgeous spring day with billowing clouds hovering overhead. At first the walk was a gentle climb, but as time passed, the path turned to gravel and the elevation increased. Then you hit a section a switchbacks so sharply pitched that, at each turn, you had to stop to gather breath and strength.

When you finally made it to the top, your view was blocked. A tree/cloud/crowd got in your way. Or maybe you were too afraid of heights to look out. Or maybe you collapsed from exhaustion.

Your task is to go on a search of your house or apartment. Look deep into the darkest corners. Push aside the t-shirts you no longer wear. Find one thing that carries you back into your past.

Hold it. Smell it. Cuddle it. Sit in a chair with it in your lap and feel the fabric. The stiches. The hem. The collar.

If shoes, turn them over and look at the soles. Imagine where they’ve been. The places they’ve carried you to. The troubles they’ve seen.

And then write. Tell the story. If you want, you can stick to the truth, but if you feel inspired, embellish. Add details and dialogue and action, enough to make the story interesting for others to read.

When you finish, reread. Look for areas where you can strengthen the story by subtracting, adding or replacing.

Have fun with this one!

 

Tropes in Literature

On By Terry ConnellyIn Writing promptLeave a comment

In Taylor Holden’s novel The Sense of Paper, the image of paper binds together the lives of the main characters. For example, Charlie, a journalist who actively sought out dangerous places in the world, is now researching the different types of paper used by artists, information which she is using to write her own book.

Alan, an artist, prefers a particular paper for his work, which he uses to paint a picture for Charlie. He also puts her in contact with researchers in the field of art, who help Charlie understand the importance of paper.

This is an example of a trope, a literary device that is carried throughout a story, maintaining a crucial tie to characters and events.

Can you think of a story that you’ve recently read that aptly uses a trope? I suppose the Fifty Shades trilogy relied on the trope of sexual bondage as both reward and punishment.

Any other stories?

Have you ever written a story that contained a trope? If so, pull up that story and see if the trope helped or hurt the story. If it helped, in what ways? Is it possible for its meaning to be strengthened? Are there more instances in which the trope can be utilized?

What is you’ve never played with the idea of a trope? Now might be the time to do so.

Think of an object that has multiple meanings or usages. Create a character for each meaning. Now bring the characters together and see what happens.

This will not be an easy task. Many wonderful books are written without a single trope. But at least you will have played with the idea.

Have fun with this one.