A Beginners Guide To Writing Fiction
by Syedia Aishah ( aishah )
We always think that only a certain group of people are able to write a successful piece of fiction. This group always contains individuals who have had grammar education throughout their life. Those who hold a degree, a masters or a PhD in literature are considered to be writers.
Personally I disagree with the idea that only certain individuals have the skill and proficiency to create a text that is worthy to read. Writing fiction is all about imagination and how your mind works. We all have a certain way of thinking, this is what makes us all unique and this is what singles our work out. To think of a story line is an easy task that can be achieved by anyone. The beauty of making the story interesting lies in the use of the language and the way the ideas are transferred to paper.
For example, say that I am going to write a story and my story line is a happy marriage. Instead of just writing a love filled story about two lovers who have a smoothly running relationship, why not give it a twist and add some obstacles that they must overcome in order to get married. Complex story lines are enjoyed more by readers as they are able to escape into fiction that relates to their real life.
The ending of a story does not always have to be a happy one, you can end your story in any way so long as there is some sort of a resolution. The resolution is an important device in any fiction work as it aids in satisfying the reader by placing everything in a nutshell for them.
You can write a story out of anything, even a chair, yes a chair! To make it successful is up to you as a writer. The clever use of ideas and the skilful use of language are the two main ingredients for any good story.
The Challenge
Flash fiction is an excellent way of improving your writing skills. Look around you and find any random object. Once you have identified the object, spend three timed minutes on writing an event including that object. This task will enable you to quickly write down any ideas that come into your mind, rather than having to sit for hours thinking of what to base the story or event on. Do not edit or correct what you have written, just keep writing. On some occasions time yourself and on others keep a word limit (write a complete short story in 300 words). You can also only spend a few minutes on writing a good beginning to a story. The purpose of this is to give you an idea of the style of writing you are comfortable with and by the end of the week you will have a few short stories that you can use as a base to expand it to whole longer ones.
Do this everyday and within just a week you will be amazed to see how much of a fiction writer you are!
Copyright © 2010 Syedia Aishah
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