Tiger: Morning, everyone! Today I'm happy to be hosting a guest post on writing from John Michael Cummings, author of the new book "Ugly to Start With". I hope you like it--it reminded me of the magic of story-writing, apart from just the mechanics of plot and conflict. Here you go...
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I sometimes teach writing workshops to children, and I have to laugh. Who am I to do this?
Yes, I�ve published a lot of short stories, but I think I could live to be 150 and publish 1000 stories and, when asked to run these workshops, still feel like a common parishioner asked to be a biblical scholar.
I mean, doesn�t everyone instinctively know the basics of a story? Haven�t we all seen 1000 movies if not having read one story? Character and conflict equal plot and story, right? Develop it and resolve it. The end. How can one mess that up? If you want to know more, ask Steven Spielberg or Ray Bradbury, not me.
In front of these small groups, I talk about creating scenes that illuminate characters and their conflicts. I state tenet number one: create a sympathetic character, someone we can relate to, and want to follow through the story. Put forth: what�s the character�s problem? How does he or she solve it. Above all, make us care.
I have them take out paper and start writing on the spot.
"Get your story going with an event," I say. "Hit the ground running."
Start the adventure from sentence one. Remember, work on cause and effect. Each decision and action by your hero leads to the next. Each is a link in a chain, and the chain is your plot.
A few minutes in, I have them stop and read their passages aloud. Invariably I ask: Who are the villains trying to stop your hero? Who�s the Darth Vader in the story? Does your hero have an ally, as Batman has Robin? Is there a mentor, like Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars?
They continue scribbling.
"Keep your hero in the driver�s seat. But don�t be nice to him."
Stack obstacles in your hero�s face. Stakes are higher, rewards greater.
My advice is endless. Show, don�t tell. Make dialogue advance the story. Don�t forget, my twinkle-eyed youngsters, revise, revise, and revise.
Then I come to stop inside. I say to myself�wait a minute, are we building a radio or writing a story? Is this a popsicle and paper mache project or writing? Prose? Composition? Information?
I look around the room at the boys and girls. Her skin is brown. His white. She could be of Korean descent. He is black. She looks "Jewish." He is a little Arab boy.
"The best stories," I say, surprising them, "bring cultures together. Inform us of people we don�t know about."
They look at me.
"Stories are another world to enter. A way to share and let others step out of their lives."
Now I have their quizzical stares.
"Remember, your stories help us understand the �other,� the one who seems different from us, but we find out really isn�t. He or she really has the same issues�wanting to fit in, wanting to be happy. Those things."
They go on scribbling. I go on from there.
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Tiger: Thanks for the great thoughts on writing! I think I'm going to co-opt a few of these discussion points to share with own middle-grade writing students. :-)
Readers, here's some information about the author, as well as a rundown of his latest book, "Ugly to Start With"!
About the Author
John Michael Cummings' short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review, The Kenyon Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and The Chattahoochee Review. Twice he has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His short story "The Scratchboard Project" received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007. He is also the author of the nationally acclaimed coming-of-age novel "The Night I Freed John Brown" (Philomel Books, Penguin Group, 2009), winner of The Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers (Grades 7-12) and one of ten books recommended by USA TODAY.
For more information, please visit:
http://wvupressonline.com/cummings_ugly_to_start_with_9781935978084
http://www.johnmichaelcummings.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michael_Cummings
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Ugly to Start With
Jason Stevens is growing up in picturesque, historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970s. Back when the roads are smaller, the cars slower, the people more colorful, and Washington, D.C. is way across the mountains�a winding sixty-five miles away.
Jason dreams of going to art school in the city, but he must first survive his teenage years. He witnesses a street artist from Italy charm his mother from the backseat of the family car. He stands up to an abusive husband�and then feels sorry for the jerk. He puts up with his father�s hard-skulled backwoods ways, his grandfather�s showy younger wife, and the fist-throwing schoolmates and eccentric mountain characters that make up Harpers
Ugly to Start With punctuates the exuberant highs, bewildering midpoints, and painful lows of growing up, and affirms that adolescent dreams and desires are often fulfilled in surprising ways.
John Michael Cummings is a short story writer and novelist from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. He is the award-winning author of The Night I Freed John Brown.
Guest Post on Story Writing by John Michael Cummings Link Free Download
