English Extension 2 (1 Viewer)

[Civil Case]

I start it next term. I was wondering what were your thoughts on creating a short story about a high school girl who can't speak in public, who constantly stutters, who even suffocates when she has to talk, and her constant battles, her struggle to find friends because of this problem, panicking everytime she has an speech assessment task at school, etc.

Or on

An little girl who is kidnapped from her home, and forced to forget about her family and friends, that they ever existed, and forced to become someone else. She is locked in a "jail-type" room and constantly tortured and told that she is worthless and that her family don't exist anymore, that they killed themselves, etc.


Or on

A mother is accused of killing someone she never did, and is convincted and sentenced, this story will explore the heartache of the father and the son, and the father must provide for the son, and so on.


Which story sounds the best/easiest to make?

 

[Shadowdude]

1 sounds too cliche. 2 might be fun to write but that genre doesn't really interest me. 3 is same as 2.

Now disregard what I said.

English Extension 2 is your subject where you do whatever you want. So what do you do? Research each of those stories - what they'd look like, the genre, the confines of it, and the like. Document that in your journal and you'll find you'll like one of them the most and you can start writing about that.

Or, you'll find a new idea that you like tons.


My original idea for EX2 was like your (3). Then I stared at a door one day and thought, nah - not doing that. I decided to mock stream of consciousness. Did a bit more reading, more research. And thought, "Hey, postmodernist twists are nice". Put that in. And then I did more reading, more research. And that kept going on and on and on.

That's what you should do. Research.

 

[Civil Case]

But I don't know where to start my research. Do I just go my local library/school library, and try to find books that involve some kind of concept of my stories and use ideas from that? Or go on the internet and do the same thing?

 

[Shadowdude]

Yes, read those books. Remember you're writing a short story though.

I found reading books better than doing internet research. Personal preference.

 

[Civil Case]

Ok, but I just have one concern; let's just say a book has this particular event or short scene in one of my topics that I want to write about, and I incorporate that into my short story, that would not be seen as a lack of originality? Should I just be rearranging or changing that particular scene around a bit? Also, is it required to keep references of the sources you used for your research in your journal?

 

[aphorae]

Ok, but I just have one concern; let's just say a book has this particular event or short scene in one of my topics that I want to write about, and I incorporate that into my short story, that would not be seen as a lack of originality? Should I just be rearranging or changing that particular scene around a bit? Also, is it required to keep references of the sources you used for your research in your journal?

Yeah keep references in case they notice similarities and want to check if you've intentionally paralleled the author's work or just ripped it off as your own.

You would probably want to 'extend yourself', as in use that author's work as inspiration/a stimulus. Draw on the ideas/style etc. and further develop them with your own.

You can also intentionally parallel or allude to the author's work. I used Ginsberg's "Howl" and 'appropriated' it to fit my story because the underlying concept was similar/I wanted to make a point.

Also, in relation to your first post, you need a 'purpose' for your story. To be honest it would probably be easier to find an appropriate ending + purpose in the first or third one - I think with the second one it would be easier to fall into the trap of a cliche or implausible positive ending... and if you decided to have a non-happy ending, well... err... not sure what the concept/purpose of your story would be except that life is futile or something. I guess if you can think of a good ending etc. it'd be alright. All those story-lines have potential

 

[Shadowdude]

Ok, but I just have one concern; let's just say a book has this particular event or short scene in one of my topics that I want to write about, and I incorporate that into my short story, that would not be seen as a lack of originality? Should I just be rearranging or changing that particular scene around a bit? Also, is it required to keep references of the sources you used for your research in your journal?

In a way, yes. But if you incorporate that scene and put it in an entirely different context - it's original in that way, and also we can see how something you saw or read inspired you. Of course don't copy word for word, that's plagiarism then.

And yes, you need to keep references in your journal. So books you've read, etc.

 

[Absolutezero]

If you at all plan on doing number 2, I highly recommend you watch the film 'Old Boy'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldboy

You can read the intro, but don't read the plot before you watch it, so to not spoil anything. It's an amazing film, and something reasonably relevant to what you want to do.

 

[TheKiteFlyer]

If you choose to go with number one, I highly recommend that you read Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak.

 

[Civil Case]

Thanks for the ideas guys. If you want to know where I got my first story from, well it wasn't from some book or idea that just came into my head, it's actually one of the main things that I have been personally been going throughout life. Everytime I attempt to speak in public, I feel like I am going to have a panic attack, so can you do that; can you make a story based on what you went through, and then research about it. I could write in my reflection statement what inspired me to make this story.