Saturday, March 2, 2013

Outlining a great conclusion to a story: I am really drawing a blank on this one, I am a visual artist, not a verbal artist. It would go something to this effect:

  • A story that builds itself up throughout
    • great characters with:
      • what makes them tick or drives them
      • personality
      • relationships with others in the story
    • great story line, and sometimes crossing plots that relate to one another
    • great visual pictures defined by the author's writing style
  • A story that captivates any one's attention. Some readers don't get captivated right away
  • A great ending could have:
    • a surprise ending (but with closure; I hate an ending without closure)
    • a twist ending (a whodunit with a surprise villain)
    • a ride off in the sunset sort of ending where everyone is happy
    • a sad ending where the emotions are played with
As I stated before, I do not like an ending where you say out loud, "what the hell!" I want closure no mater how it is (as described above); I do not like to invest my time to be left with no clue at the end!
This is just my opinion.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

This weeks assignment is to present evidence in a unique way.


  • Betty and Frank have items missing from their home
    • debit cards
    • combs and brushes
    • makeup
    • pajamas
    • kitchen spoons and forks
  • They looked everywhere but still cannot find them
  • Was it their maid or a guest
  • Everyday there is a new item missing
  • Betty and Frank notices they have food missing too
    • muffins bought for a brunch
    • shortbread and Italian cookies for dessert and coffee
  • The only evidence apparent is crumbs on the counter where the items were left
  • Betty and Frank started blaming each other for taking the food but neither admitted it
  • Betty started blaming Frank for leaving q-tips and cotton balls and washrags on the bathroom floor. Frank was getting fed up with being accused of such things
  • One day Betty put her coat on, and there was a hole in the coat pocket and her car keys were gone!
    • she took the extra set of keys off Franks key ring and went to work
    • Betty's friend noticed the tear in her coat pocket and said your cat chewed a hole in your coat
    • Betty said, "My cat?" 
    • Her friend explained that her cat does the same thing so she has to lock her coat in a closet and not leave it on a coat rack. And she added, "There's cat hair around the area."
  • Betty got home from work and went to the bathroom
    • There were cotton balls and q-tips everywhere, and the washrags were on the floor again!
    • Betty picked the rags up, and there was cat hair on them. There are only two, but there is normally four!
  • Betty started investigating
    • She looked under the bed
    • She looked in the closet
    • As she went downstairs she noticed a cotton ball and a q-tip on the stairs
    • She checked under the sofa, and behind it
    • She looked behind the entertainment center
    • She couldn't find any of her missing items
  • As she walked around the living room she noticed a q-tip peeking out from the curtains on the bay window. 
  • Betty bent over to pick up the q-tip and noticed crumbs trailing to the cat's kitty condo
    • One by one, she inspected all the little private cubby holes in the kitty condo.
  • At the very top cubby hole, there were all the missing items, and even items they did not know were missing! The cat was laying on all the cotton balls, q-tips, pajamas, makeup, debit and credit cards and kitchen utensils!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

In this exercise, the assignment is to outline a story with tension!


  • A girl arrives to work with a huge scratch down her face and crying.
  • Everyone at work notices and spreads the word to the girl's supervisor.
  • The supervisor brings the girl into a private office and intervenes.
    • she gets the story from the girl
    • calls the police to take the story
    • calls a family member to come pick her up from work
    • gives her the next two days off to get her life together
    • everyone is frightened by the story she's told
  • The girl hides out at her father's home
    • but she's told everyone he use to sexually molest her
    • he don't want her there, she's always too much to handle he says
  • The police arrest her boyfriend
    • he swears he didn't do it!
    • he is issued a court date after being bailed out
    • she arrives at his door at one o'clock in the morning with the police
      • they told him to hand his daughter over to them
      • he sobs as the love of his life is carried away from him
  • The girl has been looking for a way out of town, and has been looking for her birth father
    • this gets her boyfriend to thinking, and fears she will run away with his daughter in tow
  • The boyfriend gets a lawyer to help him prove he didn't do it
    • in the meantime she files an order preventing her from leaving town with his daughter
    • he compiles witnesses to her lying, and story telling
  • The lawyer interviews everyone in the family and discovers the guy's brother was at home sick from school that day
    • he claims that her story of a huge fight was false, he didn't even hear an argument, much less her being beaten
    • another witness claims he had told the girl about his abusive wife, and how she would injure herself and call the police on him and get him arrested. He told her this two days before her boyfriend was arrested for domestic violence
    • another witness claims she had been planning on leaving for a few weeks but needed money before doing so
    • another witness claims the girl was in her apartment "hanging out" one night, and the next morning her rent money was missing. This was the day she showed up to work with a scratch down her face
    • the lawyer asked the guy to see his hands, she notices:
      • he has no swelling or redness
      • he has obviously been a nail biter his whole life...his nails were chewed down to little slivers. This is a task that is physically impossible to create overnight
      • he wears no rings or watches
      • he is right handed
      • her scratch down her face is on her right side, not the left
      • her scratch slants toward her mouth
  • It is methodically discovered that the girl had scratched herself with her ring the boyfriend gave her on Valentines Day
    • by studying the scratch, it was more feasible for her to have scratched herself by the direction of the scratch, and the location
    • by the witness's statements, laying out her motive, and other evidence
  • The girl never showed up to the court date so the charges were dropped against the boyfriend
  • The two shared the custody of the little girl from that point forward, separately
  • The girl told everyone she was dying of cancer
    • her house was broken into
      • they stole her rent money
      • they stole her and her daughter's Christmas gifts
  • Does the story ever end?
    • NO! she is still at it, every two years, she replaces boyfriends, steals their money, and makes new stories
This is a true story of someone we know, and keep at a very far distance away!
Talk about tension!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Outline a Plot

In this exercise, we are to outline a fresh, new story's plot....here goes!

  • Miniature, perfect replicas of famous pieces of art are appearing all over New York City's swankiest events.
    • Political Fundraisers
    • Fashion Week
    • World Premier Movie Events
  • No one knows who is leaving the art at these events. But everyone wants one!
  • A private eye reads this on the front page of the New York Times newspaper, and vows to find the artist so he can reveal him or her. This is sure to get the private eye into New York City's elite! Oh the money he can make!
  • The private eye gets a job with the catering company who does all the elite events in town.
    • He lucked out and got the job of champagne server, this will gain him maximum coverage
    • His hopes are to notice everyone, work the floor as much as possible, he's sure to find the artist this way.
    • First event, he missed the drop!
    • Second event, missed it again! Plan B, use mini cameras set up everywhere!
    • Third event, missed it again! Plan C, camouflage himself until he finds the person!
  • The perfect, miniatures are still arriving, but now there are many sleuths trying to find the person!
  • And now, there are many artists jumping on the bandwagon!
  • The NYC police detectives are weeding through the artwork to see which are the originals, and which are copycats, but aren't they all copycats?
  • And then a letter to the New York Times arrives, from the real artist of the mini replicas, the person involved in all of the reverse heists! And an answer why!
This is the subject of my next mystery story's plot. 

Friday, February 1, 2013

motive

While developing my own story, motive played a huge part of the creative process. I wanted there to be a surprise, or an unexpected ending. While developing my archetypes and their personalities I had to make sure I placed enough suspects at the scene of he crime, suspects who were shifty, had shady pasts, or who didn't like the "victim."

My victim, is also the villain in my story. She is a wealthy woman who hates everyone, including her husband. She is rude to everyone in her life. When her Renoir paintings were stolen, he blamed her husband, and made him sleep in the guest room. She finally received an insurance settlement for her missing artwork, and disappeared the next day.

In the end, her motive was to collect the insurance and get away from everyone who she hated, and live happily ever after. But it backfired.

I also included a shifty brother in law, who the victim referred to as a loser. The narrator had a clear hatred for the victim and her rudeness. I also placed several contractors in the same room as the crime, and a snooping florist. This was to lead the reader into thinking there could be numerous suspects.

I believe a solid motive helps in the development of a story, but with that said, I held that information to the end.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Observe a special setting

Special Setting - Beauty Salon/Spa
I entered the salon, hearing a bell attached to the other side of the door. A friendly woman with perfect hair and make up greeted me with a smile. She went behind the desk and asked if I had an appointment, and checked me in. She said, Kellie will be right with you if youd' like to have a seat. She asked me if I would like a cup of coffee and went back to filing her paperwork when I said no thank you.
The salon had a comfortable environment with a cozy seating area. I noticed the beautiful photographs on the wall with spotlights on them. They had fresh flowers on the tables and beautiful green plants in huge urn type containers. They must have had a decorator do this place I thought. I noticed all the beautiful bottles and jars of many different colors on display, they glistened in the well placed spotlights. I looked at the nail polishes for a while, reading their names on the bottom of each bottle. I like the "Ruby Slippers."
I smell lavender and look around to see where it's coming from......ahhh, they have a tart burner with a pretty purple melted wax that is sending that smell through the air. I hear the chatter of my stylist, Kellie and another woman coming closer. They walk to the desk, make an appointment for six weeks, and the woman pays Kellie, they say goodbye, and the bell rings upon the woman leaving.
Kellie and I go back to the working parts of the salon where there are blow driers loudly humming, and people talking over them. I can smell hairspray, and there is a smelly perm going on two chairs away! Kellie puts a silky cape around my neck, and it feels a little cool against my arms. She escorts me back to the shampoo bowl, I like this bowl, I only have to tip my head back instead of my whole body. She starts the water, and I can hear it hitting the inside of the sink. She gets it to the right temperature, which she has down to a science, it is never too hot or cold. I can feel the perfectly warm water hitting my head, and wondering to myself, how is this not running down my back! As we make small talk, she lathers up my hair with the fruity smelling shampoo. While she is shampooing my hair, I get a whiff of acrylic nails sneaking out of the nail room, some people don't like the smell, but I do. I can hear the people in the nail room talking and laughing. In another room, I can hear the hum of the pedicure chair's bubbles; it kind of sounds like a hot-tub. Kellie has finished washing my hair which  is done with the perfect pressure, scalp massage! She is now putting an almond scented conditioner in my hair which feels heavy and cold, but that doesn't last too long. After a few minutes she rinses my hair once again, and I can feel my hair very wet and flat against the wall of the sink. She gathers my hair and lightly twists out the water and wraps a warm towel around my hair and head.
Back at Kellie's work station, she pumps up the chair so she can reach the bottom of my hair better. We talk about the dumb things our husbands have done, and silly situations they have got themselves into at work; our husbands work together. She glides a big comb through it, that conditioner was good! She sections my hair in to four, clipping them off for later use. She starts in the back and combs the hair flat and snips away the ends; she continues to each section until the haircut is done. She then applies a mousse that smells like coconut and oranges to my hair, I can hear the tiny bubbles in the mousse popping every so slightly, kind of like rice krispies popping. She then pulls out a big metal round brush with natural bristles and the blow drier. She sections and wraps the hair around the brush pulling and turning, pulling and turning until the blow drier completes it's job. As we talk, sometimes I cannot hear what she is saying because the sound of the blow drier, or sometimes even getting the inside of my ear blow dried! After ten or fifteen minutes, my whole head is dry, and my hair is super shiny and looks great! She takes the cape off of my neck, and that feels good, because now I'm hot from the blow drier, the silkiness no longer feels cool on my skin.
As we leave and head back to the reception desk, there are other people headed back to the area we are leaving; they are discussing the weather, and the lady's smelly perfume lingers after she passed us. We make our appointment for six weeks, while the receptionist is making another appointment for someone on the phone. I pay for my haircut and nail polish, and I give her a hug and a tip and leave.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Creative Process:
I find myself struggling with the assignment of writing a mystery story. My creative process began with the plot, or story itself. Just what am I going to write about? With that task, I had to decide exactly what the story is to accomplish in the end. Should I have a villain, and a hero, or perhaps, a twist to the story, or even, a surprise ending. After deep thought, I decided what my mystery's story-line would be.
The next task was to develop my characters, or archetypes, their personalities, and other key information for each. The next step is the setting development; where the mystery takes place, and plays out, and any variables that may be important to the story line.
One of the last things to do is fine tune the plot, and construct the story. The final part of my process is to edit, edit, and edit one last time. I do not think it would hurt to have a test reader either!
Hopefully the organizational part of the process will help me construct a good mystery that will keep the reader's attention.
I am a visual artist, and I plan to be as verbally descript as possible while constructing my mystery, so it will not be a bore to read.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

The mystery genre appeals to me mostly for the suspense element. I don't want to read or watch horror movies, as they terrify the hell out of me, causing sleepless nights and feeling as though the murderer is hiding behind the shower curtain, or in a closet!
While reflecting on suspenseful books, movies and stories I have experienced in my life, the movie "The Sixth Sense"comes to the forefront! The audience was captivated by the boy's relationship with his psychologist. It was apparent throughout the movie that the psychologist's wife was not happy about  her husband's relationship with the boy. She was quite bitchy toward her husband, and ignored him a lot. The boy could see dead people, and had conversations with them, which caused alarm for the boy's mother.
The audience was captivated by the suspense of the why the boy saw dead people, and would the award winning psychologist cure his problem. At the end of the movie, the boy was in a bed, I seem to remember he was hospitalized for his problem, but I could be mistaken on that fact. The boy was telling  his doctor that he talked to dead people, and they didn't even know they were dead. The scene changed to the doctor's wife who fell asleep watching their wedding video, as their anniversary had just come and gone. She shivered from the cold of being visited by a ghost, as she fell deeper into sleep her had relaxed and her husband's wedding ring fell from her hand and rolled across the floor. As this happens, the doctor looked down, and noticed he wasn't wearing his wedding ring, as it rolled across the floor, and realized HE WAS DEAD! The audience, myself included sat straight up and said, "Oh My God He's Dead!"
I realize it is a different take on the mystery genre, as no one is solving a crime, a good guy and a bad guy situation, or a a whodunnit. Yet, the suspense is what made it a mystery genre film for me. I was captivated by why the wife was so bitchy and ignored her husband, and in one scene, yelled at him. She knew she was being visited by her husband's ghost, yet he, and the audience didn't.
I may be off target for this assignment, I'm not sure. However, the question posed was why the mystery genre appeals to me, citing an example, and why it was special to me. For me, a mystery genre story involves the suspense element, it could be ghosts, or a murder mystery, or perhaps an art heist, yet the common denominator would be in place, suspense!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

In this first assignment, we were directed to go to playslueth.com, set up a character, background, and play the tutorial/first mystery. My "sleuth" is named CarlaC, she is a debutante family outcast who must now make it on her own, because she cannot run back to mommy and daddy for financial help anymore.
The key information I learned doing this whodunnit game was collect any evidence you can, as soon as you see it. Visit every person/suspect, ask questions, and sneak in to their homes to collect more evidence. The tutorial walks you through who to visit next, they may be leads, other suspects, or specialists that can help you match evidence.
I felt a little victorious after accusing the right person of murder! My husband took this same class last year, and he couldn't figure it out!
I liked this exercise.