Writing Exercise: Camera Focus

Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash

When writing, the depth of the “camera lens” can convey importance and feelings. Should a wide-angle lens be used to show the thousands in their masses gathering for battle, or should the writer focus on the boy who had been conscripted, on his face, the terror in his eyes.

READING/WATCHING EXERCISE: Review a scene on screen or in book for focus. Is it long or short? Did the creator change distance? Why do you think the creator chose that presentation? How did it further the plot, character development, and/or worldbuilding?

WRITING EXERCISE: Take apart a scene you recently wrote for “camera focus”. Did genre drive some of the choice? Is it a plot choice or a character development? Comment below.

My attempt

“Memory of a Kiss” (1/21/2024), inspired by the Geeking Science research for “In space, they can’t hear you burp,” I meant to focus on one guy getting his first beer on planet. That is not how the flash unfolded.

First, we have a long angle lens of a ship landing. This establishes genre. Then a slightly tighter focus on people rushing to establish urgency, but still a very long range shot. Everyone is shadowy figures; gender, age, and relationships are not established. A world building dump happens, keeping everything high up with boom shots.

Next, a couple clicks in. A room instead of a landscape, three characters, and a transaction. A montage of words, money changing hands, and beer landing on the table. A throat shot for drinking. Nothing personal.

Then closer, talking. Things slow down. We, as the readers (and the writer … it was a pants flash that did not go in the direction originally planned), are introduced to the characters. Names, genders, maybe even some past history is revealed. Group shots if on screen. One of them walks away.

Final focus, condensation, touch, eyes meeting. Extremely personal.

The camera started with a wide shot, completely impersonal, and moved closer and closer until a worldbuilding science fiction story ended up being about two people and their memories of a kiss.

Writing Exercise: A Wink of Romance, a Kiss of Tropes

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

Tropes are all the rage in romance – they really help marketing. Does your audience want a mafia romance or office romance? Should it be enemies to lovers or fake dating?

Some of the most common tropes in romance are: Meet-Cute; Enemies to Lovers; Rivals to Lovers; Friends to Lovers; Fake Dating; Boy/Girl Next Door; Brother’s Best Friend; Roommates; Escape from the Friend Zone; Forced Proximity; Trapped in an Elevator; Marriage of Convenience; Forbidden Love; He Fell First; Bad Boy/Girl Hero; Age-Gap Romance; Slow Burn; Fast Burn; Insta-Love; Love Triangle; Why Choose?; Single Parent; Already Pregnant; Second Chance; Interracial; Opposites Attract; Grumpy-Sunshine; Fairy Tale Retelling; Paranormal; Fated Mate

Not sure exactly what each of these are and how they work? Below are some blogs which could help you define them; if this blogs have been eaten up by time a quick search on “Romance Tropes” should bring back a lot of examples.

“Romance Tropes: What they are, and what they aren’t” by Natasja Rose. Posted Sept 2023. (https://vocal.media/writers/romance-tropes – last viewed 11/9/2023)

“13 Beloved Romance Tropes Every Reader Will Recognize” Reedsyblog. Posted November 2, 2022. (https://blog.reedsy.com/guide/romance/romance-tropes/ – last viewed 11/9/2023)

“Ultimate Romance Tropes List: 28 Tropes + Book Recs!” by Sonia Singh. Posted May 28, 2023. (https://brewingwriter.com/romance-tropes-list/ – last viewed 11/9/2023)

READING EXERCISE: If you read romances, take the three most recent romance you have read and record all the tropes that each of the books have. Which ones do you like the most? Do you have other other tropes you like in your romances? Comment below.

WRITING EXERCISE: Choose one of the tropes above and write a scene or a flash for it between 100 and 500 words. Your story can be the initial meeting or some other stage of the romance. What tropes did you use? Comment below how you explored the structure of the trope in your scene.

My attempt: Pixie Power – concentrating on Pixie Power 2 “I rather not” (10/22/2023) for this particular writing exercise. Browser is the epidemy of the “The Boy Next Door” who has so much “Unrequited” love it is painful to see him with the clueless Amie. “Opposites Attract” hopefully, eventually – maybe with a little help of “Forced Proximity” hinted at in episode 3.

Magical Words: Bashers vs. Swoopers

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I’m pretty sure everyone reading my blog at this point knows if they are a plotter or pantser. I’m a mix – plotter – extremely so – for long works … which is one of the reasons I think they never get done; I get caught up in the wonder of worldbuilding. On the other side of things, I’m a pantser for shorter works – embracing the joy of writing quick flashes to get story ideas out. Right now I trying to see if I can plot with one sentence for a chapter outline, a very lean outline of just one or two dozen thoughts, then pants each chapter back-to-back.

I’m still, after all this time, learning to write effectively and productively, as well as embracing into the joy and wonder that has kept me exploring writing for so long.

Edmund Schubert in his Magical Words post from June 8, 2012 raises a similar question – “Bashers vs. Swoopers.” These are terms Kurt Vonnegut used to discuss writing styles. Swoopers write quickly, like a flash or Nanowrimo, planning to fix-things-in-post and Bashers move forward one written then hardened then polished sentence at a time. It’s an interesting thought.

URL: https://www.magicalwords.net/edmund-r.-schubert/writing-styles-bashers-vs-swoopers/

WRITING EXERCISE: Comment below on your writing style below. Are you are plotter or pantser; swooper or basher?

My Attempt: I’ve already covered the plotter vs. pantser above. As to Swooper or Basher, I’m about halfway between. I do a lot of internal editing as I go. I guess I write about half as many words as actually make it to the final computer screen by the end of the first draft. So not a willy-nilly breakneck past down the hill in a soapbox cart, but not a snail-pace crawl of back-stitches with two steps back for every step forward. After the zero-draft is done for pantsing flashes and blog posts, I read it through – then copy it to a different program which will make it appear differently on the screen and read it again. Then post it. After all these aren’t sales product. Short stories and novellas – they get REAL drafts – multiple passes with days and even weeks of “rest” time before the next pass. So I am a Swoop-Basher in both plotter and pantser mode.

Writing Exercise: Backloading

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Kalayna Price introduced an interesting wordsmithing concept in the Sept 27, 2012 Magical Word post “Backloading for Power.” Go read it, because we are going to work on this for today’s writing exercise. (URL: http://www.magicalwords.net/kalayna-price/on-wordsmithing-backloading-for-power/)

WRITING EXERCISE: From your work in progress, choose a paragraph that could use more “umph” and use the Backloading technique. Comment below on how it went.

Writing Exercise: 50-Word Prompts 2023

WRITING EXERCISE

Time for the December 50-word prompts writing exercise.

Quick reminder of the rules: Write a flash for each picture. Aim for 50 words, give or take five extra words. Don’t read my attempts until after you do your own. Writing them directly in the comment section below will help you focus on the flash aspect – just getting words out.

VISUAL PROMPTS FOR 50-WORD FLASHES

 

       

(Light in winter trees & Couple photos are from freedigital photos . net)

(African girl with Teddy – ID 9775075 © Lucian Coman Dreamstime.com (license paid for))

My Attempts

First Light: It was too early for dawn, the light too bright, coming from the wrong direction. The trees huddled under the snow blanketing their boughs. What was happening sent a chill down to their roots. Should I leave my shelter to find out what the light was or run? (48 words, first published 12/26/2023)

May I have your attention: Grabbing his tie, she pulled him closer and their lips met, touched for the first time. He gasped in surprise and she took advantage of his open lips, jumping for the taste she always wanted. Coffee and cream. Sugar and hazelnut. Around them, people clapped. Maybe she shouldn’t have done this by the office coffee pot but the boy just wasn’t getting any of her hints. (words 66, first published 12/26/2023)

Orders: Please don’t hurt me, her eyes begged, digging a hole straight to my heart. Her parents had done right by the little one – freshly washed, her hair neatly braided, her clothes in good repair. Her bear nearly broke me. Why was she allowed to bring her toy? Fucking orders. (words 50, first published 12/26/2023)

Series: 50-word Prompts

  1. Prompts 1& 5 (2/19/2017)
  2. Prompts 6 & 12 (2/26/2017)
  3. Prompts 7, 8, 10, 11 (3/19/2017)
  4. Prompts (The Mouse Roars) (3/26/2017)
  5. 50-word prompts 2018 (12/25/2018)
  6. 50-word prompts 2019 (8/27/2019)
  7. 50-word prompts 2020 (12/22/2020)
  8. 50-word prompts 2021 (12/28/2021)
  9. 50-word prompts 2022 (12/17/2022)
  10. 50-word prompts 2023 (12/26/2023)