%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| >> Static Item >> Assignment >> Research >> ID #1634323 |   |
| |||||||||||||
|
Lesson One Assignment 1 1. Choose one of the "20 Ways To Get Plot Ideas" and brainstorm for a new idea that could be developed into a story plot. I am not looking for an entire written story, or even a well developed plot, just your general story idea. Simply write a paragraph or two elaborating on the idea you came up with. 2. Write down which method you used. Think about the method and tell us how effective you found it. Is the choice a process you use naturally? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RESEARCH Research something you've always wanted to know about by checking a book out of the library or looking it up on the internet. As you read, write down any ideas that come to you for a new plot. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The pyramids of Egypt were built, according to researchers and archaelogists, by close to 50,000 people. That's 50,000 for each pyramid! It's reported by Herodotus, the Greek historian that it took ten years of 'oppressive slave labor' to build the pyramid(s) of Khufu. These builders were Egyptians, people of the Kingdom. Their occupations varied but most of these probably indulged in the tilling of soil - they were farmers. Researchers say that much of the construction was done in the flooding season, when the Nile overflowed its banks making farming at such periods difficult if not impossible! Erecting a pyramid is tough work! I checked out a few illustrations I found on 'YouTube' about pyramid-building, the size of the rocks-turned-blocks would scare you! And to imagine those guys had to do without twenty first century technology. Can you guess why researchers and archaelogists alike believe the job would have required the magnitude of work-force? It occurred to me that the same men (and maybe women) who raised these enormous stone structures also had to sculpt the sphinxes of ancient Egypt. How much time did these men have for family life, I wondered? So I came up with this wonderful plot (it may not look so wonderful to you, Ms. Di  ) about a fresh-from-the altar young couple. Barely a week into their honeymoon, the man is enlisted into Pharaoh's mammoth workforce. I employed the info I gathered on the monstrosity of those building blocks: To be enrolled for pyramid-building is like being enlisted in the army. It's not guaranteed you might return. Okay I make an exception about this newly-wed who I named Khnemu (It's an ancient Egyptian name. I still haven't figured out how it's pronounced.) He gets to see his home again but his life would be forever changed. One of those rocks fall on him turning his legs to vegetables. He becomes a cripple. Cripples can't do farm workThe wheel turns for the family as the wife (whom I'll call Nephertiti) becomes the shero of the story. She takes up fending for her man and kids. . . Nobody said it would be easy neither did she ask their opinion. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For sometime now an interest in my origins has stirred me to do a research on the history of 'my people', it's moved me to make inquiries in Ancient African Civilizations. I dug beneath the surface, beyond the achievements and 'heroic feats' of these ancient people till I was connecting every dot I could find to create an idea of how individuals carried on in their personal lives, their relationships with family, their neighbors and the local Deity. As a writer in the embryonic stages of historical fiction writing, I've found this method eternally invaluable in gathering info for my stories. I have checked shelves of books and surfed the web. I'm plagued by tons and tons of ideas I'm afraid I may have contacted the too-many-ideas-syndrome.
© Copyright 2010 Eneh Akpan (UN: poesy at Writing.Com).
All rights reserved.
Eneh Akpan has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
 Log In To Leave Feedback |
Static Items
Books
Forums
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
