Blog - Archive for December 2008
Let This New Year Be Your New Beginning
Posted: Wednesday, 31st December 2008
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope that 2009 will bring you good health and happiness. If you’re an aspiring author, let this be the year that you achieve success in publishing terms. And if you’re simply in need of a little love and understanding, may you find it where you least expect it. Read on . . .
DARK DAYS & DASHED HOPES
I was a young woman when, in the early nineteen eighties, I put pen to paper (literally) to form the first draft of what was to become my first book. Those were dark days for me.
Articles on related themes: Books, Reading & Words; Life, Faith & Other Stuff; Personal Growth; Writing & Publishing A Book
A Black Hole Where Once Your Mind Was
Posted: Saturday, 27th December 2008
His world is one of darkness. Silent. Confused. He’s not entirely Anything. Not blind, nor daft. Just less of what he was. Diminished. Shrunken. Glimpses of shapes he catches in the side of his eye appear tall and distorted, disorienting and delusional from a moving car. The rushing sensation induces motion sickness. He cries out for it to stop.
Sometimes, in the house in which they’re staying, he thinks he sees faces he knows. His eyes dart about to confirm an identity, but the features he thought recognisable dissolve into a black hole of oblivion.
Articles on related themes: Family & Parenting; Life, Faith & Other Stuff
The Seven Plot Lines: Rebirth
Posted: Wednesday, 24th December 2008
It seems appropriate to be thinking of Rebirth as the last of the seven story plots on Christmas Eve, because the birth that we celebrate tomorrow is the one that is meant to bring rebirth to the human race.
Kasia Body’s review of The Seven Basic Plots by Christopher Booker in The Daily Telegraph (2004) is titled: “Everything Ever Written Boiled Down To Seven Plots”. It continues by pointing out that “these seven plots are merely different perspectives on the same great basic drama".
Articles on related themes: Plot; Writing & Publishing A Book
Ten Thoughts At Christmas
Posted: Tuesday, 23rd December 2008
Happy Christmas
A hot debate in The Daily Telegraph has dubbed the family Christmas letter as ‘self-congratulatory’, ‘embarrassing’ or ‘derisory’. Am I alone in enjoying news of far-flung family and friends? I hope not, because this one comes with a very sincere thank you to all of you who have visited my website in the (nearly) six months since its inception, and my Best Wishes for a Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. Plus a comment on the photograph.
My daughter brought these little figures back from a school visit to Nigeria when she was nine years old. Together they form a Nativity Scene.
Articles on related themes: Life, Faith & Other Stuff
Answers To Fun Christmas Quiz 2008
Posted: Monday, 22nd December 2008
You have, obviously, all had too much on your minds to think about this Fun Christmas Quiz. Or perhaps, with all the perplexities of planning menus and bedroom combinations for visiting family members over the festive period, your brain simply couldn’t accommodate more? All I can say is: you will be kicking yourselves when you see the answers!
Here are the questions again:
QUIZ QUESTIONS
- How many children did Queen Elizabeth II have?
- What was the full name of the captain of the Titanic?
- What was the name of the President Elect of USA in 1968?
And here are the answers:
ANSWERS
1.
Creative Writing Tutorial: Voyage And Return
Posted: Saturday, 20th December 2008
We’ve now looked at five of the seven plot lines which form the basis of all storytelling, and move on, today, to the penultimate Voyage & Return.
- Rags to Riches
- Overcoming the Monster
- The Quest
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Voyage and Return
- Rebirth
VOYAGE & RETURN
Voyage and Return frequently follows not simply a physical journey, but an inner voyage of overcoming something that was previously alien. Thus, faced with something outside your normal experience, you may find your (inner) morals challenged. Or perhaps your belief system; your culture; even a commitment like a love affair, or a marriage. The point of the journey is that however far you may stray your return is the ultimate conclusion.
Articles on related themes: Plot; Writing & Publishing A Book
What It Means To Subscribe
Posted: Friday, 19th December 2008
Thank you for visiting my website. Would you like to receive regular updates of books, or articles on Mel’s Muse? Perhaps you’re interested in Creative Writing? Family and Parenting issues? Stepfamilies or Bereavement? Or, perhaps, Personal Growth or Relationships, or taking a Personality Test?
There are several ways of doing this and, having taken the advice of a professional blogger, I’m going to assume that you may not know about them all. Here’s what you can do:
- You can keep coming back to the Mel Menzies website – if you remember.
The Seven Plot Lines That Form The Basis Of A Creative Writing Process
Posted: Thursday, 18th December 2008
I began this series by saying that, according to tradition, there are only seven basic plots which form the basis of all the stories ever told or written. They are:
- Rags to Riches
- Overcoming the Monster
- The Quest
- Voyage and Return
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Rebirth
We’ve already looked at the first three, and discovered that some story plots are a combination of two or more of the above. Today, because they’re pretty self-explanatory, I’m going to touch, only briefly, on Comedy and Tragedy.
TRAGEDY
Writing a novel and getting a readership has never been an easy matter. Dickens attracted his followers by serialising his earlier works; Shakespeare by being a playwright.
Articles on related themes: Plot; Writing & Publishing A Book
Seven Basic Plots: Part 3 - The Quest
Posted: Tuesday, 16th December 2008
I began this study on the seven plot lines that are said to be the basis of all stories, by examining what is meant by the rags to riches story, and that of overcoming the monster. Today I’m going to look at what it means to write about the quest.
THE QUEST
The Quest is the third of the seven plots, and may be described as a mission, an expedition, a hunt or a search for something. This may take the form of a mission to find something lost – perhaps a search for the lost lands of Atlanta, a Will, or buried treasure.
Articles on related themes: Books, Reading & Words; Plot; Writing & Publishing A Book
Fun Christmas Quiz 2008: Think Outside The Box
Posted: Monday, 15th December 2008
Come on peeps! ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO. Although heaps of you have looked at my Fun Christmas Quiz, no one has been brave enough to leave any answers. You don’t have to be a brain-box to do this. The emphasis is on FUN. Try to think outside the box. Look forward to hearing from you. Here it is again.
RULES
- All 3 questions must be answered correctly.
- A random selection will be made of the correct answers, and the first to ‘come out of the hat’ will be the winner; second one will be the runner-up.
- In the event of there being no one with 3 correct
answers, we’ll accept 2.
Articles on related themes: Fun & Competitions
The Seven Story Plots: Parts 1 & 2
Posted: Sunday, 14th December 2008
It is said that there are only seven basic plots, to which all storylines adhere. Of these seven plot lines perhaps the best known is the rags to riches story. This, after all, is the basis of many of our favourite nursery rhymes and fairy stories. Think Cinderella, and Jack and the Beanstalk. In one the despised and downtrodden youngest sister gets her Prince Charming; in the other, the poverty-stricken Jack and his mother procure the goose that lays the golden egg.
BEST KNOWN: THE RAGS TO RICHES STORY
This rags to riches plot dates back many thousands of years.
Articles on related themes: Books, Reading & Words; Plot; Writing & Publishing A Book
14 Ways To Avoid Stress - And The Breakdown of A Relationship At Christmas
Posted: Friday, 12th December 2008
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN PRE-CHRISTMAS 2008, THE FOLLOWING POINTS MAY BE ADAPTED, AND ARE VALID AT ANY TIME OF THE YEAR
The effects on children when parents are separating are immense. They are quick to pick up on the cracks and strains that appear between warring parents, and it is the adults’ responsibility to protect them, as far as possible, from the consequences of relationship breakdown. Whatever the state of affairs between you and your spouse, you need to practice self-discipline in front of your children. Which, when you’re facing the possibility of coping with marriage breakdown, is not that easy.
Articles on related themes: Family & Parenting; Personal Growth; Relationships
How To Recognise The Signs Of Relationship Breakdown
Posted: Thursday, 11th December 2008
Boy, did my last post on Children In Divorce & Separation provoke a response! Not in comments, because it’s a painful subject; but in more hits on my website than ever before. There's obviously a lot of hurt out there, especially at this time of year.
That article dealt with the effects of family breakdown on children – in other words, after the event. So I’m going to follow up with a couple of ‘before the event’ articles, on ways to avoid stress. Hopefully, a few simple strategies should tide you over the holiday period until you can seek outside help.
Articles on related themes: Family & Parenting; Self Help; Relationships
Children In Divorce And Separation: A Christmas Tragedy
Posted: Tuesday, 9th December 2008
Christmas – traditionally the time of good cheer – is also, for many, a time of great sadness. Somehow, the fact that everyone is out to enjoy themselves seems to concentrate the mind when it comes to the tragedies of life. A train derailment or plane crash in the weeks leading up to the festive season appear all the more terrible precisely because it’s Christmas time. People talk about it for years to come.
WHAT HAPPENS TO CHILDREN WHEN PARENTS SEPARATE?
For many years that’s how it was for my family. Because Christmas day was remembered as the day my husband walked out on us all.
Articles on related themes: Books, Reading & Words; Family & Parenting; Relationships
Creative Writing Techniques: How To Write Good Dialogue
Posted: Saturday, 6th December 2008
I wrote, in an earlier article, about the need to give readers plenty of white space on the page, and suggested that you aim for a clotted cream effect: solid lumps of differing sizes and consistency, floating in a soft smooth cream. The cream is the narrative of your novel. And at least some of the solid lumps, and much of the empty white space on the page, can be achieved through writing good dialogue – as in the following example taken from my novel, A Painful Post Mortem. Here Rosie and Steve are discussing Rosie’s sister’s adolescence, whilst picnicking with their children.
Articles on related themes: Speaking Engagements; Writing & Publishing A Book
Step Parenting Advice: Don't Do It Unless You're Prepared To Work At It!
Posted: Thursday, 4th December 2008
Can A Step Parent Ever Replace A Real Parent? This was the topic under debate on the Richard Bacon radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Tuesday evening. As the author of a book titled Stepfamilies, I had been invited to participate to put the positive side of the case, whilst Philip Parkin, General Secretary of the Teachers Union Voice, was to argue against. In the event, we both (I think) found ourselves singing from the same hymn sheet.
Articles on related themes: Relationships; Self Help; Family & Parenting; Stepfamilies
Advent: A Time To Reflect Between Thanksgiving & Gift Giving - Ten Tips To Happiness
Posted: Tuesday, 2nd December 2008
I woke, yesterday morning, feeling bad-tempered. This is a rare occurrence and is almost alwaysas a result of my husband’s snoring! There’s something deeply offensive about lying next to someone whose somnolence – loudly and bed-tremblingly declared - is the sole reason for your inability to sleep. Don’t you think?
A FEELING OF CONTENTMENT WAS MARKEDLY ABSENT!
But that wasn’t the only reason I felt bad-tempered.
Articles on related themes: Personal Growth; Self Help; Life, Faith & Other Stuff
Creative Writing Techniques: How To Find Ideas For Plots
Posted: Monday, 1st December 2008
It seems that these days almost everyone is writing a book! Despite the fact that we’re told that computers have dumbed down and depleted our appetite for reading, increasing numbers of would-be authors are emerging. So with apologies to those who may already have read the following, I’m revising an article I wrote some time ago when I was leading Creative Writing Classes.
ARE YOU WRITING A BOOK FOR THE FIRST TIME?
If you’re like most would-be authors, you’ve probably been thinking for years about your book. The one that’s been inside you waiting to get out. Whether it’s fiction writing or a short biography, that’s good.
Articles on related themes: Plot; Writing & Publishing A Book
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