May 21, 2013, 08:52:38 AM
bigger smaller reset 800px Wide width Full width Reset * *

Writers Retreat

  
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Automatic registration is open again. If you have any questions, drop me a line -- author@janfields.com
Writers Retreat > Student Talk > Course Lessons > Assignment 8 > Stuck on Lesson 8
 « previous next »
Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 Print
Author Topic: Stuck on Lesson 8  (Read 5032 times)
jfields
Administrator
Golden Bunny
*****

My Rep 200
Posts: 4837


I *am* the ghost in the machine


WWW
« Reply #30 on: May 23, 2010, 09:23:57 PM »
Sorry, I don't figure out where to sell FICTION/stories with main character and action and plot based on their topic. I figure it out based on age of main character, whether the magazine likes sports stories, amount of dialogue/action compared to other stories in the magazine...so just telling me a topic doesn't help if you're talking about fiction...stories with a main character/action/plot

If you're talking about some kind of nonfiction ARTICLE on whether there is a double standard in high school spots, then which magazine you choose would be based on approach, who you interviewed for the article, number of print sources and such. And your market would probably be a parenting magazine...but maybe not. It would depend on your handling of the topic.

So, sorry...there is a lot involved in market choice.
Logged
Web Editor
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #31 on: May 24, 2010, 07:35:57 AM »
it's a fiction story..........teen girl wants to participate in tackle football with the boys and female get inspiration with comments posted online to make an impact/ have a voice.
Logged
jfields
Administrator
Golden Bunny
*****

My Rep 200
Posts: 4837


I *am* the ghost in the machine


WWW
« Reply #32 on: May 24, 2010, 07:47:44 AM »
Okay, there aren't a lot of teen fiction markets. You could try

STORIES THAT LIFT http://storiesthatlift.com/

HUNGER MOUNTIAIN http://www.hungermtn.org/

YARN http://www.yareview.net/
Logged
Web Editor
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #33 on: May 24, 2010, 10:41:34 PM »
are those websites considered to be magazine or are you just giving me a link in hopes that I might find something?
Logged
Londy Leigh
Golden Bunny
*****

My Rep 27
Posts: 4603


CHOOSE LIFE~Hobbit at Heart #2


WWW
« Reply #34 on: May 25, 2010, 12:10:22 AM »
They're online magazines, SheDevil. Smiley
Logged
If you don't go, you can't return.~Finnish Proverb
And if you don't return, you can't go again.~My Big Sis


ABORTION STOPS A BEATING HEART EVERY 20 SECONDS.
"I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore, choose life, that both you and your children may live." ~ Deuteronomy
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #35 on: May 27, 2010, 07:39:32 AM »
need help on the 2nd topic which is a non-fiction talking about sex

under subject it reads as follows: Gaining the knowledge about sex and outweighing the options

but need some ideas on the rationale or take away point.

It's in regards to losing or having sex on Prom night

Thanks in advice for any and all help
Logged
jfields
Administrator
Golden Bunny
*****

My Rep 200
Posts: 4837


I *am* the ghost in the machine


WWW
« Reply #36 on: May 27, 2010, 08:42:12 AM »
You realize that is going to be wicked hard to sell, right? Unless you're going to interview a whole bunch of teens and really let them tell their experiences and reasoning. At any rate, the rationale or take away point would be "to encourage teens to think clearly about prom night and what they truly want from the experience."
Logged
Web Editor
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #37 on: June 15, 2010, 08:05:17 AM »
Need ideas to complete my story:
       It's about a teen girl whose under the reflection of her siblings and parents expect her to perform the duties

My problem is trying to figure out a setting/ time span.
Any suggestions would be grateful.
Logged
claudette
Leader of the Free Bunny World
****

My Rep 2
Posts: 3496


two songs away from an album


WWW
« Reply #38 on: June 15, 2010, 12:17:25 PM »
Mexi-

Let's see if I get this straight. Your MC suffers from sibs who excel, the parents and other adults expect her/him to do the same, and she's just struggling to find out who s/he is. Is that right?

Good premise b/c that happens to many kids and not just this generation, either. It happened to my brother in school. He followed me by three years and had mostly the same teachers. He was very bright and could easily excel wherever he wanted to, but it was the constant comparison that worked to derail him.

It was worse as he hit his freshman year, though. He wanted sports; everyone else wanted academics. He wanted agri 'cause he loved the land and what a farmer did with it; everyone else demanded the arts. You can see his problem. Because I'd excelled in certain areas, everyone wanted him to chose those areas, too.

It took him until senior year to finally get some respect on his own terms, which should never have happened. Thing was, he always knew that I didn't expect what everyone else did for him. I just wanted him to be happy. Now the grandparents never had specific expectations. I have to say that to keep honest. They and I wanted him to do what gave him satisfaction.

So, having remembered all that, I'd say find the point of realization for your MC where the knowledge of expectation colllides with the knowledge of personal desires and move on from there. The struggle to retain personal expectations vs. that of familial expectations is the crisis/problem. The climax comes when the MC ends the battle one way or the other. However, the personal growth involved is also important. If the MC wimps out and just lets others have their way, the story has a very sad ending.

Hope this helps.
Logged
The light is but the dark unsparked.

http://claudsy.wordpress.com
http://claudsy.blogspot.com
http://www.trailinginspirations.wordpress.com
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #39 on: June 15, 2010, 11:13:56 PM »
well glad to know that i wasn't the only one that past through this
but it didn't exactly answer my question:
                the time span or setting of the story


For example need to know the year that things occurred with you and you brother
and also the location event took place
Logged
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #40 on: June 16, 2010, 12:47:16 AM »
 ok have another problem..

need additional ideas to complete my article which is about school and it's lessons encountered. I listed something for each grade level Elem.-High but can't figure out what to write for the 4th heading (which is before the conclusion).



Thanks
Logged
claudette
Leader of the Free Bunny World
****

My Rep 2
Posts: 3496


two songs away from an album


WWW
« Reply #41 on: June 16, 2010, 11:15:59 AM »
Now I'm really confused, Mexi. Why would you need to know that about my brother's situation. You're writing a short story, aren't you? Place it wherever, whenever and for how long you want. Decide if you're doing a story about how things were thirty years ago or ten years ago or just last week. It's up to you. If you're doing a short story, the span of time will have to be short, too, b/c you just don't have the space to do otherwise. If it's written in a way that refers back to previous instances of expectation and so on, if should be doable without a problem.

As far as your article is concerned, without knowing what the other headings are, it's sort of difficult to say anything about the one currently troubling you.

I do wish you good luck with it, though.
Logged
The light is but the dark unsparked.

http://claudsy.wordpress.com
http://claudsy.blogspot.com
http://www.trailinginspirations.wordpress.com
Mexicanshedevil
A Friend Among Friends
*

My Rep 1
Posts: 49
« Reply #42 on: June 21, 2010, 12:45:01 PM »
ok two out of three are almost done


trying to think of an outcome for the 3rd idea which is that a court reporter starts a website and discusses about the injustice found through the court. the reduction of sentencing from felons and juveniles due to plea bargains.

I was thinking that the ending to be either:
   a) ideas to change the system
   b) or just an insight to a religious aspect


please help!!!     thks

Logged
jfields
Administrator
Golden Bunny
*****

My Rep 200
Posts: 4837


I *am* the ghost in the machine


WWW
« Reply #43 on: June 21, 2010, 12:57:48 PM »
It's kind of hard for us to help since your ideas sound so much like articles (nonfiction) but you seem to be trying to write fiction. And your requests for help are kind of sketchy and hard to reconcile to anything like a story. Is your instructor helping you to understand plot and it's importance to fiction? Really, if you have a plot, the ending tends to grow out of the action/choices of the story not out of facts, premise. And if you don't have a plot...well, it doesn't much matter how you end since fiction without a plot doesn't actually sell.
Logged
Web Editor
http://www.institutechildrenslit.com
Mikki S
Golden Minion
Leader of the Free Bunny World
*****

My Rep 98
Posts: 3468
« Reply #44 on: June 21, 2010, 03:46:21 PM »
Quote from: Mexicanshedevil on June 21, 2010, 12:45:01 PM
ok two out of three are almost done


trying to think of an outcome for the 3rd idea which is that a court reporter starts a website and discusses about the injustice found through the court. the reduction of sentencing from felons and juveniles due to plea bargains.

I was thinking that the ending to be either:
   a) ideas to change the system
   b) or just an insight to a religious aspect



please help!!!     thks



Is this a story?  If so, what is the plot?  If it's a non-fiction article, you need to get some factual information about juvenile justice and the system of plea bargaining.  I'm not an attorney, but I've been involved in several different ways in the justice system for many years, and I know for a fact that 1), you aren't going to change the system; and 2) there is no way in which there is any kind of religious aspect to the justice system.

If you are writing a non-fiction article, you need to talk to a prosecuting attorney ( an assistant DA) to find out why there is a plea-bargaining system, how it is used, for whom it is used, and the results that are expected from such a system.  You can't just write what you think you know about something like this as a NF article.

If you are writing pure fiction, it doesn't matter what your ending is, except for the fact that even fiction...unless it is pure fantasy...should have some elements of realism in it.  However, if you are trying to write some kind of religious ending to something about the justice system, there will be no realism at all.
Logged
The Freedom Thief  (MuseItUp Publisher  11/2013)


What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
      Oliver Wendall Holmes

www.mikki-wordpainter.blogspot.com
Pages: 1 2 [3] 4 Print 
« previous next »
Jump to:  

Powered by SMF 1.1.7 | SMF © 2006-2008, Simple Machines LLC
Leviathan design by Bloc | XHTML | CSS