Creative Writing Experiments

1      Magic Realism: Combine the fantastical with the mundane.

2     Write a children’s story / picture book.

3     Create a map of your story’s setting.

4     Create a poem (or song) that follows a specific form or rhyme scheme

5     Write an “in media res” beginning

6     Create a slam poem

7     Create a meet-cute scene (dialogue)

8     Create an idea for a video game

9     Create a scene with anthropomorphic characters

10   create something that is meant to be performed / read aloud

11 Outline a Quest

12 "Elevator Pitch" or Query Letter

 13 Correspondence / Letter Writing

14 Write the last scene to a story / book / script

Links for Dramatic Literature

Fences: 

Playwright Bio
New York Times Obituary -- Playwright August Wilson


"Rescuing the Tragic Bully in Fences"

History Context: August Wilson's Pittsburgh - New York Times


Early review of the 1987 Production of Fences



Wit:

You can find these articles through the Gale Literary Sources Database:

"Nursing and Wit"

"Cancer and the Common Woman in Margaret Edson's Wit"

"Margaret Edson"

Interview with the Playwright:

A Raisin in the Sun:

The art of Social Criticism: Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

Playwright's Biography from the Chicago Public Library

"Fighting for Home: The Roots of A Raisin in the Sun" 

Hamlet Monologues

Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet...

O that this too, too solid flesh would melt...

Mel Gibson as Hamlet...

Benedict Cumberbatch deliver's Hamlet's most famous soliloquy...

Ben Kingsley deliver's Hamlet's / Shakespeare's advice to actors...

David Tennant as Hamlet...

And once again... Kenneth Branagh....

Belated Resolution Check-In: April Edition

Whoa! April is flying by! Heck, I have hardly posted a single blog entry, and this month is almost on its way out the door of history. Time has been flying -- though not just because I've been having fun. I've been doing a lot of work. It;s crunch time at the college. Lots of meetings. Lots of essays. Lots of quizzes. Basically, a lot of grown up stuff.

I might need to play some video games tonight to detox.

Not much creative writing has been going on lately... but this weekend I will try to make up for it. I am co-writing another play with Christopher Flowers (I think I've blogged about this before; it's a comedy about an all-inclusive resort.) So, I should probably stop bloggig and start playwriting.

But first a quick update about my New Year's Resolutions...

1) Finish Writing a New Novel

I am currently stalled on the Time Travel middle-grade. I did tinker with a chapter book. But right now I'm just kinda stuck in the mud, waiting for summer vacation.

ACHIEVEMENT: 20% Complete


2) Sell a New Picture Book

Not yet. My agent might be sending out something new, maybe as early as next week.


3) Write / Sell New Play

Some progress has been made on the all-inclusive comedy. Still in the drafting stage, but we might have a read-through in May.


4) Complete 200 Days of Writing

I've had a scant amount of 25 good writing days.

Achievement: 12.5% Complete


5) Participate in 10 Book Events

Hopefully more will be happening in the very near future.

Achievement: 30% Complete


6) Complete 100 five minute work-out sessions

It's been about a week since my last workout. (I feel like I'm at confession.)

Achievement: 51% Complete


7) Practice Drawing / Coloring for 100 Hours

Achievement: 19% Complete


8) Develop a Stronger Marketing Platform

Nope.

9) Create a Portfolio with at least 12 awesome photos

Still taking lots of photos... but none of them are good. Part of it is me -- but a significant part might be I'm using an old iphone 4.


10) Learn the whole melody of Ashokan Farewell. 

Ha. I've got a lot to do this summer!




 

Query Letter Sample

Here's an example I found online of a query letter that led to a successful book writing career. 

You can find more examples and information here. 

Dear Ms. Megibow,

I’m currently seeking representation for my YA novel, FALLS THE SHADOW. Given your interest in science fiction, I thought it might be a good fit for your list.

When Cate Benson was twelve, her sister died. Two hours after the funeral, they picked up Violet’s replacement, and the family made it home in time for dinner and a game of cards.

It’s the year 2055, and Cate’s parents are among the wealthy elite who can afford to give their children a sort of immortality—by cloning them at birth. So this new Violet has the same smile. The same laugh. That same perfect face. Thanks to advancements in mind-uploading technology, she even has all the same memories as the girl she replaced.

She also might have murdered the most popular girl in school.

Or at least, that’s what the paparazzi and the crazy anti-cloning protestors want everyone to think: that clones are violent, unpredictable monsters. Cate is used to hearing all that, though. She’s used to standing up for her sister too, and she’s determined to do it now—even if proving Violet’s innocence means taking on those protestors and anyone else attacking her family. But when her own life is threatened—not by protestors, but by the very scientists who created her sister’s clone—Cate starts questioning everything she thought she knew about the cloning movement. About herself. About her sister.

And the answers she finds reveal a more sinister purpose for her sister’s copy—and her own replacement—than she ever could have imagined.

FALLS THE SHADOW is complete at 80,000 words, and is the first in a planned series. The manuscript is available, in part or full, upon request. Thanks for your time and consideration!

Best,

Stefanie Gaither

Nawal El Saadawi

"Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote."

"Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies."