Last Tuesday in coordination with the opportunity to write scripts for short videos, we talked about what it takes to write a short story. We look at this article in combination with this one. They are more oriented towards written stories, but had helpful tips. We especially liked the idea of the logline, which puts the premise of your story into one sentence (without spoilers).
Then we compared the similarities and differences of short films and stories. For example, while a short story is limited by word count so details may not be in the writer's best interest to dwell on, films are lengthened only by adding plot, with the exception of film techniques like slow motion or prolonged scenery shots. Also, short stories are viewed by an audience with a fair amount of suspended disbelief, while films are expected to seem real.
This week's writing prompt: write a script!!!

This is a very very unofficial post to the blog, but I should update you guys with the fact that we will be talking about short stories next week for anyone who wants to write a short script for Ty. We had planned to do this today but, robbed of a venue, we just hung out instead which was cool too.
See you next week guys.

Today we talked about writing scripts!  ...Well, sort of.
We did take photos! And Julia and I performed a scene for everyone to write in their own script versions. If you need a good reference for how to write a script you can look here. However we didn't have this reference in class to work from, because we thought we had one from previous years and... we didn't. We did manage to find an example to work from, thanks to our generous club members!
The reason we bring up scripts now is because Ty Leet, who makes short films, is currently accepting scripts if anyone from writing club has one. His films are around 10 minutes long, and have characters with clear relationships. They can be any genre. Good luck!
This week's writing prompt: write out the scene Julia and I performed in the style of your choice!

Today we learned about making maps as a method of world building. This, like mythology, can either be for your own purposes or for publishing. We discussed several different effects a map can have on a story, like travel time and character culture. We also gave tips on what good fictional maps have, from focusing on small areas to natural land masses to infrastructure.
We worked on drawing our own maps during the lesson, and I hope to see more maps next Tuesday!
This week's writing prompt is: finish your map, and swrite abut the meaning of the different parts of it.

Once again, a busy week results in a late post.
This week we reopened the discussion of world building to talk about writing mythology. Whether you have things laid out mentally or actually have your mythology written out and published with your story, it will have huge effects on the world of your story. With that in mind, it's important to make it good.
We read this article which gives 5 tips for good and ultimately believable mythology. These rules included having a "no-nonsense" tone, using well-known story themes, and having stories with great, even epic impact.
We also compared mythology to religion, and discussed things from both religion and mythology that can be replicated for a story, such as the realism of the new testament created by historical context.
This week's writing prompt: Write a myth using one of these 20 prompts.