Starting any project can be daunting or exhilarating. If you’re interested in a topic, go for it. Do an article or a story.
Research must be done for either direction. If a story is in the offing, the research might be as simple as researching the type of setting planned for your character’s use. Locale is important and you want to get it right the first time around.
Before you put away that interest in locale, look at the broader picture of that real-world setting. Does the town have unique properties to boast? Are there any gripping crimes in its past. How about outlaws? What about famous people from the locale? Hundreds of questions could be asked about the place, each of which could give answers that could spark more new projects for your delight.
How so? Let me give you some examples pulled from the news. Remember, the audience defines the angle as much as the subject’s facts.
Each of the following headlines was found on Yahoo! News this morning. Each has the potential to provide several articles/stories for the writer who has learned to change angles when presented with a small bit of information. Addition research might be necessary, but it doesn’t have to arduous. Few common articles require in-depth digging.
1. “Biggest solar storm in years hits, so far so good”–This headline could lead a writer into many directions.
Article for children—how solar activity affects weather and communications on Earth.
Science Article for adults/children (depending on language and depth of information)—Explanation of how the balance of Earth’s magnetic field is affected by solar flares and storms.
Article for communications mag—what is the exact culprit within a solar storm that disrupts communication satellites?
Article for electronics mag—what steps can be taken with today’s technology to safeguard sensitive electronic equipment?
Article for news mag—how vulnerable is military electronics systems and communications to extreme solar activity and what is the likelihood of future disaster?
Science Fiction Urban Fantasy/other world stories using the scientific data about how solar flares work and what they can mean to a planet/population.
2. “Johnny Depp’s Cool New Tonto in ‘The Lone Ranger”—this is one to have fun with.
Article for entertainment mag about Depp’s past forays into character development.
Article for teens/adults about Tonto as an icon and how it’s remembered by an entire generation of Americans
Article about the constant revising, retelling, refilming of old movies and TV shows rather than developing unique, fresh material/stories.
Use the premise of the Lone Ranger story to create a new story for children/adults. Star Wars did very well, if you’ll remember. Luke was the Lone Ranger, after all.
3.
Starting any project can be daunting or exhilarating. If you’re interested in a topic, go for it. Do an article or a story.
Research must be done for either direction. If a story is in the offing, the research might be as simple as researching the type of setting planned for your character’s use. Locale is important and you want to get it right the first time around.
Before you put away that interest in locale, look at the broader picture of that real-world setting. Does the town have unique properties to boast? Are there any gripping crimes in its past. How about outlaws? What about famous people from the locale? Hundreds of questions could be asked about the place, each of which could give answers that could spark more new projects for your delight.
How so? Let me give you some examples pulled from the news. Remember, the audience defines the angle as much as the subject’s facts.
Each of the following headlines was found on Yahoo! News this morning. Each has the potential to provide several articles/stories for the writer who has learned to change angles when presented with a small bit of information. Addition research might be necessary, but it doesn’t have to arduous. Few common articles require in-depth digging.
1. “Biggest solar storm in years hits, so far so good”–This headline could lead a writer into many directions.
Article for children—how solar activity affects weather and communications on Earth.
Science Article for adults/children (depending on language and depth of information)—Explanation of how the balance of Earth’s magnetic field is affected by solar flares and storms.
Article for communications mag—what is the exact culprit within a solar storm that disrupts communication satellites?
Article for electronics mag—what steps can be taken with today’s technology to safeguard sensitive electronic equipment?
Article for news mag—how vulnerable is military electronics systems and communications to extreme solar activity and what is the likelihood of future disaster?
Science Fiction Urban Fantasy/other world stories using the scientific data about how solar flares work and what they can mean to a planet/population.
2. “Johnny Depp’s Cool New Tonto in ‘The Lone Ranger”—this is one to have fun with.
Article for entertainment mag about Depp’s past forays into character development.
Article for teens/adults about Tonto as an icon and how it’s remembered by an entire generation of Americans
Article about the constant revising, retelling, refilming of old movies and TV shows rather than developing unique, fresh material/stories.
Use the premise of the Lone Ranger story to create a new story for children/adults. Star Wars did very well, if you’ll remember. Luke was the Lone Ranger, after all.
3.
Tonto. The strong silent type. You know he could kick the Lone Ranger's rear.
And thanks a lot, Lone Ranger; umm excuse me, but Tonto was there! Not so "lone", were you?
With your dumb cowboy hat.
Here's Tonto*:
*I revised this to add the silhouette of The Lone Ranger
At various times during the last year, I’ve heard a librarian here and there say that tags and tag clouds are a passing fad, something our patrons don’t even know about let alone use, and useless compared to structured search.
However, thinking that tags are only about classification (good or bad) is missing the forest for the trees. Tag clouds can also be useful as navigation tools and for pattern recognition. Which is the name of Jason Griffey’s blog and must be why Jason helps prove this point.
2008 State of the Union as Tag Cloud
“Last year’s 2007 State of the Union Tag Cloud was such a hit, I decided to follow up again this year. A few major differences: Congress is mentioned a lot more this year, while health and oil don’t show up at all. This year’s address looks more active…instead of ‘fight’ we get ‘fighting.’ ” [Pattern Recognition]
jason griffey,
tag clouds,
tags
Ahhh – I love your post. I’ve been toying with all these thoughts and have a good week coming up when my in-laws will be here to watch my kids and I’d LOVE to use that time to explore writing options. I will be back to read more.
I’m so glad that you enjoyed your visit here, Elise. Please stop by anytime. I’ll be posting about writing for the entire month of March. Hope to see you around.
Claudsy
Thank you for your well-thought out post and the resource links, Clauds! Smiles!
You’re more than welcome, Hannah. We’re all in this game together.
Claudsy
We sure are and I’m so blessed by it, thank you!
Thanks you, Hannah.