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Jun 18, 2014

Writing 101, Day Thirteen: Serial Killer II

Earlier in the course, you wrote about losing something. Today, write about finding something. For your twist, view day four’s post and today’s post as installments in a series.

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On day four, you wrote a post about losing something. Today, write about finding something.

Tell us about the time you retrieved your favorite t-shirt from your ex. Or when you accidentally stumbled upon your fifth-grade journal in your parents’ attic. Or how about the moment you found out the truth about a person whose history or real nature you thought you’d figured out. Interpret this theme of “finding something” however you see fit.

Today’s twist: if you wrote day four’s post as the first in a series, use this one as the second installment — loosely defined.

You could pick up the action where you stopped, or jump backward or forward in time. You might write about the same topic, but use a different style, or use the same style to tackle a neighboring topic.

Not sure how to approach continuity? Here’s a time-tested tip: pick a favorite book or two. Read the last page of chapter one, then the first page of chapter two. How did the author choose to connect these two separate-but-connected narrative units?

We’d like to stress, though, that the idea behind today’s assignment isn’t necessarily to write “chapter two” of a neat, predetermined sequence — though you could do that, too, of course — but to think more intently about the idea of continuity and designing long-term writing projects.

Need a helping hand? Head to The Commons.

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    1. Thank you for sharing a part of your life! Love the energy, love the positive, and kudos to you for putting yourself out there! And I feel the same about the blogging and this community, it has brought out so much joy. Looking forward to part 3 and other posts!

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  3. Here’s my take on Day 13, a few more pages from the novel I started years ago. Thanks to these writing exercises and a few other classes I’ve taken in between I know I have a lot of work to do on this. I need to go back to the beginning and revise the intro and then work on chapters for each of the family members. Any thoughts, recommendations, comments, etc, etc, would be greatly appreciated.

    http://cherokeewind.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/its-madness-i-tell-you-second-installment/

    Happy writing and now I have to get some school work done on my Criminal Justice classes 🙂

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    1. I enjoyed reading this, and would like to know/read more. What I would suggest to you, if I may, is to engage more with the reader. Give us something to connect to, as right now it reads more as a list than a story. You have all the pieces there and the making of an awesome novel that I would surely buy and read, just connect with us…for example…

      “In 1968 Evan and Joni (high school sweethearts again) marry. To these two lovebirds Michael is born in August of 1969, Tessa in March of 1972, and Lea in February of 1973. Not many knew of the turmoil in this household. You see, Evan didn’t drink and he was very clever with making himself look good to the outside world. However, those of us who were close to Joni saw the scars and the bruises that lasted for months.”

      You are telling us this information, but it would be more powerful if we could see the effect it has on the family. Expand on this. You have such a nice moment when “You see, Evan didn’t drink and he was clever making himself look good to the outside world…” HOW? Why is he doing this? Or for how long? How does Joni react? How does she try to hide it? Or does she try to hide it? Why is the family not saying anything? Things like that.

      Hope this helps, and look forward to Part 3! Great start!!!

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      2. The link is working for me as well, Indira. I wonder if it might be a browser-related issue you’re having?

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  10. I combined my day 2 and day-4 (serial killer 1) prompts into a short story. Now I am going to continue it to a second part for the day 13 prompt 😀 I might not be able to finish it today but it will come out sooner or later! Love this challenge….

    Here was my part 1 in case someone wants to read. I’d better run on and start the second part now. Happy writing fellow bloggers:)

    http://inkriched.com/2014/06/05/guardians-of-the-valley/

    Part 2 coming soon!

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  13. I can get excited about this one — I previously wrote about finding my son’s shoes and now I’ve found them! I will say, I’m not sure how I’ll tie a third post in, though.

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    1. Not following the prompt is absolutely fine — as I mentioned in the assignment, the idea is to think about continuity and progression, and if that means writing on a different topic than the one suggested in the prompt, so be it!

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      2. alrights. ill probably try to start with the next challenge. ill take this halfwa-done-joining-in to get the feel of it. I often get writer’s block these days. so ghe challenges may help with stimulation ….. thanks Ben!

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    1. Many of us tag our posts “writing101” and it’s recommended to help others more easily find you Writing101 posts, but it’s not required. (And honestly I don’t think I’ve gotten any views by people searching for the tag “writing101” in the reader.)

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      1. I agree.
        Question: Because you are out there blogging and reading blogs so much…
        Can you tell me if there was an assignment to write a letter to Satan? I had a glimpse of what someone wrote…their title I think, and can’t find it. Can you help me out? That idea has been gnawing at me…I have something to say and would like to connect with the right prompt, or connect with the person or persons who have written about the same.
        Thanks a bunch!
        http://millieannelowe.wordpress.com

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      2. Hi @MillieAnneLowe — there’s been no assignment to write a letter to Satan specifically. Day 14‘s twist is to write your post in the form of a letter, though not to anyone in particular.

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  24. http://creativityisdefiance.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/writers-block-flighting-idea-syndrome-and-other-pleasantries/
    I just made this post, attempting to provide a humorous take on the problems that writers encounter. Life-changing 90’s toys help me illuminate the struggles of writer’s block, while flighting idea syndrome is personified into a serial dater who eventually ends up on IdeaMingle.com to meet new and exciting ideas. I would really appreciate it if I could get some feedback from all of you! This is really the first post I’ve done like this, and I want to know what all of you think. Thank you!

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  27. I completed Day 13 with finding something. However, when I entered my permalink to the Commons the link back to n7net.me, Who Are These People, Where Did They Go?, fetches an OOPS!.

    I returned to my Pages App (iPad) and uploaded a fresh copy of my post. The results are the same – OOPS!. But the post is in the “recently Posted” list and bring it up. I’m fresh out of ideas.

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