Starting Off (1 Viewer)

[ashjw84]

I'm just about to start yr12 english extension 2 and i have a sorta huge problem.........i have no idea what to write about ! i'm think of either a short story or script, but everyone else seems to have an idea of what they want to write about except me. does anyone else have this problem.......and i worrying about it too prematurely ? thanks.

 

[fuckfoot]

don't panic. no one sticks to their original ideas anyway. sit back and laugh at the fools who think they've prepared.
they haven't.

 

[jhakka]

You have a year to do it. As long as you have your first draft done by term 2 next year, you're laughin'.

 

[ur_inner_child]

Jot some of this down. I'm also thinking of the syllabus as well as assessment tasks as I ask you...

-What are you most passionate about? (This should let you motivate you)

-What do you want to tell the world? (Sense of purpose or direction)

-What do you WANT to know more about? (Research aspect)

-What aspect of English Extension 1 or Advanced English have you found interesting and would like to extend on it a little more? (In the course you are required to explain how your project is an extension of these courses)

-What medium have you had the most experience in and/or want to expand on? (Help you with confidence so you have room for experimentation)

-What connections do you have eg: People with great multimedia knowledge or friends and relatives who are writers etc (This will help you with your medium)

-What are some of the injustices of the world eg: dominant discourses such as the "otherness" of women (Another purpose thing)

If you can't think of an idea now, at least think of the medium or concept. Remember that a "concept" is not as simple as a plot narrative or whatever. Perhaps you want to question the boundary between memory and reality blah blah blah.

I think those questions should get you started. The more answers, the better prepared you'll be.

 

[ur_inner_child]

Plus the "connections with other people" will boost you up with the whole "extensive independent investigation" seeing as though you've actually gone out and talked to people.

Good Luck 05er's

 

[jhakka]

If you're planning on doing a short story, I reccomend you choose a genre you're passionate about. For me it was fantasy, and 99% of my knowledge came from experience of reading dozens of books from the genre over a period of ten or so years.

Make sure you know how your chosen form and genre should be composed, otherwise you're three kinds of screwed.

 

[Monkey Butler]

And stay well clear of stories about depression or suicide, unless you've got a really good reason for doing it, or unless you're doing it in a way you've never seen before. It's just too cliched.

 

[ur_inner_child]

And stay well clear of stories about depression or suicide, unless you've got a really good reason for doing it, or unless you're doing it in a way you've never seen before. It's just too cliched.

I agree. Especially for poetry - The markers didn't like the angst...

BUT, if you want to, you should do something clever with it, like from the top of my head... cuz its a cliche... subvert it... use satire... whatever...

 

[glitterfairy]

I agree with the whole changing ideas thing. I completely changed my original concept, and even when I hit upon the bright idea that became my finished product, it went through heaps and heaps of evolutions. I wouldn't worry too much.

an idea - aside from following all the brilliant suggestions above - is to take a random, whimsical idea and write about it. Sooner or later you'll find one that you seem to be able to write many long, detailed, passionate pages about. If you find yourself doing this, then you know you've found "Your Idea". (at least, this is how I did it. If it doesn't feel like you could develop the one idea all year, it isn't "The Thing".)

 

[Monkey Butler]

Hmm, I dunno, I pretty much had the one basic idea from the get-go. But I definitely added to it and emphasised things along the way. I mean, just because you've got your idea from the start (or not, it really doesn't matter when you get your initial idea) doesn't mean that you're going to follow it through. This is pretty much what everyone else's said, but it needs emphasising - all the research/reading/writing/thinking you do throughout the year will affect your finished mw. You may not think it, but your idea will evolve, you'll gain a new perspective on it, and you'll think up new ideas to add to it. So don't worry too much now if you've gotten nowhere in the ides department, as log as you're open to changing your idea once you have it... which is pretty much what everyone else has already said. I'm gonna stop typing now.

 

[jhakka]

One day I decided I couldn't do my original idea and did something totally different. I just wrote a page or so, liked it and just wrote random stuff that related to it until I got an idea of what my story was about.

 

[taxman]

I've got a pretty good idea so far, but I'm not even sure if I'll be able to do the course as it's only myself and one other person that wants to do it at my school. It doesn't look likely and I am extremely pissed off that I might miss out on EE2 with how much effort I've already put in to find out about the course in general.

I'm completely off-topic now...I got my idea from a song. So instead of looking at things that most people do to get ideas, listen to songs, read poetry, etc, etc and turn that concept into a short story that you can convert ridiculously. Even look at making your story adhere to a critical theory like archetype's. It can be a combination of a few ideas, there's plenty of words to fit it all in (8000....8,800 if you cheat and use the 10% either way rule...is that correct 04'ers?)