Have you written a story where your character's “sense of belonging” was a dominant factor?
Any advice on approaching this?
A Sense of Belonging
- disgruntledpeony
- Posts: 738
- Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 7:21 pm
Re: A Sense of Belonging
My Q3 finalist may have been along those lines, but in order to understand what sort of advice you're looking for I'll need more context. Feel free to PM or e-mail me so we can have a more in-depth discussion.
If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain
R, SF, SHM, SHM, SHM, F, R, HM, SHM, ?
R, SF, SHM, SHM, SHM, F, R, HM, SHM, ?
- Dustin Adams
- Posts: 1585
- Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:47 am
- Location: NY, state of
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Re: A Sense of Belonging
I recommend writing from the heart, and a place of honesty.
The theme, the core of both my finalists were of a personal nature.
My stories that I write from my mind aren't ever quite as good.
The theme, the core of both my finalists were of a personal nature.
My stories that I write from my mind aren't ever quite as good.
Re: A Sense of Belonging
In a way, my winning story dealt with this theme. I think this theme requires additional conflict--in terms of why they don't feel they belong or what's stopping them from belonging--to add more complexity. For example, my story was about my character wanting to have a sense of home, but he feels he can't because of three things (which I guess are kind of his 3 try and fails): 1. that people will recognize what he is and hate him, 2. that he will endanger anyone who gets close to him, and 3. that anyone he comes to care about will abandon him in the end. The story deals with all three issues. And I definitely agree that bringing personal elements into it helps it to ring true.
v33: Q3 - R; Q4 - R
v34: Q1 - R; Q2 - SECOND PLACE! Q3 - HM (oops...?)
http://www.amyhenriegillett.com
v34: Q1 - R; Q2 - SECOND PLACE! Q3 - HM (oops...?)
http://www.amyhenriegillett.com
Re: A Sense of Belonging
My HM was about that, but I didn't realize that was the heart of the story until I tried turning it into a novel. It's probably lucky I got the HM without getting my focus right to begin with.
1x SF
3x HM
1x R
3x HM
1x R
Re: A Sense of Belonging
Thanks everyone.
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