Lesson 1: Why and What to Write?
What to Write? (3). Verse and Other.
Straight fiction and non-fiction are far from being the only types of creative writing. The other types are all interesting, but since they are mostly beyond the scope of this course, I will let them go with simple definitions and a few comments.
VERSE
Some people have an inbuilt talent for writing verse. So, what is verse, exactly? It can be poetry, which is usually at the more elegant or literary end of the spectrum. It may be plain verse, which is competent rhyming or non-rhyming poetry with no pretensions. It might also be doggerel, which is usually cloppety-clop verse with forced rhyme. However, doggerel may be deliberately funny, which raises it to an art form. Confused?
Most people know which kind of verse they write. The majority will discover just how difficult it is to turn the verse-writing habit or talent into payment. Even in the heyday of the Poet with a capital P, practitioners usually had to find a patron. These days there are few full-time poets.
That doesn't mean the poetry-writing habit is to be derided. Indeed, poets have the satisfaction of working on a piece in miniature, polishing it into a gem. Even if the verse you write isn't the kind that sells, you can still turn your talent to good use.
Personalised cards are often well-received, and illustrated poems can make charming wall-hangings. Poetry writing is wonderful therapy for some people, and how about a journal in verse?
SONGS.
Song-writing is closely related to verse, but of course you need musicality in yourself or a writing partner as well as facility with words.
RHYMING STORIES.
Rhyming stories still find their places in some publishing lists. The main thing is to remember that they are stories that rhyme rather than verse that tells a story. Thus every line must progress the storyline or develop character. You must never add a line "just because it rhymes".
OTHER
NOVELISATION.
Writing a novelisation involves taking a non-novel story (perhaps a play, television series or film) and turning it into a novel. Novelisations can be approached in several ways, but the most usual is to take a script and use the existing dialogue and stage/camera directions and add exposition, introspection and narrative. In some cases, writers novelise from a video-tape rather than a script.
There's nothing to prevent you from writing a novelisation for your own amusement, but copyright law prevents you from offering the result for sale. To the best of my knowledge, published novelisations are always commissioned by the owner (or his/her agent) of the original material.
SPIN-OFFS. Spin-offs are related to novelisations in that they are fiction written about characters or scenarios that originated in another form. Just as an example, the book 'Blinky Bill, the Mischievous Koala' is the novelisation of the film produced by Yoram Gross Film from a script based on characters created by Dorothy Wall in the 1930s, while 'Blinky Bill on Stage' is a spin-off.
In the latter, I took the characters from the film and wrote them a new adventure. In the former, I novelised the existing film script.
As with novelisation, spin-offs may be written for your own entertainment, but copyright law means you may use them commercially only if commissioned to do so.
FAN FICTION.
Fan fiction, also known as fan-fic, is closely related to spin-off. It is written by fans of an existing character or story (usually from a television series). In fan-fic, fan-writers may explore the further adventures of their favourite heroes. They may carry the stories beyond the original, create or change relationships between characters or rewrite the original to suit their own taste. Very often, fan-fic develops romances or feuds the original creators left unwritten.
Fan-fic can be great fun to write, and much of it finds publication on the internet. Its exponents claim it to be excellent training in plotting and characterisation. Some fan-fic writers go on to mainstream publication (though not of their fan-fic!) while others seem content to confine their writing to their chosen area.
Some fan-fic is so good it is difficult to see why the authors are not best-sellers in their own right.
As with novelisation and spin-off, fan-fic writers need to be aware of copyright and must never offer their work for sale. Unlike the other two cases, fan-fic writers are unlikely to be commissioned.
SCRIPT-WRITING.
Script-writing is a huge subject. Scripts may be produced for plays, film or television. Plays or films may be one-offs, or developed from existing stories. Television scripting is usually done for an existing series, so writers need to be up to date with the series "bible". Sometimes, a script is the mirror image of a novelisation. Instead of a script being turned into a book, a book may be turned into a script.
