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Adding flavor to my story



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Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:47 am
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TheDementedDemon says...



Alright, so, I am writing a book. But the problem is, I am seeing my story to be overcooked meat. Burnt, flavorless, and completely dry. My book is pretty much a fiction autobiography of my middle school life, including the gay bashings. So, I guess you could say I'm losing hope in it.
  





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Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:23 pm
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Stori says...



I don't know much about that kind of writing, but. You can most certainly liven things up by adding specific incidents. You don't have to detail them exactly; just write what you recall. If you find yourself venting, well, I guess try to leave it out of the piece. No one will be the wiser.
  





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Mon Jun 06, 2011 4:10 pm
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Dynamo says...



Well, if it's fiction then it doesn't need to be exactly like what happened to you. To me it sounds like you're trying a little too hard to convey the pain you felt during middle school. As sad as it is to say it, people aren't going to want to read a story if it's only about all the bad things that happened to you, even if it all really did happen. You need to have a balance of good and bad. For every character that bashes or insults the main character there needs to be a character that he can go to to seek comfort. As bleak as your middle school life might have been, I'm sure there was at least one or two people you could legitimately call your friends.

But if what you're looking for is more icing to put on top rather than trying to make the plot more interesting, my suggestion is to find some sort of reference. If you have any family members who are attending middle school right now, just go up to them sometime and ask them how their day at school was. I can tell you right now that your memory of your time spent in middle school might not be as acurate as you think it is.

If it's any consolation, you're not alone when it comes to being bullied in middle school. I was one of those kids who grew a rat tail hair style after watching Star Wars Episode 1. I can't even begin to tell you how many times the other kids laughed at me for it or pulled at it. I know it's not the same as what you went through, but it was still a tough time in my life that I had to pull myself through.
Chicken <-- Egg <-- Rocket Powered Fist
Take that, science!
  





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Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:33 pm
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Rosendorn says...



My suggestion is to find what made you interested in the story in the first place.

Once you've found that one thing, strip everything out of the story that doesn't fit with that and start making that one thing more conflicting. As Dynamo said, it's probably a bad idea to make it exactly as it happened, as nobody really wants to read a piece of fiction that doesn't have conflict. Give it a plot, some good, some bad, and turn it into a story instead of being so close to your life. Remember the "fictional" in the plot, to make it more interesting for you and readers.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  








"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small."
— Neil Armstrong