Re-writings

[Megawatts]

I have an interesting, yet somewhat challenging exercise, that might not be suited for all writers. But I believe that Aphelion writers have the temperament and wisdom to understand this concept, learn from it, get some insights that only an exercise of this nature can provide, and see their works presented from another perspective or voice.

It’s a simple one: Re-write another’s story!! Yes, each writer volunteer one of their stories that has been published on Aphelion, and let another Aphelion writer re-write it!! See what I mean!

To qualify, a writer should have a couple of stories already published at Aphelion, and been a member for six months or so. But this again is only a brief suggestion as to the requirements since I’ve only thought of this exercise recently and haven’t considered anything else beyond its theme.

The re-written story should have the same characters, setting, and plots.

Changing the main character to a subordinate character is Ok, and taking a beautiful queen and turning her into a troll is equally Ok as long as the story-line follows that original tell. Changing from the third person to the first or vise-versa is Ok .

One must be able to immediately see that the story is a copy!!!

Just a thought for experimental writing.

George

[Megawatts]

I don’t have all the details worked out and could use some help!

Once we get some writers committed, they could post maybe three of their stories that they have volunteered to have re-written. Then the re-worked story could be critiqued by all readers of Aphelion.

Something along those lines should work. Or, perhaps, a classic story like ‘The most Dangerous Game’ by Richard Connell that was published in 1924. It’s a true classic and has been extensively studied in high school and college English courses. Or, perhaps another story.

All suggestion are welcome and needed. I’ve never led a writing exercise before, and really don’t know how to do it. But I do think that this one has merit for all of us at Aphelion and the writing world in general!!

[kailhofer]

I don’t have all the details worked out and could use some help!

Once we get some writers committed, they could post maybe three of their stories that they have volunteered to have re-written. Then the re-worked story could be critiqued by all readers of Aphelion.

Unless you get an editor to publish it, it would only be read by readers of the forum. It's a smaller subset, to be sure.

Something along those lines should work. Or, perhaps, a classic story like ‘The most Dangerous Game’ by Richard Connell that was published in 1924. It’s a true classic and has been extensively studied in high school and college English courses. Or, perhaps another story.

I don't remember how long they've extended the copyrights to after death of the author, so it might actually be illegal to do a story like that without the author's permission. It would be best to stick to volunteers.

I like to encourage challenges to come from anyone, not just me, but just make sure those who volunteer their stories have a thick enough skin to see what they get. Sometimes people get huffy just from a critique. There's no telling what they'll do if they think someone butchered their story.

Casey, your own flash stories would be allowed. They're your writing. You own them.

Nate

[kailhofer]

I wanted to add, in case it didn't come through, that those who do take part may well gain some good experience and skill through the effort. I do think the actual writing may be a bit more difficult than you folks are expecting, but by all means, go ahead and do it if you want to.

I can't promise to have the time to try it myself, but it definitely could be challenging.

Writing challenges can come from anyone. Go for it.

[Megawatts]

My suggestion that each committed writer pick three of his/her stories to be re-worked comes from honesty. All writers have written stories that are ‘hands off’ to editing by others. We all know which of our stories fall into that category. And we all know which of our stories just might benefit from editing by others!

The trick is to pick one of your stories that you like but wouldn’t upset you if it were re-worked through the eyes of another writer! Remember, this exercise will show you how another writer thinks and feels and interprets the world by walking the same trail with you hiking boots on!!

So I suggest that when you volunteer one of your stories, pick that ones that will leave little impact on you if it is-- god forsake me for say this---butchered!

In all honesty, I don’t think that any re-worked stories will be butchered.

[Megawatts]

Thanks much! The suggestions are very helpful and without them I would have been lost.

I combined both together----- ccc’s and Mark’s----and came up with one that should be simple
and clear.

One story is presented. And all the committed writers re-write that story! And the original author can also re-write his original story! Now we have the simplicity needed to keep our heads focused on the true theme of this exercise or challenge.

However, I'm still in the development stage and can entertain more suggestion.

[Megawatts]

I think I'll go with ccc's and Mark's original ideas. I see your points and appreciate them. They do make sense and would keep more 'flow' with the writings. The double rewards and joy at seeing his/her story re-worked while he/she re-works someone else’s should fill a mind with anticipation, which can spur on energy.

‘I would suggest for simplicity, let the writers submit the story (one story) he wants rewritten and send them to Megawatts. Megawatts posts the stories in the forum and let the same writers pick one of the stories (not theirs) to rewrite.’

I’m going to follow Marks suggestion.

The re-worked story should be within about fifteen percent -plus or minus--of the word length of the original story. Again suggestion here will be helpful!!

The hard part: How far can the re-written work deviate for the original? For example: If we have a knight defending a castle against a dragon by using a sword in the original story, then in the re-worked story if its a space-marine defending his complex by using a light sword.... See what I mean! The old David and Goliah story set in modern times, or future times.

A good example is Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. I’ve seen scrooge played by Vannessa William, in a modern setting, Henry Wrinkler, and Tori spelling as an evil TV host!! Yet, all of them can be recognized as scrooge! But remember, we just don’t change the setting, we use new and different approached to tell it!!

Again I’m open to suggestion. I think we’re getting somewhere with this, and I feel more like a facilitator now and to me that is a good sign!!

We still have some more to hash out, but if we take it one step at a time, then I believe we'll have a valuable tool here!!

Please keep the inputs coming!!

[Megawatts]

I’m working on the guide-lines which are going to very liberal.

In a few days I should have the mechanics down. When the re-written stories come in, I’ed like to have it similar to the monthly featured stories, but this is where I run into a snag!

I think I’ll create a RE-WRITE CHALLENGE under Fun and Games; hopefully, that will take all the re-written stories and all the critiques.

In two days I’ll post RE-WRITE CHALLENGE with the rules and entry Data!