Losing the Plot 5 Top Tips on Writing a Good Story

Losing the Plot 5 Top Tips on Writing a Good Story Losing the Plot? 5 Top Tips on Writing a Good Story In narrative writing, the term â€Å"plot† refers to the events that make up a story. But how do authors approach plotting a story? And what makes a good plot in the first place? We have a few helpful tips! 1. Plotting Your Plot Once you have a premise for your story, think about where it will go and create a plot outline. You might even want to come up with an end point and work backwards! This will help you get a sense of how the story will progress and how different events will be connected. Many story plots follow a classic three-act structure.(Image: Bratislav/wikimedia) You don’t have to stick to this outline as the story develops, so don’t worry if it isn’t perfect at first. The point is to give yourself a structure to work with so that your writing stays on track. 2. Build a Story Around Character Arcs Plot is important, but it needs to be supported by strong characters. After all, if the characters in your story don’t have believable goals and motivations, how will the story move forwards? One good tip is to make sure your main characters each have a character arc. This refers to how characters change or overcome challenges during the story. To get started on this, think about who they are, what happened in their pasts, and want they want to achieve. 3. Use Subplots (But Not Too Many!) The main plot in your story will be what drives everything forward (the ticking bomb that cannot be ignored or forgotten, perhaps literally if you’re writing a thriller). But subplots allow you to flesh out a story with smaller narrative arcs that develop characters or themes related to the main plot. Adding a few romantic entanglements or mysteries that need to be solved can therefore add an extra dimension to your writing. However, any subplots you include should help move the main plot forward in some way (e.g., by revealing important information). If you add too many unrelated subplots, on the other hand, your story may become difficult to follow. 4. A Twist in the Tale? While your overall story should be easy to follow, you also want to surprise your reader now and then! Think about where you could add a plot twist to complicate things. However, make sure any twists you add follow from the logic of the story up to that point. And it’s probably better to avoid any ending that can be summed up as â€Å"and it was all a dream.† And he was dead all along has been done, too.(Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr) 5. Explain Your Story to a Friend Finally, don’t struggle alone! As with most things in life, writing a story is easier if you ask for help. Before you start writing a first draft in full, try explaining the plot of your story to a friend. If there is something they don’t understand, you may want to work on clarifying how that part of the story fits into the overall narrative. You can always ask for feedback on specific issues, too! And once you have a first draft, we can help with the editing process.

Frida Kahlo, Mexican Surrealist and Folk Art Painter

Frida Kahlo, Mexican Surrealist and Folk Art Painter Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907–July 13, 1954), one of the few women painters that many can name, was known for  her surrealistic paintings, including many emotionally intense self-portraits. Stricken with polio as a child and injured badly in an accident when she was 18, she struggled with pain and disability all her life. Her paintings reflect a modernist take on folk art and integrate her experience of suffering. Kahlo was married to artist Diego Rivera. Fast Facts: Frida Kahlo Known For:  Mexican surrealist and folk art painterAlso Known As:  Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderon, Frieda Kahlo, Frida Rivera, Mrs. Diego Rivera.Born: July 6, 1907 in Mexico CityParents: Matilde Calderà ³n, Guillermo KahloDied: July 13, 1954 in Mexico CityEducation: National Preparatory School in Mexico City, entered 1922, studied medicine and medical illustrationFamous Paintings: The Two Fridas (1939), Self Portrait with Cropped Hair (1940), Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)Awards and Honors: National Prize of Arts and Sciences (conferred by the Mexican Ministry of Public Education, 1946)Spouse: Diego Rivera (m. Aug. 21, 1929–1939, remarried 1940–1957)Children: NoneNotable Quote: I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration. Early Life Kahlo was born in a suburb of Mexico City on July 6, 1907. She later claimed 1910 as her year of birth because 1910 was the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. She was close to her father but not so close to her often-depressed mother. She was struck with polio when she was about 6 years old and while the illness was mild, it did cause her right leg to be withered- which led to the twisting of her spine and pelvis. She entered the National Preparatory School in 1922 to study medicine and medical illustration, adopting a native style of dress. The Trolley Accident In 1925, Kahlo was nearly fatally injured when a trolley collided with the bus on which she was riding. She broke her back, pelvis, collarbone, and two ribs, her right foot was crushed, and her right leg was broken in 11 places. A handrail of the bus impaled her in the abdomen. She had surgeries throughout her life to try to correct the disabling effects of the accident. Diego Rivera and Marriage During the convalescence from her accident, she began to paint. Self-taught, in 1928 Kahlo sought out Mexican painter Diego Rivera, more than 20 years her senior, whom shed met when she was in preparatory school. She asked him to comment on her work, which relied on bright colors and Mexican folk images. She joined the Young Communist League, which Rivera headed. In 1929, Kahlo married Rivera in a civil ceremony despite her mothers protests. The couple moved to San Francisco for a year in 1930. It was his third marriage and he had many affairs, including with Kahlos sister Cristina. Kahlo, in turn, had her own affairs, with both men and women. One of her brief affairs was with American painter Georgia OKeeffe. She changed the spelling of her first name from Frieda, the German spelling, to Frida, the Mexican spelling, in the 1930s as a protest against fascism. In 1932, Kahlo and Rivera lived in Michigan, where Kahlo miscarried a pregnancy. She immortalized her experience in a painting titled, Henry Ford Hospital. From 1937–1939, Leon Trotsky lived with the couple. Kahlo had an affair with the Communist revolutionary. She was often in pain from her disabilities and emotionally distraught from the marriage, and probably addicted to painkillers for a long time. Kahlo and Rivera divorced in 1939, but then Rivera convinced her to remarry the next year. Kahlo made that marriage contingent on remaining sexually separate  and on her financial self-support. Art Success Kahlos first solo show was in New York City, in 1938, after Rivera and Kahlo had moved back to Mexico. She had another show in 1943, also in New York. Kahlo produced many paintings in the 1930s and 1940s, but it was not until 1953 that she finally had a one-woman show in Mexico. Her long struggle with her disabilities, however, had left her by this point an invalid, and she entered the exhibit on a stretcher and rested on a bed to receive visitors. Her right leg was amputated at the knee when it became gangrenous. Death Kahlo died in Mexico City in 1954. Officially, she died of a pulmonary embolism, but some believe she deliberately overdosed on painkillers, welcoming an end to her suffering. Even in death, Kahlo was dramatic; when her body was being put into the crematorium, the heat caused her body to suddenly sit up. Legacy Kahlos work began to come to prominence in the 1970s. Much of her work is at the Museo Frida Kahlo (the Frida Kahlo Museum), also called the Blue House for its cobalt blue walls, which opened in 1958 in her former Mexico City residence. She is considered a forerunner to feminist art. Indeed, Kahlos life was depicted in the 2002 biopic, Frida, starring Salma Hayek as the title character. The film received a 75 percent critics score and an 85 percent audience score on the movie review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. It also received six Academy Award nominations (winning for Best Makeup and Best Original Score), including Hayeks nomination in the Best Actress category for her dramatic portrayal of the long-departed artist. Sources â€Å"17 Frida Kahlo Quotes to Inspire You to Turn Pain Into Beauty.†Ã‚  Goalcast, 19 Dec. 2018.Anderson, Kelli, and Shovova. â€Å"Art History: The Stories and Symbolism Behind 5 of Frida Kahlos Most Well-Known.â€Å"Major Achievements.†Ã‚  Frida Kahlo.â€Å"MUSEO FRIDA KAHLO.†Ã‚  Frida Kahlo Museum.Paintings.†Ã‚  My Modern Met, 23 Aug. 2018.â€Å"Frida Kahlo and Her Paintings.†Ã‚  Henri Matisse.â€Å"Frida (2002).†Ã‚  Rotten Tomatoes.