Hanging by a thread .....

No responses to the last Antigone question. Too hard? Or haven't you even been here to look? The idea of author's purpose and audience underpins every piece of reading that we do in English and Literature, yet it is the most difficult question for students to answer. The only time that many students have a clear sense of both, is when, in despair, they put pen to paper and write a poem or letter - to the one they love and who is unaware of it, the one(s) who rejected them, the one(s) who did them wrong, the world (when everything goes wrong.) How do we get you to move from thinking only of yourself, and your personal concerns, to viewing the world through the eyes of someone else?

Creative SAC - Book of the Beach

You should now be thinking about what you could write for this SAC (worth 60/100).

Original Piece of Writing
Your thinking needs to be set at the beach. What stories does this beach setting hold? Have a look at the themes of the stories in the Penguin book; they're not all about going to the beach per se. They're about things like relationships between people, and dealing with the past, grief or loss, and healing. What does the seaside mean to different people? What does it mean to you? Why do people head to the water other than for 'a holiday'? What does the surging ocean represent, or make us feel? Is it cleansing? Or does it overwhelm us with its indomitability?
Don't start with the plot. Begin with some ideas about central concerns, and then consider your characters (minimise the number)before you work out your storyline. It needs to be condensed - you don't have time for an epic. Keep the time span short, and the action minimal.

Adding to an existing story
Your other option is to 'add' to one of the stories already in the anthology. You could flesh out an incident that happens in the story and is not described in detail. You can create an entirely new 'scene' for some of the characters. You could write a 'prequel' or a 'sequel'. The possibilities are endless. Can you see any of the stories from the point of view of a character other than that whose view is presented? In 'Learning to Swim' for example, could you see the story from Paul's point of view? What limitations would there be? How would you avoid simply writing from your own perspective?
Could you perhaps add another scene to one of the existing stories? What happened to Jenny and Alice? This could be a descriptive piece that takes the story just a couple of pages further.

It is most important that you actually spend some time reflecting on what you are going to do, rather than rushing in with a half-formulated idea. You should discuss your ideas with others, with me! Put some thoughts down on paper - don't just keep it all in your head. Start a notebook, and jot down the things you need to consider. Just remember that the 'why' is where you want to start, followed by the 'who' and 'how'.