Oct 21: Invention

Fred White in today's reading uses one definition of invention to refer to a systematic or spontaneous way to generate ideas or what to say about ideas. He states that one of the best known such inventions was the use, by journalists, of the "5 Ws and the H: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How." White further states that this is useful in "outlining a writing project (not use a news report)." He then states that
Who - characters in the story.
What - situation or conflict of the story/plot.
When & Where: setting and time frame
Why - character's motives
How - ways in which characters achieve their goals.
In "For Further Reflection" White states "the more inventive we are with language, with plotting, with character development, the more adept we will become at being inventive." To achieve this he suggests that we write, write, write.
"Try This" assignment for today is:
1. Use the 5Ws/H invention strategy for planning a story or essay.
2. Write the story or essay you've outlined above, only don't let the outline show through in your writing. White suggests to achieve this you might want to defer character motivation until the very end of the story, or disclose the details of the setting only gradually.
Since I need to get a couple of articles written over the weekend I think I will use this to begin outlining them. Also over the weekend will go back over the four stories I am currently writing and see that these are covered or if they need to be developed more, and how.