Short and sweet

[katiefoolery]

I am experiencing a bizarre idea to write silly stories.  And I mean incredibly silly stories.  The sort of things that might turn up in a really bad film pitch in a Hollywood studio or something.  For example:

Character One switches bodies with Character Two by accident; hilarity ensues!  (Also, some sort of lesson to do with respecting others, blah blah, very touching, can I fall asleep now? - will occur.)

Or:

A girl who has lost her ability to feel emotions has teamed up with a man who may or may not have a Jekyll and Hyde complex.  They solve crime!

Or:

A and B are mixing a love potion to use on their friends when an accident occurs and it affects them intead.  But they can’t stand each other!  Hi-jinks ensue...
(Rated M for abuse of dessicated animal parts)


See what I mean?  Silly stories.  Hackneyed things full of stereotyped characters and recycled plots.  And these examples aren’t simply plucked from the air: they are actual stories that I am working on.

I don’t think there’s any harm to them, though.  It occurs to me that I need to do more writing practice and there are worse ways to practise writing than to play around with unoriginal plots.  At least, I think there are...

Quick iPod update: It’s dead. (Told you it’d be quick.)

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

They sound fantastic, i'm just imagining them with your usual ridiculous flair and i think they would be brilliant.

Go forth, young Buneater, and write said silly stories!

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

Dang these silly uni computers..... don't they know they should automatically work out who the hell i am! Jasper does it for me, so why can't they?

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

"Young Buneater"? What are you, my aged, reclusive hermit-mentor? :P

If you know who you are, then I don't see why the computer you're using shouldn't. Honestly, technology these days is so un-intuitive...

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

dagnamit! you've found me out!


*brushes lint off hermit-mentor robes*

And i thought i was hiding my true oh identity so well.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Did I thank you for the outrageous praise in your anonymous comment above? I don't believe I did, so consider yourself thanked. :)

[snarkymonkey.livejournal.com]

Sound like great writing exercises to me. ^___^

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

They feel like so much fun! I never wanted to write stuff that changed the world - a couple of silly books people can read on the train to work would make me happy.

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

A man on the run from a group of thugs and a law man board a plane, on which the thugs have packed a bajillion poisonous snakes.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Snakes on a plane? Nah, it'll never take off.

Oh gods.

*kills inadvertent pun*

[the-wanlorn.livejournal.com]

GLORIOUS

[naelany.livejournal.com]

that was too funny ^_^

I'll get my people to call your people...

[tangledtale.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I'm kinda getting a feel for it. But have you thought about adding zombies in there somewhere? Maybe instead of A and B, we could make it Zombie!A and zombie!B. Better yet, leave it regularjoeB and we'll have a modern day Romeo+Juliet on our hands!

Re: I'll get my people to call your people...

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Zombies! Why didn't I think of zombies? Now I'll have to see where I can work some in...

[the-kaytinator.livejournal.com]

I love the middle one!!! I SO want to read that!

I figure you should just write anything your brain tells you too. Most of the time, brains seem to know what they're doing.

Is there room somewhere for Government Goats?

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

The middle one is Holly Hughes. It didn't start out that way, but I was inspired by a film title and Holly ended up losing her ability to feel emotions. And then that guy appeared with the potential dual personality thing and it just snowballed from there.

There is always room for Government Goats.

[meretia]

Ech, silly is good sometimes. Cleanses the palate. Those sound cute anyway, so no harm done.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Very true. I am beginning to suspect my palate is quite unsophisiticated at times. :)

[lexicalcrow]

Hey, nothing wrong with the silly. :D Can be a nice change when you've spent several months writing something dark and moody. Go for it!

As for the first idea, I read a hilarious Placebo fic along those lines. Man, it was adorable. XD *giggles and rereads it*

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

I think the first idea has to be one of the oldest ideas in the history of ever. But it's so much fun! That must be why it endures.

[lexicalcrow]

Who cares how old it is? What makes it interesting is the characters involved. Sure, my NaNo plot isn't original, but the characters will bring it to life. So have fun with it!

[sirgallivant.livejournal.com]

They sound utterly ridiculous. Which means that they will be plendiferous, of course. :D

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Well, we can only hope. The opening scene of the third one in particular is quite a lot of fun and almost unbelievably ridiculous.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there's no harm in them. With any luck, there'll be things in them you can use - a certain scene, or snatches of dialogue - in other pieces. Have fun!

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh yes - they're quite harmless. And they might actually turn into semi-decent things on their own. :D

[alankria.livejournal.com]

Good good.

Is that Vegeta? May I fondle him?

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It's actually Vegito/Vejitto (choose your preferred spelling there) - Vegeta and Goku in one! And I suppose you may... as long as I get him back. :P

[alankria.livejournal.com]

D'oh! I should have recognised the earrings. And I thought he didn't look quite right. Oh well! *fondles*

[morbane.livejournal.com]

It must be a sign that you are truly comfortable with writing for yourself and not just for an imaginary audience. I mean, I guess I knew that anyway. Bless you, Buneater.

If possible, I would like to commission a harmless tale concerning paranoid chickens.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

You know, I think you might be right there, good Morbane. I hadn't thought about it that way.

A harmless tale concerning paranoid chickens, you say? I shall let you know the minute such a story occurs. :D

[frohike.livejournal.com]

As another silly writing excersize, try writing from the perspective of your cat. I want to do it for mu guinea pigs but it would end up something like this:

Having woken up from my third nap today, I decided to go outside of the sleeping box to see if there was any food.
I stuck my nose out cautiously, sniffing. I couldn't see anything, butI'm short-sighted as it is.
I wander out to the food dish and put my paws on the edge to get a good look in. Dang, pellets again.
I waddle over to where there was a carrot yesterday. It's still there, but now it has bite marks in it. How rude!
Suddenly I hear a noise. Crap! I run blindly back into my sleeping box, barging into my flatmate in my panic.

"Whoa," she said "what are we panicking about?" she sniffs the doorway for a second before diving behind my oversized rump for shelter.

"I think it was another leaf falling..."


And so on...

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Splendid work, good Nomes! Although I think your guinea pigs make for a more interesting story than my cat. I imagine Pickle's story would go a little like this:

Right, time for a good nap; that sleeping and basking in the sun really took it out of me.

Forty minutes later...

Was that food? Did I hear food? Maybe if I get up and look all scruffy and adorable, someone will give me food.

Or not.

Damn, that was exhausting. I think I need a quick nap to recover.

Half an hour later...

OK, it's time to sit on the desk and look irresistably gorgeous as only I know how.

An hour later...

I could do this forever! Although, it is a little boring. I know, it's time to turn into PSYCHOPANTS!!

--eyes widen--

--tail fluffs out---

--a cat dashes from one end of the house to the other without actually touching the ground--

Now to scratch something... to DEATH!!

[alankria.livejournal.com]

My cat Kheldar's story would be like this:

Roll sleepily out of a night-time nap and amble upstairs, announcing my presence with a series of loud maows. Jump on someone's chest if they've been stupid enough to leave their bedroom door open. Whine until they feed me.

Devour entire pouch of soft food. Whine. Get second pouch. Result! Works every time...

Wow, eating is tough work. Better have a little bath, and then I definitely need a nap.

Mmm, that was a good nap, let's get some more food. ...Damn, they've all left.

Uh-oh, the runty arthritic cat who is almost ten times my age is approaching. Better make myself look small. Being a male Maine Coone, this is not as easy a task as one might think.

She glared at me! I cower.

Wow, I need at least two naps to get over that.

Much later...

Yay! Humans! You starved me, you cruel wretches, now give me at least two more pouches!

Definitely need another nap.

That shelf looks fun. Let's have a climb... Crap. Fell off. *shifty eyes* Must not let the humans know that not all cats are elegantly graceful. I know! I'll look beautiful, maybe get more food, and then they'll forget.

Hmm, looks like they're going to bed, better roll about on the floor and look wonderful... Two more pouches. Score.

I love my gluttonous fraidey cat ^.^

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Wow - I imagine a Maine Coone goes through a lot of food. Lucky for him he's so good at getting all of those extra pouches out of you. :)

It's hilarious when cats fall off things, isn't it? They have to go off somewhere and look gorgeous and pretend they actually meant to do that. Oh yes indeed. I didn't fall, I slid gracefully to the ground.

[naelany.livejournal.com]

Can't wait to read those stories ^_~. Like you said, writing experience, right?

Sorry to hear about the definitive death of the Ipod *hugs*. May it rest in peace (or is that pieces? ^_~)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Well, it's in one piece at the moment, but I did feel like taking to it with a hammer a couple of times. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the hammer, so it remained intact.

I can't wait to write the stories!

[naelany.livejournal.com]

*hands you a pink, flowery hammer* ^_~ Have at it lol

[drscruffy.livejournal.com]

The iPod couldn't be brought back to life, huh? Sad :(

Perhaps, whilst exploring the world of the silly story you could include a tribute character to honour the spirit of the iPod... The obligatory-singing-girl-in-pink who appears at random times to spread her message of "hips don't lie" to the adoring masses :)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Nope - it's very, very dead. I had to spend my manga budget on a new MP3 player, but it was worth it.

A character who personified my iPod would be very silly indeed. It would asleep at random times and order people to make sure it was woken up every day, lest it die. And then its would wander off every now and then, leaving behind an empty, music-less shell. I don't think people would like it very much. :D

[dizzy-liz.livejournal.com]

Haha! I've often wondered whether that kinda thing helps (hashing out overused plots and characters) but then... I also reckon that as long as I'm writing, something good must be happening! But maybe this is where my problem of not being able to think up unique characters and plots came from... never thought of that! Anyway, have fun with your hilarious sounding stories :-D And I'm sorry about your ipod :-(

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

The problem is that there are very few original plots, really. Story-telling has been going on for such a long time that it's inevitable the same plots and themes will be re-used. But this is a good thing, because you know the ones that endure are the ones that people like.

You're right - if you're writing, then something good is happening. Even on those days when you'd rather stick your head in a bucket of slugs than try to force out reluctant words.

[poisonheadache.livejournal.com]

I'm always impressed when writers try out a hackneyed plot and make it their own. It might be interesting to try some of them out and see where they take you. When I get stuck for ideas I write fairy tales. There's something about taking a structure and fiddling with it that's really appealing. I'm particularly looking forward to the dessicated animal parts. There aren't too many stories that have those.

Sorry about the iPod. I think the battery in mine is dying. Stupid things.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

That was the problem with my iPod, I believe - a dead battery. My new player runs on AA batteries, which I thought was odd at first, but it has its advantages. It's much cheaper and easier to replace the batteries, for a start!

Hehe - yes, the dessicated animal parts. Well, it wouldn't be a proper love potion if it didn't have some, would it? :)

I'm very fond of fairy tales myself. A few years ago, I was playing with re-writing them and it was a lot of fun. The whole concept of the fairy tale itself is endlessly fascinating.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Katie! Sometimes a twist on a fun and done before concept can turn into something great! So you never know... =D

~Kelly Parra

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

That's quite true. And if you already know how the story is supposed to play out, then there's more of a chance to experiment with characters and other aspects. :)