Making Links
So near and yet so far ...
From sounds to words, from words to phrases, from phrases to clauses, from clauses to sentences, from sentences to arguments, we build a staircase to truth via chains of ideas. The ideas can be linked in many ways. How you do that, how you deal with the connection between content and form, how much variety you include or feel you need … are all important factors in determining the structure of your writing and providing flow for your readers.
How tight or loose your links are is a stylistic choice.
This month’s writing competition invites you to take inspiration from Carol Michelon’s illustration for the section on linking in Master the Art and Craft of Writing and use links creatively in an original piece of writing.
Submit an entry and you could be the lucky winner of a $10 Amazon gift voucher. The first fifty entrants will receive a free copy of my forthcoming book, Master the Art and Craft of Writing, and every entrant will receive a free sampler of writing exercises. What do you have to lose?
And as this is both a contest and an opportunity to learn, let’s look at a creative example. I call this exercise Chain Reaction.
Have you heard of the domino effect, where one thing leads to another?
Often, there’s a chain of events that leads to disaster. This exercise is about imagining a chain of events that leads to a super-wonderful outcome.
Take one of the key questions below and work back to the starting point - see where that leads you.
1 - How did human beings finally learn to live in peace with one another?
2 - How did human beings end up living in harmony with the planet?
3 - How did teachers finally work out how best to help learners achieve their full potential?
4 - Open-ended choice: your choice of topic.
Useful linking phrases
accordingly, as a consequence, as a result, because of, consequently, for this/that reason, hence, in order that, now, so, so that, the consequence is, the result is, then, therefore, thus
Example
How did human beings finally learn to live in peace with one another?
It’s the tenth of October – it’s handshake day. Today, war is unheard of, and all cultures and civilisations live in harmony and peace with one another. But it wasn’t always like this. Long ago, there were terrible wars, fights, and battles. What changed? How did we get to where we are now?
It all started with a simple thing – a conversation between two enemy soldiers who met on a battlefield, and instead of fighting each other, went against their commanding officers’ orders and shook hands.
Each of them went back to their fellow soldiers and told them what had happened. As a result, more of their colleagues met and instead of fighting, shook hands.
Leaders of armies learned of this and found they could no longer command their troops to fight – all the soldiers wanted to do was meet and shake hands.
Therefore, the leaders of the countries decided to form a global agreement to bring peace to the planet once and for all. As a consequence, the leaders of the armies had to meet and shake hands. Eventually, they came to a peace agreement. When they signed it, they arranged to meet and shake hands.
It’s taken many months – many years – many decades, but now, whenever we shake hands, we remember that we live in peace and harmony. This is why, on the tenth of October every year—the day on which those two enemy soldiers first shook hands and decided to be friends, not enemies—we celebrate handshake day.
Your task is to write a short piece (250 words maximum) inspired by the illustration above by the talented illustrator, Carol Michelon, in which you explore links creatively.
Full rules here.
Deadline: Midnight on Wednesday 25th September 2022 BST
Upload your submissions here and share them on social media with the hashtags #unknownstoryteller #carolmichelon #leonconrad #artandcraftofwriting
This Course and Competition is part of The Unknown Storyteller Project, focusing on the art and craft of how to tell a story; Master the Art and Craft of Writing is the counterpart to Story and Structure: A complete guide. The book explains how to structure the story you want to tell in the first place and will help you shape great stories to tell.
Stay connected! 🔗
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