Prepared by: Florence Cardinal
Posted on: May 18, 2003
Reposted on: September 5, 2004
Reposted on: September 11, 2005
Have you ever read the classified ads in
the newspaper and wondered
about the
story behind some of them? For example:
FOR SALE: Wedding gown, Size 8. Never
worn. PH: XXX XXXX. Why
didn't the lady
wear her wedding gown?
OR:
TO GIVE AWAY: Five year old male cocker
spaniel. Great with kids.
Family pet.
Looking for a good home. Why are these folks giving away the family
pet?
For this week's assignment, find a
classified ad that looks like it
might have
a story behind it. If at all possible, use a newspaper. Maybe you have
one
delivered daily, read it at the office or the library, or you could go
out and
buy one, just to do this exercise. The smell of printer's ink, to me,
has
always personified journalism and writing. However, if no newspaper is
available, many can be found online. Check this site for newspapers
worldwide:
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
The exercise: Think about the ad. Ask
yourself why the person is
selling the
item, or perhaps it's an ad for something lost -- or found. Or try the
personals. They're always interesting. Then, in 400 words or less, tell
the
story, or, considering the word limit, part of the story, that might
explain
why the ad is in the paper. Be sure to post the ad and credit the
source. Then
stick to the information given. Don't change the family dog to a
cockatoo or
substitute a pair of glass slippers for the wedding gown.
Florence Cardinal's wrap-up
Posted on: May 26, 2003
What a great variety of ads, not at all
what I was expecting. I
thought everyone would head over to the personal column. I was
gratified to see you proved me wrong.
The stories and partial stories show your
imaginations were working
well, and I saw an improvement in the critiques. Some still said
nothing but - Hey! I like this! but the majority gave reasons why
something did or didn't work for them and some even suggested ways the
stories might have worked better.
What was the purpose of this exercise? I
wanted everyone to realize
that story material lies everywhere. In fact, once you get your mind
working, it's impossible to get away from story ideas. They pop out at
you from the most surprising places.
This was a fun exercise I think. Keep up
the great work.
Florence
Pam Hauck's wrap-up
Posted on: Sat, 11 Sep 2004
Wrap-up for "This is Classified"
Prepared by Florence Cardinal
Thanks to everyone who participated in the
rerun of this week's This
is
Classified exercise developed by Florence Cardinal.
We've seen a broad variety of newspaper
ads that sparked writer's
imaginations from all over the world. Several ads came from online
sources,
some from local papers. One ad was placed in the paper by the writer of
the
submission. Another ad was from a paper dated 1949. Some of the ads
worked
as foreshadowing, while others didn't.
Overall, this week's stories, or partial
stories, used more levity
than
usual. We had stories from ads about a 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood hearse
with
oak coffin, a black midget named Standello who makes a house call with
her
lover Othello, and a six-feet tall life-like Elvis statue.
Other submissions were created from ads
that mentioned a Albino
Burmese
python female snake, a young grey tiger striped female cat, a pure
white
dove also known as Peace Dove, and handcrafted bed headboards with
incorporated antlers.
One writer mentioned in a critique:
"Seeing which parts spark the
writer's
imagination and which parts are left alone is part of the fun for me in
this
exercise."
In reviewing this week's work I noticed
Florence had stated, "Then,
in 400
words or less, tell the story, or, considering the word limit, part of
the
story, that might explain why the ad is in the paper." All of our
stories
didn't explain why the ad was in the paper, mine included. That's
something
we can aim for next time.
Florence also said: "What was the purpose
of this exercise? I wanted
everyone to realize that story material lies everywhere. In fact, once
you
get your mind working, it's impossible to get away from story ideas.
They
pop out at you from the most surprising places."
I appreciate everyone's response and wish
you all the best with your
writing.
Pam Hauck
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
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Modified by Gayle Surrette.