Neha's Notebook

 Objective correlative – A visuals-based concept in creative writing that helps writer express emotions more intensely through a character, scene, or visual detail.   Objective correlative is a concept made famous by the poet T.S. Eliot.   It is the “art of finding a physical object, a scene, or a chain of events that, when described in a story, will automatically evoke a specific emotion in the reader, without you ever having to name that emotion directly.”   In simple words, it is a feeling converted into an object that serves a symbolic purpose in the story.   For instance, instead of writing that the “character feels sad,” the writer paints a concrete picture using “visual or sensory details,” something the reader can see, hear, or feel, that perfectly matches the internal state of the character. This method adds depth to the writing, while avoiding generic emotional declarations.   If you want to convey a character’s grief, you woul...

Writing a script is baking a cake. Think: Ingredients list Method Precision and specific measurements Decoration and presentation

 “Image hopping” is a cool trick to kick-start your story writing process when you don’t have any idea how to proceed. The technique involves using vivid, descriptive language to appeal to the reader’s senses by creating mental images and “connecting the unconnected.”   The process Find a compelling image, expose it in rich detail, brainstorm elements within it, and then “hop” to a new, seemingly unrelated image to spark unusual, new connections and expand your horizon of narrative possibilities. Create strong, memorable images to grip the emotion of the reader. The goal isn’t to describe the images, but to use them as springboards for character, plot, and theme.   Example: Domino's “It happens only with pizza” VISUALS Shot 1 Image of a muppet dancing in a disco-like setting with the word “Happening” flashed in cool blue bold font (transports the viewer into the emotion of partytime)   Shot 2 The muppet image cuts into the image of real people...

Sensory layering is a writing device that engages the reader on a multi-sensory level (touch, sight, sound, smell, taste) by painting a picture that illustrates multiple details without taking up too much of their narrative time.   In copywriting, for instance, sensory layering looks like product descriptions or visuals that appeal to multiple senses of the customer, allowing them to “experience” what you are selling before they even touch it. Sensory layering allows the writer/creator to create something that will build a strong mental picture in the mind of the customer as well as a deeper connection with their emotional center, beyond just a logical decision making or emotional triggers.   Take the example of a high-end coffee, both while selling it through only written word, and through written word plus visuals.   Instead of just “Our coffee tastes good,” a sensory-layered description of this coffee would read something like this:   “Wake up to t...

“Echoes through time” is a storytelling concept that revolves around a present-day character, object, idea, or experience that reverberates a long-forgotten event from history. This concept is used to add mystery to a story or a piece of writing that the reader unravels by piecing together these “echoes” and uncovering the full, poetic truth of the past. “Echoes through time” is an insightful tool that also makes the reader realize that the past isn’t truly gone. Rather, it is subtly imprinted on the fabric of the present and it reveals itself little by little through clues that lurk in the depths of the present moment.   Anushree works in an art renovation company called RenoKaro, based in New Delhi. Her boss sent her to an old, dilapidated library located in Delhi’s Khapchi Gali for a renovation project. As she stepped inside the library, the bag of tools slung from her shoulders, she coughed. The library was shrouded in a thick veil of dust and sprinkled with gossamer cobweb...

Freytag’s Pyramid is a writing technique, crafted by the German novelist Gustav Freytag. The technique involves five key processes that writers can use to write everything from short stories to articles.   The first step is “Exposition.” Exposition refers to the introduction of the subject, the setting up of the scene, and a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. The second step is “Rising Action” Rising Action refers to “The development of the central conflict, problem, or interesting aspect.” This is where the tension builds, complexities are revealed, and the "plot" of the story/article unfolds through scenes, characters, research material, and anecdotes. The third step is “climax” Climax is the turning point or the most significant moment of revelation, insight, or development within the article's scope. It's often where the core question posed in the exposition is addressed, or a major challenge is confronted. The 4 th st...

 What is “In Media Res”? "In Media Res" (Latin for "in the midst of things") is a powerful storytelling technique where the narrative plunges the audience directly into a critical, exciting, or significant moment of the story, skipping over the initial exposition and setup. Instead of beginning with a traditional "once upon a time," the reader/viewer is immediately immersed in the action or a pivotal scene. It jolts the reader directly into the “heart of the action.” The preceding events, character backstories, and the "how we got here" are then revealed gradually through flashbacks, dialogue, or indirect exposition as the story progresses. This method is designed to grab attention immediately, create suspense, and cultivate a sense of mystery, compelling the audience to understand what led to the current situation.   Let’s take the example of this story opening paragraph to understand the concept of “In Media Res”   The Case of the Mis...

Let’s take the example of a fictional novel called “Simi’s Memory Journal.” Here are some excerpts from “Simi’s memory journal” a diary in which this character records her memories, feelings, details of everyday experiences, dreams, fantasies, obsessions, ideas, notes, observations, and just about everything.   October 17 th – A recurring dream "The old house again. That creaking floorboard in the attic. Always the same grey light filtering through the dusty window. The hum of the old radio, even though I know it's been broken for years. The same old crow and its same old caw-caw." November 5 th – An observation “A woman in the bus caught my attention today. Her amethyst-colored scarf reminded me of my mother. For a split second, I almost reached out to her to ask who gave her this scarf.” December 12 th – A cryptic note about the memory of a past event “He said the words, but I heard something else entirely. The way the fierce winds whipped and the way ...

Upon capturing a billion years of crazy experience in my notebooks, I am writing this sweet love note to you. I have not written it before because I have been wondering if you would even read it. It’d be useless to me if you wouldn’t ever read this note. I am writing this only and only for you after all. But at last I gathered enough insanity to express my heart out, and in case you too feel the same in your heart, you’ll surely like reading my thoughts. So let me begin by telling you how I have been feeling lately. Lately, I have been feeling that I am living in a video game, as if I am a character in some video game. I am constantly chasing some goal or milestone. But sometimes I also allow myself to relax, destress and just enjoy my life. For instance, by having a cup of hot coffee, by eating a chocolate, by taking a long walk in the park, by dancing and listening to music, by doing some fun activity that I used to do when I was not this old and grown up, activities like coloring, a...

Story Alchemy: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone of Storytelling by David Sheppard Story Alchemy is a book that delves deep into the depths of the mechanism behind storytelling. With ideas like Plot Pentagon and Iris of Time, it digs deep into what makes up the fabric of a story. In this review, I share some insights I highlighted from the book. Insights about storytelling  #1 All storytelling is an imitation of life #2 By staying on the right path to good storytelling, you become worthy #3 the idea comes from the "chaos" of one's internal psychic state. It may be triggered by an external event or just pop into one's mind out of nowhere #4 The way to come into closer contact with your idea is to close your eyes and see it as an image #5 Conflict has many facets, and the storyteller should be student of the art of opposing wills. #6 Any aspect of human nature and social interaction, when used properly, can be valuable and may even be ind...

The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall Most of us humans like stories. In fact, we love stories. But why and how do we seem to love them? For science, that may still be a puzzle. Nevertheless, our understanding of the human mind leads the way to the insight which streams in the backdrop while we’re immersed in a story and our mind is processing, forming connections, feeling emotions, rewiring neural pathways and churning information presented to us through the story. The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall takes us through an immersive wordscape that is peppered with oodles of metaphors, pointers, insights, and lessons, pertaining mostly, to the topic of storytelling. The book features an interesting embroidery woven together with the intricate threads of researches related to evolutionary psychology, neuroscience and various other sciences. Encapsulating several stories-within-stories and pop-modern terminology, the book ...

A work of fiction, in writing or otherwise, is a creative concoction of characters, settings and scenarios which are all, but only illusory formations carved by the function of human mind called as ‘imagination’. Yet for most humans, storytelling forms the make-up of majority of our life’s time. Stories! These fabricated vistas, slapped with wodges of tremors, trepidations and sensations; trammeling with shams of ideas and waves of emotion lapping through…Stories are those quirks of tricks and lies, in the backdrop of which, lurks a still quietude of the emotional center that hums and rustles in the heartbeats of its truest readers and listeners. Discover below, a collection dazzling with forty insightful quotations from some of the greatest writers-storytellers, on the topic of ‘fiction’. To read all of these in one go (with background music!) begin straight from the following video, or skip through this to read them one by one. Yowzers! #1  Fiction is the truth inside t...