Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

character development

Flesh out your character. If you are developing one very important character, have fun with it! Give your character an entire profile! What is his/her name? Where were they born, and when? Do they wear striped socks or solid ones? Is their hair blue or flame-red? Write down a bunch of these details, even if they may not be necessary for the story. If you are writing a character's personality off of someone you know,keep in mind that the reader doesn't know who you're writing about. Make it so that the reader has a clear picture, and don't leave any important information out! You can't assume that the reader knows the character as well as you do.
Be prepared to let your characters and their responses surprise you; that's when you know you're really getting somewhere
 
Visual imagery Imagery of sight
Aural imagery: Imagery of sound (e.g., the soft hiss of snow skis)
Olfactory imagery: Imagery of smell (e.g., the smell of day old beer)
Tactile imagery: Imagery of touch (e.g., bare feet on a hot sidewalk)
Gustatory imagery: Imagery of taste (e.g., the spicy taste of Cajun food)
 
Writing trigger:
Gail stormed into the office muttering something about the fact that John just made a complete ass of himself.
Who is John? Who is John to Gail? Why is Gail saying he is an ass? This is not that hard. We all know people who act like an ass. We either work for them, are related to them, married to them, divorced from them, or gave birth to them. *Smile*

Develop a Fictional Character with the personality of an ass, as you, the writer, perceive an ass to be.
 
Nicnames!
 
FLESHY CHARACTERS: Bai Amma, Usman, Raza, Mir Nawab, Noor Jehan, Razia, Asad, Rani, Shahzadi begum, abba ammi, and narrator.
 
UNFLESHY CHARACTERS: Lala Bhai, Rani's husband and kids, lipstick sisters, phuppo, Nano in cameo role, etc.
 
 

 

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

oral tradition and dastangoi

'the burden of cultural history'

'the culture of oral storytelling - Aliya is aware of the richness and vibrancy of the family stories and the craft of storytelling itself, but equally this storytelling culture has helped to create a web of ‘family identity’ which she now wishes to loosen. Salt and Saffron is thus a poignant exploration of the search for a balance between individual identity and ancestral and cultural heritage.'

How much of the story is going to be about the narrator and how much about cultural heritage? 


research-location and rampur

'the burden of cultural history'

'the culture of oral storytelling - Aliya is aware of the richness and vibrancy of the family stories and the craft of storytelling itself, but equally this storytelling culture has helped to create a web of ‘family identity’ which she now wishes to loosen. Salt and Saffron is thus a poignant exploration of the search for a balance between individual identity and ancestral and cultural heritage.'

How much of the story is going to be about the narrator and how much about cultural heritage? 

Rampur: KEY LINK!!! http://www.dawn.com/news/659762/flashback-rampur-glimpses-of-a-vanished-world-title=Flashback

Zindagi Ki Yaadein: Riyasat Rampur Ka Nawabi Daur in 2003
English version: Remembrance of days pat: glimpses of a princely state during the Raj
http://www.amazon.com/Remembrance-Days-Past-Glimpses-Princely/dp/0195793927


'In Rampur music was central to every occasion: on Eid the ceremonial naubat (drum, shehnai, trumpet and flute) was played and, at the Qila, amid notes of mubarak baadi and raag darbari there was also a mardana and zenana darbar, the latter attended by begums in farshi pyjama and spectacular jewellery.'

http://y-sasm.blogspot.com/2011/05/abstract-2011-razak-khan.html
http://www.epw.in/web-exclusives/case-falling-walls.html

more on the autobiography of Jahanarah habibullah about rampur.
https://books.google.com/books?id=GQUFAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT148&lpg=PT148&dq=rampur+habibullah&source=bl&ots=mFlqRmIszv&sig=yKUWEN4cRIZRu3v-2be2dxZ-Am8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiapNTum83JAhWCJh4KHRUJC2YQ6AEIMjAD#v=onepage&q=rampur%20habibullah&f=false

more by muneeza shamsie:
https://books.google.com/books?id=GQUFAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT148&lpg=PT148&dq=rampur+habibullah&source=bl&ots=mFlqRmIszv&sig=yKUWEN4cRIZRu3v-2be2dxZ-Am8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiapNTum83JAhWCJh4KHRUJC2YQ6AEIMjAD#v=onepage&q=rampur%20habibullah&f=false

look at this site: http://www.criticalmuslim.io/discovering-the-matrix/
use discovering the matrix and jahanarah habibullah's account to describe rampur setting

buy this book:http://www.amazon.com/And-World-Changed-Contemporary-Pakistani/dp/1558615806


may come in handy but not sure, exploration of affinity in south asian context particularly after post sept 11.
http://roar.uel.ac.uk/3896/1/Madeline_Clements_U0921278_Thesis_FINAL_March_2014%5B1%5D.pdf