What do you write? [Undiscovered Stories Collection]

Sure Uncertainty

Story Name:

Sure Uncertainty

Genre:

Teen Fiction (Humor)

How did you come up with the title:

It's taken directly from a line in the Shakespeare play, The Comedy of Errors: “Until I know this sure uncertainty, I'll entertain the offered fallacy.” Act II Scene II. It summarizes the book pretty well, and I liked its short catchiness and the oxymoron.

What inspired you for your story:

My story is a modern day retelling of the Shakespeare play The Comedy of Errors. I was inspired when I acted in the play, and I loved it so much, I started thinking about how it would be in modern times. I realized that since the play is very little-known, there haven't been many adpations of it at all compared to other more famous plays. And then I kind of just ran with it from there.

How do you name your characters:

For my writing in general, I like to come up with unique interesting names for my characters. I try not to have any generic names, but sometimes a name will just fit a character so perfectly I can't help but choose it. For Sure Uncertainty however, I had a slightly different process. I named each character as a modern day counterpart to their names in the original Shakespeare play. For instance, the main character's name in the play is Antipholus which is obviously not a modern name. So I used the name Antony in my book, which is still uncommon, but it's similar (it shares the first few letters). All the characters in Sure Uncertainty are named like that except for characters I made up that aren't based on any particular ones from the play.

How do you name your chapters:

I'm normally pretty bad at coming up with titles but for this book what I usually did for this book was skim through the chapter for important phrases that seem to ecapsulate what the chapter is about. Or just a general idea of what the chapter's going to be. I don't really have a system, just whatever works.

How long is each chapter:

About 3,000 words. Roughly. Or five pages on my computer. But they vary in length sometimes, depending on what's happening in the chapter. I try and keep it more or less consistent though.

What does ''show not tell'' mean:

I hear that advice all the time and it's still something I need to work on. It means that instead of telling your readers what your characters are like (or setting or plot or anything), you need to demonstrate it through dialogue, body language, etc. Instead of telling us that a character is, for instance, a bitter person, you should show us that by describing the way she might lash out at someone or her way of speaking.

How do you draft and plan your story:

Each story is different. But for Sure Uncertainty, I needed a heavily detailed outline in order to stay on track. I mapped out the plot of the original play according to scene, and then basing it on that, I thought through how to modernize each thing, what aspects of the plot I would keep the same and which aspects I would have to change. It was extremely difficult, especially because it was hard to know what plot points are important enough and which ones I can stray from the original on. I wanted to be as faithful to the original as it was possible to be. I had to change a lot though and it was very hard. I used about three different outlines, decided whose point of view each chapter would be from, and even figured out all my characters' lunch schedules. It was extremely complicated and a huge challenge that I hadn't even anticipated when I started writing. Most of my other books are not that complex though.

How long does it take to write one story:

It completely depends on the story. I've been working on Sure Uncertainty for almost a year, but it's mostly finished at this point. The first draft took only four weeks because I had a lot of motivation and a very disciplined schedule. But I've been editing and revising on and off since then for several months. Another book only took me a couple months to write, but I had deadlines for that one too. I'm a pretty fast writer when it comes to first draft but editing and revising takes FOREVER.

What is the best way to promote your story:

Well, my story's not all that popular yet, so I'm probably not the best person to give advice on this. But the reason I have the number of reads and follows I do at this point, is just because I've been active in the forums. In my experience, the best thing to do is to make friends, make connections. Read other people's work and comment on them. Just kind of build a presence on Wattpad I guess.

Experience in writing:

I've been writing for literally as long as I can remember. I've begun so many stories but only finished a handful of them. I've taken lots of English and writing classes, and joined critique groups at my school. I've queried agents about publishing (with no success so far, but I've most certaintly tried). Writing is my life, and my passion, above anything else. I pour my everything into my writing, and my only hope is that I'll be able to really share that with the world.

Final Comments and Tips for others:

Don't give up. And I know that sounds really cheesy, but even if you think you're a terrible writer or get discouraged, don't give up! My biggest advice to writers is to set aside a time (maybe it's two hours, maybe it's twenty minutes, it's up to you) for writing every day, or every other day. Get a schedule down, a routine. Set deadlines for yourself to help you stay on track! You got this! :D