I’m writing a short story for a creative writing class and I don’t quite know where to take it. suggestions?
It has started as a story about a dentist who is repulsed by people’s simple, minor flaws (like crooked or discolored teeth). I don’t know if I should leave it as a description of a lonely man or put in a conflict, climax, resolution etc. any ideas or things that might help me come up with ideas?
- j j
Tags: Conflict Resolution, Creative Writing, Discolored Teeth, Story Writing, Writing A Short Story
November 1st, 2009 at 7:39 am
No offense, but that sounds really boring, do something with MAGIC! YA, that’s creative writing.
November 1st, 2009 at 8:43 am
If you focus on that story, my suggestion is try to learn more about dentistry, its work, its most common flaws and lapses. this will help you promote an atmosphere of interest to the listener. If your tired of reading try to think of something that is under your expertise
November 4th, 2009 at 5:44 am
have you seen the movie “The Dentist”? maybe you can get some inspiration from that since its basically the same thing!
November 5th, 2009 at 8:05 am
It’s kind of been done. The dentist becomes so fustrated with people’s lack of concern with proper dental hygene that he starts yanking their teeth out which leads to serial murders. He finally gets caught and has the cliche fight where he falls off a tall building (that has no guard rails or fencing) and his nemesis, usually a police detective, tries to save him. But hey, maybe you’ll think of something else. Something better.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I like it, I think it sounds like you could take it anywhere.
Yes, the best stories have a character with inner conflict and they later go through a transition.
You should make him not only as a lonely man with a keen sense of attention to detail, but also with a grudge against a competitor dentist–a good looking young guy with a crest-white smile full of overly sized veeneers for teeth, the rest of the population can’t help but comment on “how nice they look”.
Hope that gives you some ideas of your own on where to take it!
November 8th, 2009 at 6:59 am
sounds boring. i recommend writing a different story. maybe about someone on drugs or something on the run start it off with bullets blazing yadayada keep the readers interested from the start. but if youre dead set on the dentist, well let him learn a lesson in the end that those minor things that can be fixed (he is the one thats fixing them after all – if hes repulsed by them he shouldnt be a dentist) shouldnt have a large impact on his life. or maybe him goin into depression and taking drugs and then runnning from gansters yadayadayada.
yeah i like drug stories theyre exciting.
November 8th, 2009 at 10:12 am
The start has possibilities. You could turn it into horror–He does dreadful things to “correct” the minor flaws he sees, with or without gas or novocaine.
Turn it into SF–he discovers a way to make teeth regrow and fill in cavities with proper tooth material. This can then end or branch off into regenerated teeth doing odd things.
Spy story–dentist is doing this for the military (soldiers with tooth aches can’t fight effectively) and spies want to steal his secret, stop him, or pervert his work to worsen toothaches.
Love–he falls in love with a patient whose teeth he corrects either before or after the work, with suitable moral statements either way.
Education–he tries to teach his methods to dental students who are too clumsy, too dumb, or too uncaring to succeed, but one brown noser succeeds. Will he see through the brownnoser?
Just a few possibilities, any of which could be handled in a variety of ways.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
magic is god
liiek make a really pretty lady become ugly and goes to the doc and he is repulsed (hirriable teeth) and then she curses him and he has to do all these thing (like learn to love someone or not be repulsed by them at least) and then in the end after he started to love the ugly girl she changes back and he is suprise dand she gives him the optiono of her staying ugly or beautiful. then it ends leave it hanging make people think.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:54 am
If it is a short story, yes, you shoud put in a conflict, climax, resolution etc. If you leave it as a description of a lonely man, you have a description of a lonely man, not a story. The story is what the lonley man did. A story needs a plot.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Seriously, ignore those people who say it sounds boring. They sound like the kind of people who only want to read one genre over and over. Your idea sounds good to me, and kind of creepy. You can make pretty much any premise good with good writing, and character-driven fiction is great.
I think you should have some kind of conflict, climax, and resolution, because stories without those are usually kind of boring. But I don’t think you should force it. In my experience, writing kind of takes on a life of its own as I write, so I often don’t know what’s going to happen in a story beforehand. I would just write the character and see where it led me. Maybe begin a scenario or two and then it might become clear what your character’s response would be and what could follow. I know not everybody writes that way, but that is my suggestion.
November 14th, 2009 at 5:57 am
This IS a good story idea. Certainly use conflicts, climax, etc. Without those elements, it’s merely a sketch. (Think of some of the American literature from the late 1700s and early 1800s.) Your dentist could be a cross between Dr. Frankenstein and Adolf Hitler, trying to create a new world order through teeth. Don’t give up.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
One day, some shopping chores take longer than expected and he gets very hungry. He mentions his hunger to another customer and the customer (a stranger) mentions a good restaurant nearby. The dentist walks into the restaurant and hears some beautiful music. The musician has crooked, discolored teeth, but the music is beautiful.
The dentist asks the restaurant manager how he is able to provide such beautiful music with the low prices. The restaurant manager says that the music is paid for by “him”, a man standing nearby who has beautiful teeth and who is wearing a beautiful suit. The deal is that after an hour of music, the man who paid for it gives a 30 minute political speech.
The dentist orders a meal, listens to the music, hasn’t finished eating when the political speech begins, and stays for the full speech. He is sold on the politician. The politician has superficial answers to deep problems and has an authoritarian approach of trying to solve problems by direct, forceful action. However, the politician has a very impressive and entertaining style of speaking. The dentist becomes one of the politician’s key supporters. Eventually the politician gets power, but the country suffers as a result and the dentist realizes he made a mistake.
Note: the above was inspired by shadow’s point:
“He is the one who is fixing them after all. If he’s repulsed by them then he shouldn’t be a dentist.”
November 20th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Why don’t you have your dentist realise he is suppressing a childhood memory? One in which he was very frightened by someone with crooked teeth, or maybe a monster under the bed, or a toy, etc. Maybe a child brings in a similar toy.
Hope that helps.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:45 am
I would go for the conflict/ resolution all the way. Have you ever read the famous story about a man who is repulsed by his wife’s birthmark? It is from the last century I think. He (a doctor) eventually performs an operation on her to rid her of it (he becomes obsessed with it and she is so in love with him, she allows anything) that kills her.