1、Two Weeks: Writing Guide1Thats the name of the book were creating from visitors to the Two Weekssite on Yahoo! This guide was written to help you contribute to the book inspired by thefilm, “Two Weeks” The book will be published when the film is released.Wed like you to write a story that answers th
2、e question:“What was the most important or inspiring thing that happened whensomeone you knew was dying?”Selected stories may also become part of the Two Weeks event on Yahoo!Health.“How to Keep on Living When Someone You Know is Dying”The ideal story for our site and book is a story that feels impo
3、rtant to you.Its a story about something that made you feel. That surprised, or delighted, or saddened you or madeyou laugh. Something that happened while someone you knew was dying that could be instructive, usefulor meaningful for someone else. What were the lessons?Think back to that time. What i
4、ncidents have you thought about more than once? Consider all thepeople involved at the time. Not just the person who was dying, but their friends, their relatives, theirdoctors. What did you see or hear that really sticks with you?Got an idea? Try writing it. If its important to you, and you write i
5、t well, somebody else will find itimportant to them.The Kinds of Stories Were Looking For2Send us your story about the single most important or inspiring thing you said, or did, or that youexperienced when someone you knew was dying.You can submit any story you like. Your story should be true. And i
6、t should be something that either happened toyou, or that you were there for. Your story will probably be written in the first person (“I”).Stories can be any length up to 1,200 words. Please use the word counter in your word processorstories over 1200words are unlikely to make the book.Stories must
7、 be written by you. You may not submit someone elses work.Select stories will be posted on the Two Weeks event on Yahoo! Health.We may edit your story for publication or posting.Please submit your story once. We promise to read it.Well notify you by August 30, 2006, if wed like to use your story in
8、the book. Meanwhile, you can visit the Two Weeksevent on Yahoo! Health to learn whats happening with the film and the book project.Submission Guidelines34Do focus your story simply on just what happened.Dont worry about making it fancy, or pretty. A story doesnt have to be flowery or use bigwords to
9、 say something real and meaningful. Simple and clean is a fine way to tell a story.Dont include long paragraphs of thoughts, politics, philosophy or beliefs. Those would befine if you were writing an essay or preparing a lecture, but were looking for stories.Do describe things the way you remember t
10、hem, so that we see for ourselves what wasimportant to you. You may reveal some of your thoughts, of course, but consider doing thatonly in the context of what you were thinking at the time.Dont send: Poems, Plays, Screenplays, Limericks, or other forms we cant use.Dont worry if youre not a professi
11、onal writer. Everyone has a story. Tell us yours!Dos and DontsWhen I met Ellen at Hals for lunch, she looked tired. She was early, too, which wasnt like her at all. We talked alittle about how long weve known each other since 10th grade, something that always amazes us. We havent beensuper-tight the
12、 whole time since, but weve covered a lot of ground.I asked her how the family was. Her mom, she said, was not good. How not good? I asked. Gone, she replied.Shes gone. The woman I knew is completely gone.I knew her mother had been sick, but not how sick. “She has dementiashe was in and out for abou
13、t 3 months.Every time I visited her, she was more and more confused. And then a couple of weeks ago, that was it. She juststopped talking. Shes eating ok, when she can remember how. But really, shes gone.”I remembered her mother. Tough, no nonsense, political. A strong influence on her daughters. I
14、figured this was atough one for Ellen to be going through. So I asked her how she was.Sample Stories:We asked several writers to respond to the film with their own true stories. Here aretwo examples of stories we think work:5EllenAnd she told meexhausted. Even though she and her sisters were splitti
15、ng visitation duties, it was hard seeing her mother. Hardtaking care of her father. And she was the only one in her family really in mourningthe only one who would admit that themother they knew was gone.She talked, and I asked her a few more questions, and she talked. Her eyes welled up as she told
16、 me about her daughters visitingtheir grandmother. About her dad, whod been married to her mom for over 50 years. I listened.Now Im no saintIm as self absorbed as the next guyand I found myself drifting through some of the reports on her sistersand cousins. But I listened, and asked questions here a
17、nd there.And at the end of our lunch, Ellen hugged me. What was that for, I asked? She looked at me and smiled. “Because after I tellsomeone my mothers dying, most people change the subject as fast as they can.”Steve, Los Angeles, CA6I watched my mothers face as she waited for the morphine drip to d
18、ull the pain of the cancer that was consuming her. It wasweek one of what would be a three-week-long dying process.My pain, an aching emptiness deep in my soul that was evident in my eyesthe eyes of her only daughterwas almost astorturous to her as her own.“I love you,” I said, for the third time th
19、at day. It was 2 p.m.“I love you too, so much,” she said, slurring slightly as the morphine kicked in.“Do you think we can love each other enough to last to infinity?” she asked, her eyes glazed from the drug. I knew she meanteternity, but I didnt correct her. The words didnt matter.Sample Story: El
20、ephants Foot7She lowered her eyelids and dozed for a few minutes, then suddenly reached out as if to steady herself and opened her eyes wide.“Mom, are you okay?” I asked, wondering if she was going to vomit again. An irreversible bowel obstruction was the final stage in mymothers four-year fight wit
21、h ovarian cancer.“No,” she answered, “I tripped.”“I shouldnt have tried to carry all of these things,” she continued, slowly panning the room with one hand as if to show me the heavyload of thing that weighed her down. The hospice nurse had said to “go along” with morphine-and-illness-induced halluc
22、inationscommon among the dyingin an effort to comfort loved ones, so I did.“Why dont you put some of them down?” I suggested. “Good idea,” my mother said, and she pantomimed putting four things down.Could that have been the four of us, her children? Was the burden of our devastation at losing her, w
23、atching our lively, healthy-lookingmother die at age 62, too much to bear? I think it was.“Thats better,” my mother said, when shed finished. Her mind wandered to my burdens, and she brushed what she said was an“elephants foot” off my shoulder.Then she spoke of bumblebees, clocks and fireflies befor
24、e dozing off again.I gazed at her face as she slept, memorizing every feature. I inhaled her scentso unique to her, and growing sweeter each dayand Ilet myself cry silently.“I love you very much,” my mother said, without opening her eyes.“I love you, too,” I said.Linda, Pottstown, PA8Not everyone is
25、 aprofessional writer.But even pros are sometimes stumped. Weve compiled afew of our favorite writing exercises in the pages thatfollow. Try a few to get started, or to get over a hump.They may not all work for youWriting Ideas and Exercises9Sometimes the hardest part of writingis deciding what to w
26、rite about. Our favorite decision-making tool is an easy one:Make a list.Take 5 minutes to make a long list of everything you might write about. All the things that happened. All the things that weresaid. All the things you felt.Make a long, long list. Dont worry about whether what youre writing dow
27、n is good or notjust write it.Dont judge, dont worry if everything (or anything!) you write is “good” or “usable,” just make as long a list as you can.At the end of your list making, go through the list and pull out the things you like. What jumps out at you? What feels like a goodstory idea? What d
28、etails did you remember when you made your list that you had forgotten?What rose to the surface of your mind?The list trick can be used anytime you get stuck. Just stop and write a list without judging. Ideas will come.Deciding What to Write About1011From your list:What stands out? What happened whe
29、n someone you knew was dying?Got it?Now write it. Start by telling it just like it was.First words? Try these: “I remember.”Once again, this first pass is a time to just write, not judge. Youll be rewritinglater!Getting StartedStay grounded in what happened. One easy way to do that is to describe th
30、edetails of the scene. What colors did you see? What did you smell? Hear?Taste? What was happening to you at the time?Whos the hero of your story? Who does this story happen to? Good stories have a beginning, a middle and an end.Things to Think About as You Write12Your story can be as few as 300 wor
31、ds(A typical entry on the blogs at the Two Weeks Event at Yahoo!Health is about thatlong), or as many as 1200 words.But any story should be as short as it can be and still tell the tale. As you go throughyour story, can you say the same things in fewer words? Whats the emotional hook of your story?
32、Why do we, the readers, care what happens?What does the story mean to you? Is that meaning clear in your writing of it?Things to Think About as You Rewrite13Send us a story you love.It doesnt have to be perfect.No matter how you write it, if its a story you really careabout, that means a lot to you, it will come through on the page.Write what you can, and send it. You will have made ahuge contribution to our site, and maybe helped someoneelse along the way.Thanks!Submissions: Two Weeks, LLCThe Last Word14
