Short Sessions

[quicksessions]

Final Reflection

1. List three books you plan to read over the next five years that aren't typically what yo read.  Explain why you have chosen these books.

-Fight Club

-Uncle Tom’s Cabin

-More Margaret Atwood

I want to do some more reading in the more masculine realm because I’m so disconnected from it--I feel like it’ll help broaden my perspective. So Fight Club it is. 

I actually have an aversion to slave narratives for pretty obvious reasons. I’m in Narratives of Slavery (I took the course to help conquer my apprehensions about them) right now and my professor keeps bringing up how influential this work was during the 19th century, laying the groundwork for the Civil War, even though it’s like, complete horseshit and Harriett Beacher Stowe was apparently a terrible person on the low. I’m just curious about all that drama.

Although I do enjoy feminist writing, I’ve actually only ever read The Handmaid’s Tale during my senior year of high school, fell in love, and then literally never read anything else by her again until I read that short work by her in this class. I straight up forgot how much I liked her! I want to rediscover some of her other work.

2. Detail 10 experiences you hope/plan/aim to have over the next 5-10 years to make you a better writer.

-I want to become a teacher in order to inspire others and immerse myself even more in English, literature, writing, and language arts.

-I hope to get published. But hey, doesn’t everybody. I feel like that’s something to aim for after you become a better writer, though. But anything can happen.

-I want to get married and start a family. I feel like that lived experience is one of the major milestones that I’m hoping will add an extra dimension to some of my more personal writing.

-I want to keep up a diary. The blogs are a little much, because I don’t actually need anybody to see it, but I want to start writing something at least once a week.

-I also want to start reading way more overall. I want to read at least ten books a year (which is way more than what I can say I have time for currently as far as nonacademic reading goes).

-I’m going to make more of an effort to connect with members of my extended family. We’re all quite detached and distant from each other, and I feel like if I got to know them on a more personal level, I wouldn’t be so apprehensive about writing about my experiences with them. 

-I hope to travel a lot more. I’ve only ever been to New York and Mexico. Otherwise, I’ve lived in Florida my entire life. I want to experience some new environments and cultures to add color and life to my settings and characters in my stories.

-I want to also try writing outside of the mediums I’m used to. I write a lot of creative nonfiction and a good amount of fiction, but no screenplays at all. But I’m a double major in Creative Writing and Theatre Studies so...what exactly have I been waiting for?

-Not just traveling, but also moving to live somewhere else outside of Florida I think will greatly influence my writing. Living somewhere with actual seasons might inspire me to write about the snow or the leaves changing colors.

-I want to have a child to read to. I want to give them my old typewriter and see what they do. I think that will probably have the greatest impact on my development as a writer--fostering a legacy of sorts.

3.  List five writing projects you would like to complete within the next 5 years.

-My first fiction novel

-A memoir of my young adulthood (it’s been wild so far)

-A solid personal essay

-I want to fill out a planner entirely from January 1st through December 31st without giving up part-way through.

-I also want to keep a diary for at least a whole year.

4.  Describe three general career paths that you think you might like. If you want to put "make a living as a graphic novelist," okay, but have a fall-back plan or two as well.

-Teaching. I eventually want to become a professor, but I’ll start off teaching public school.

-I’d love to work on the story/scenario team for a video game developing company.

-Pastry chef. I’m actually 10000 times more qualified to do that as a career than write--I already have five years experience working in bakeries. This has always been my ultimate fall-back plan.

5.  About this presentation of a writer assignment, finish the sentence, “I was really surprised to find out…”

I was really surprised to find out how many goals I have for the future. Normally, I feel like I’m just floating through life waiting for the next big thing to happen to me. But I have all of these super realistic, very attainable goals that I can totally take into my own hands to accomplish, but I’m the only person standing in my way, essentially. It excites me to know that it’ll only take some commitment and perseverance on my part to get the things that I want. Outlining it all like this really put things into perspective for me.

[quicksessions]

Workshop #2 Critiques

Top Critiques

1. Kyle Kubik

Kyle gave me the idea to introduce my conflict earlier on in the piece, as it wasn’t really specific what the actual conflict was until about three pages in. He said, “Another missed opportunity can be seen in how Ashlyn’s invitation for Haven to come to the beach with her is in summary instead of scene. In fact, if shown in scene and sprinkled with interiority, this scene could allow the conflict to appear on the very first page.”  This was an opportunity that I hadn’t even considered before, and I definitely want to include that in my revision. 

2. Charles Hines

Charles told me that “much of the mourning was left out” in reference to Haven and Ashlyn’s emotional state throughout the story. It occurred to me that two young girls who just lost their parents a month ago would be probably more grief-stricken than how I portrayed them, especially on Haven’s first birthday without them. I should take more time to explore that in my revision, perhaps including commentary from Haven in the beginning of the story.

3. Mariah Fuertes

Mariah wondered about Ashlyn’s daily responsibilities surrounding her new role as a parent to Haven, like bills, getting Haven to school, etc. Combining this idea with Kyle’s critique about establishing the conflict earlier in the story, I think I can integrate images of Ashlyn’s new duties into a scene in the beginning where Ashlyn invites Haven to the beach. 

Some of the problems I had with writing this story were where to begin it and where to end it, as is my problem with most pieces I write. I have a pretty clear idea, but I usually end up picking the wrong place to start it, and kind of fumble around the ending. I could have taken this piece a couple of pages further, I think, but the chess scene seemed symbolic enough to end it there. In my revision, I’ve received enough critiques about establishing the conflict that I have a good idea about where I should start my story now, and I’ll address that in the revision.

I also received positive critiques that surprised me--I learned that I’m not as bad of a writer as I thought. Usually, I’m just throwing ideas against the wall until something sticks, so I’m surprised that my audience got the idea behind the piece without too much confusion or need for an explanation. 

[quicksessions]

Story Structure - Cathedral

ThIn “Cathedral,” the main tension of the story resides in the narrator’s apprehension about how to behave and become comfortable entertaining a blind man, one of his wife’s close pen pals. 

Some of the complications that arise leading toward the climax are Robert’s and the wife’s conversations essentially leaving the narrator out upon the Robert’s arrival, narrators decision to smoke weed to loosen up the tension of the situation, and the wife’s prompt passing out after partaking, leaving the narrator alone with Robert. 

The narrator has his wife’s approval at stake, though some other parts of the conflict are struggles within himself to break out of his comfort zone. 

At the climax of the story, the narrator makes a decision to keep his eyes closed after drawing the cathedral to better understand Robert’s perspective. This marks a definite change in his character, as previously he had been quite prejudice about blind people before actually getting to know one. 

The structure of the story works because it builds with just enough exposition to give us some idea of who these characters are into a clear conflict with a resolution at the end. The character undergoes a noticeable change from start to finish. 

As much as we’ve been told to create strong, character-driven narratives when practicing creative writing theory, this story really brought that initiative to the forefront. I can clearly follow the structure of the story much more so than in my own character-driven works. I feel like I’m gaining a wider understanding of how to create a structure that works for a narrative without falling into a formulaic pattern, and I hope to continue working on that.

[quicksessions]

Unreliable Narrators

I read “Rape Fantasies” by Margaret Atwood because I literally was just having a conversation about this topic with my boyfriend a day or two ago. Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite feminist authors and this style is the exact style I would hope to emulate in my own flash fiction writing. 

Atwood utilizes an unreliable narrator in an interesting way: her narrator is a gossipy, catty, opinionated thirty-something woman nestled in a group thirty-something women discussing magazine article sex fantasies. Hello, skewed perspective! For one, the narrator has a huge blind spot to how she is viewed by her other coworkers. She is so heavily opinionated about their quirks and personality traits and she internalizes a kind of aggravation about them as if she’s the completely normal one and they’re all sensitive or irrational or weird in their own regard. But what if she’s actually the crazy one and her coworkers are just participating in normal, workroom gossip like women do on their lunch breaks? 

The pettiness with which she notes what seemed like behavior typical of women their age (talking in the lunchroom, abandoning a card game to talk about sex, fantasizing about nonviolent rape) makes her out to have a kind of chip on her shoulder, which makes me not trust her.

I love the effect of this point of view because it’s a little stream-of-conscious-y and it makes me feel like I’m directly connecting to the narrators brain, like I’m reading her diary rather than her organized perceptions of what’s happening around her. I feel like I’m getting the juice rather than the state of the union, and I think it adds so much character and dimension to what could just be a regular old narration. I would love to emulate this type of narration in my own writing because I enjoy writing characters with lots of petulant thoughts like this. It’s enjoyable to read, as well, as the narrator of this piece had me dying laughing!

[quicksessions]

Critiquing

I’m a Libra, and if there’s one thing we’re somewhat decent at, it’s being equitable judges. That is, if you want to equate the reader to a sort of “judge” by definition of “somebody who critiques.” But that’s kind of neither here nor there. 

I would say what I’m best at doing as far as critiquing workshop pieces is giving a full-bodied verbal critiques. I can very clearly articulate how a piece affected me both positively and not-so positively if it is an earnest attempt. I tend to vary my responses depending on the content of the piece. If somebody is writing about something I find particularly fascinating or moving or eclectic, I tend to respond more lengthily. Even if I read something quite good and the topic doesn’t quite pique my interest, my critiques can be a little bare-boned. My question is, is that fair of me as a colleague? 

Really, I just love open discussion and sharing my opinion whether it’s warranted or not. So I would also say that the difference between my written and oral critiquing is that you, as an author, will probably feel much better about your work if you hear me talk about it versus seeing what I wrote on your paper. I can’t focus very well, so my critiques on paper are scattered, and I don’t necessarily write down all the reactions I’m having in my head. Verbally, you get to hear my sincerity, so I think those workshop sessions go over better for me.

The Straub essay gave me some insight into “dos and don’ts” that weren’t necessarily addressed in my intro class. I didn’t know that being too concise could be such a hindrance, as I tend to try to mirror my professor’s brief notes when I’m writing critiques. Now I know that I’m not supposed to be reacting as a “teacher” or a “shotgun,” but as a reader, so my responses on paper should be more elaborated and full like my verbal critiques.

[quicksessions]

The Drafting of My First Draft

     To be completely honest, I’m not too confident about the quality of my piece so far. I’m hoping that this workshop will allow me to pinpoint some of the structural elements that need to be fixed. I feel like I’m having a big issue with pacing in particular, and I want to know if that translates for anybody else as well.

     When I started writing this draft, I didn’t know exactly what I was trying to write about. I think I just wanted to convey a feeling of frustration I’ve experienced (and that I know other people must have experienced, right?) when dealing with aloof guys. I had a roommate last year who had it especially bad, and she was constantly seeking some kind of fulfillment in the next new relationship. Where as I identify as the narrator, with her lack of patience leading to sloppily attempted relationships, my old roommate was a lot like Joie: a shameless people pleaser, overstepping personal boundaries just enough to come off as a bit crazy, but a genuinely kind person with sincere intentions. I wanted to play up that contrast in the creation of these two characters in my piece.

     Every time I write anything, even this blog post, it challenges me. I have to overcome a lot of mental barriers (my attention deficiency being one of the largest) to be able to produce written work that I’m okay with. But I know that this kind of challenging is really just practicing, and it’s all a healthy part of becoming a better writer.

[quicksessions]

“People” I Tend to Write About

I say “people” because really, my characters tend to be based on people I know. Every so often there might be a character or two loosely inspired by other characters on television, in video games or anime, or in other books. I am the least original person on Earth, is what I’m trying to say.

Typically, I tend to write about women. Not even typically, actually, it’s more like exclusively--I only write about women. I mean, men are in my stories, of course, but the protagonist is always a female. I remember trying to write from male perspectives back when I was younger and I just didn’t get it--I didn’t get the masculine perspective, I didn’t understand how men think and process things. Although I do identify as a straight female and of course I appreciate men for many reasons, I cannot bring myself to write about them with the honesty and ease that I can about women. I dunno. It’s weird. I think I tend to be drawn to female characters because I can relate to them. I also hate how it’s not unusual to find a female author writing from the male perspective but not vice versa. Men don’t write about us nearly as often as we do about them, so I don’t feel like I want to contribute to that kind of construct. Women are cool. 

Back to me being unoriginal, though: man, I’m terrible. I see a character I think is cool in a video game and instantly I’m like, “Aw, cool, she could be like this one character in my story,” and I think that tends to stifle any of my own flair coming through in my characters. I do, however, tend to take pride in my character’s unique voices. The dialogue comes naturally and they have quirky inner thoughts, too. But I think I want to try and work to develop a character all my own, with the least amount of outside influence as possible. Like, what is my own image of what a good character looks like? 

To me, I think creating “likable” characters is important. I’m a Libra--we like to be liked, and I feel like a character that I create is a tiny extension of myself as an author, so I want them all to be sympathetic somehow. I think in order for a character to be “likable,” he or she would have to be relatable. When readers identify with a character or can find a little piece of them that they find intriguing or inspiring or relevant, I think that’s what draws them towards that character. 

All in all, I think character creation is one of the things I look forward to working on the most with this upcoming workshop. 

[quicksessions]

Fake it ‘Till You Make It

Now I’ve accumulated drones of English professors in my four years at UCF that would find even just the title of my first post problematic. Honestly, when it comes to the craft--the craft--of creative writing, I essentially have no idea what I'm doing. 

Which brings me to the point of this blog post: have I actually learned anything about creative writing after studying the art of it for the last three years? Yes and no. Yes, I have learned a ton about strategies and techniques of creative writers and what makes literary different from genre fiction and good and bad habits to develop as a writer and all of that amazingly helpful stuff. But have I actually began the process of applying these things to my own writing? Yes and no. 

In short, I’m horribly out of practice. Between schoolwork, I’m rarely ever writing for fun anymore. 

So that’s what I hope to do with this blog and in this course--I hope to maybe kick off a good forum here so I can write a little bit more for fun. I find that reflective writing comes the most naturally to me because I’m already a pretty avid daydreamer, so it kind of allows me to sort through my own thoughts. I’m worried about being inconsistent with this practice and not maintaining it after the semester is over and I graduate, because I really do think it would be helpful practice for me. Who knows--maybe I can come up with a few new ideas?