UCD Fictional Things

A Blog for 5F at UC Davis

[ucdfictionalthings]

10.1 - Experience

You'll post this one on your own blog:

Part I: Think of a character who is outside of your experience in some way. Maybe this means age, or gender, or orientation, or religion, or geographical location, or race, or class, etc.

Your job here is to write ~something with that character (a sketch, a scene, dialogue, etc.). Try to be as well-rounded as you can. What are their fears? Desires? Ambitions? Doubts? Jobs? Family life? Relationships?

Part II: Write a ~paragraph about the experience. Was it hard? Why did you feel uncomfortable? What were you worried about? What types of questions did you have? What could you not understand? Did you feel like a thief? Was it easy? Did you not have any worries at all? Why did you feel comfortable?

Your job here is to be as honest about the experience as possible, and start to question (not answer!) what it means for writers to write outside of their experience. Is it ok? Is it offensive? Does it depend on the experience? Have you written anything this entire quarter outside of your experience, or only within it? You don’t have to answer all of these, but you should be thinking about them.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Writing Philosophies

Fiction is a way to document the creative process of the mind.

Writing serves as a mechanism to express thoughts.

Good writing expertly conveys ideas.

Bad writing fails to explain ideas.

Stories provide an alternative way to tell history, whether of true nature or an imagined past.

[ucdfictionalthings]

philosophease

1. Fiction can go in any direction, so long as it flows. 2. Writing is a means of imparting an author’s mental process. 3. Good writing confidently follows its own rules while still making sense to readers. 4. Bad writing has its quirks and kinks that can be smoothed out with the necessary work. 5. Stories open up what one may have seen as a closed universe.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Creative Writing

Fiction is less than reality. There is no need to stick to what we think is normal, but still needs to be believable.

Writing is a medium for expression that is hard to accommodate to everyone.

Good writing is subjective. In a reader’s perspective, good writing can be many different things. Genre, characters, plots, or other elements can be subjected for what is good writing.

Bad writing is incomplete and lacks much development.

Stories are an opportunity to explore characters and worlds not represented in our own lives. 

[ucdfictionalthings]

Philosophizing

Fiction allows imagination into the realm of reality.

Writing allows for self-expression and self care.

Good writing is subjective.

Bad writing has unneeded grammatical errors.

Stories keep culture alive.

[ucdfictionalthings]

9.2 Philosophizing

1. Fiction is an art that involves a process, and the process takes a lot of work and creativity from the author.

2. Writing can be presented in many ways such as symbols, texting, and e-mails.

3. Good writing is accomplished after the first couple of drafts and edits.

4. Bad writing happens when a writer has gone through their first draft or when he/she is not vested in their art.

5. Stories can be as long or as short as one wants them to be, but they must have a logic to them, and it doesn’t matter if the logic makes sense in the real world or not.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Fiction

1. Fiction is anything that is not real; literary fiction is a way to explore what is. 

2. Writing is a way to create art and make people think. 

3. Good writing is character driven. It lets you see the way characters think, and how their worlds work. 

4. Bad writing can be improved, and is not necessarilly bad (that’s right, bad writing is not necessarily bad). Bad writing is different for everyone, and for me it is writing which misuses the elements of fiction unintentionally. Bending the rules can be great, but it must be intentional. 

5. Stories are worlds unto themselves. They have their own inhabitants, their own logics, and their own histories. 

[ucdfictionalthings]

9.2

1. Fiction is imagination of others’ lives . 2. Writing is the way to express yourself. 3. Good writing can make readers empathize with your stories. 4. Bad writing is chaotic and orderless. 5. Stories are your imaginations of other options of life.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Writing Fiction

1. Fiction can be nearly anything, covers a variety of topics, and can take many forms.

2. Writing is a form of art that can be influenced by what the author knows, doesn’t know, observes, experiences, values, and so much more.

3. Good writing comes from bad writing and comes from lots of editing.

4. Bad writing is something that happens to everyone and can always be improved to become good writing.

5. Stories can be used to express ideas and utilize characters to convey the message to the reader.

[ucdfictionalthings]

1. Fiction externalizes my imagination. 2. Writing is an adventure that allows me to explore my life and world. 3. Good writing makes me think or feel. 4. Bad writing is an opportunity for improvement. 5. Stories offer new ways of thinking about familiar experiences.

[ucdfictionalthings]

9.2

1. Fiction is limitless. 2. Writing is challenging, exciting, and most of all rewarding. 3. Good writing takes practice. 4. Bad writing is inevitable. 5. Stories are drawn from the characters you create.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Being philosophical

Fiction can bend the restrictions of reality and create room for one's imagination.  

Writing can take on any form and actually beckons the writer to step out of his or her shell.

Good writing is allowing oneself to fully be free when composing a narrative.

Bad writing is using words on a page to demean others or be hurtful. 

Stories are endless, meaning that everyone and everything has a story behind it.  

[ucdfictionalthings]

Philosophizing :)

1) Fiction can go as far as your imagination can take you. 2) Writing is an art form that few souls in this world can do well. 3) Good writing takes the reader into another world, no matter how bizarre or normal that world is. 4) Bad writing is in the eyes of the beholder. 5) Stories are a limitless window into the soul of human beings.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Prompt 9.2

1. Fiction has many rules, but these rules are meant to be broken in a way that makes people think.

2. Writing is a way for people to connect, no matter how different they are. 

3. Good writing causes readers to feel and to wonder. 

4. Bad writing is created when an author thinks too much or tries too hard. 

5. Stories can change the way people view the world. 

[ucdfictionalthings]

9.2 - Philosophizing

1. Fiction allows me to experience things outside the realm of reality.

2. Writing is way to express thoughts nonverbally.

3. Good writing makes me forgot about reality. It temporarily transports me to another place, and provokes thought.

4. Bad writing fails to draw me in. When reading it, I usually say to myself “Wow, this is some bad writing.”

5. Stories are accounts of something happening; while this is admittedly vague, many things can qualify as a story.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Philosophy

Fiction writing should be fun and a laboratory.

Writing is a painful task if you are restricted on what you can write.

Good writing depends on how one views the writing---the aspect is an important factor.

Bad writing is nonexistent, because you do not simply let your dreams be dreams.

Stories need not follow any trends.

[ucdfictionalthings]

Fiction still has to be believable. Writing is a process and takes time. Good writing happens if you put in effort. Bad writing happens if you don’t care about it. Stories take place in a completely different world that you have to make up.