Katykins Weblog

We had our last day in Fiction today. We did the final workshops, and discussed three stories, with my novel excerpt “Selling the Farm” being one of them. The class seemed to like it. Once again I took a cliche idea and made it original, which I am glad that they thought so because I wasn’t so sure if I succeeded into making it my own or not.

My strengths were pretty much the same as in my previous story. I did well at characterization, especially with Wayne and Addy. I was able to show that Wayne was a creep without saying it, letting him show it for himself. I made Addy into a heroine, which is why the story wasn’t cliche because it was an early 1900’s story, and females generally needed saving by protagonists. I let Addy be her own hero.

I struggled with some of the details, such as the time period. The workshop helped out a lot with that. My class mates gave me a lot of suggestions on what I should do. First off, I should have my story be in the 1930’s, during the depression. It will add to the idea that it is a poor family, but also allow the wealthier people to have cars, and for there to be phones. Also, Addy should not see Wayne pulling Charlotte in the way of the bullet. Perhaps Addy should close her eyes for longer while before she pulls the trigger. I am going to have to work on this a little, and play with different idea. Also, Addy shouldn’t wipe of the gun. For one, she probably wouldn’t if her daughter had just been shot, and for two, she may not have needed to in the time period.

I am glad that I got good advice on the story. This semester went well. I would have never thought that I would have been good at writing fiction. It seems that I do have some talent in characterization. When I work hard I am capable of writing good short stories. I still have some work to do, but I am happy with the progress that I have made.

My story was work shopped in my fiction class today. I was surprised at the amount of positive feedback that I received. People seemed to like the characterization in my story. I guess the amount of details used helped to create a tone that I didn’t even know was there.
The criticism was pretty much accepted. No-one really liked the ending, it felt unresolved. I’ve had a few helpful suggestions to change it. One way might be make Scott’s realization of his wifes leaving him more of a scene. Also, I could write another chapter to show what happens after his wife leaves him.
Todays workshop was fun, everyone had pretty good stories. I think that we are all learning more from each other as a class, I know I am anyways. This is the first time that I’ve ever felt confident in my fiction capabilities. I am just taking the class because it’s required for my major, but I’m starting to really enjoy writing fiction.
Now I need to think about what my next story is going to be about. I’m tempted to write about a similar theme, of desperation and hope in a small impoverished town. I am not sure if I should try something new at te chance of being slammed for doing the same thing though. There are so many possibilities with that theme though, and if it’s something that I can write about than why not?
We’ll see how it goes. I was in group E, which is the last group so my next story is not due until May. If other writers stick to themes that they are comfortable writing about, than I will be in the clear.

I’m excited and yet nervous for the work shop on Tuesday. I’m excited for the feedback, but in the back of my head I know that the ending of my story wasn’t that great. I think that I may have rushed it too much. My class is right, it is really hard to write good endings. The rest of the story was going fine, but I had no idea how to end it. I think it needs more.

In my story the main character Scott has met up again with his high-school sweet-heart, Hailey, about a decade after high-school. During high-school, a football injury caused Scott to lose his college scholarship, as well as Hailey who went on to become a successful lawyer. Scott on the other hand stayed in Benton, the small town they grew up in. Scott is now married with three children, working at the local saw mill, and living in a trailer court.

Scott accepts Hailey’s offer to go out for drinks. During the next couple days Scott becomes once again obsessed with Hailey, and dissatisfied with his life. Once at the bar, Scott is turned off by Hailey’s new personality when she presents herself as promiscuous and bitchy.

In the end, Scott realizes what he has with his wife Tina isn’t bad after all, but it is too late for Tina leaves him.

The story is only twelve pages double spaced(the requirement for the class) so this may be why it is not very developed. I don’t really want to write a novel, or do I think that I am ready to write one(even if I was ready I certainly don’t have the time). I just want to finish the story and be satisfied with the ending.

Any suggestions?

So I finally finished my short story for my Fiction class last night. I stayed up late, got up early, and put in a lot of effort. I am not satisfied with the ending, but it being my first “long” short story I am trying not to be too hard on myself. The characterization turned out pretty well, but I am going to work on it more after it had been work shopped. I am hoping to receive constructive criticism from the work shop, but don’t exactly want my story to be town apart. With that being said, I bet that my peers will be able to find both positives and negatives in my story.

Before this year I had never done work shops. I have grown a lot this year in that I feel a lot more comfortable with myself and my work, and the criticism of others doesn’t hurt my feelings as much as it used to. If anything, I have become not only stronger, but also a better writer from people’s comments and suggestions.

I have one more short story to write for this semester, which is already almost over, how exciting is that?! Less than two months to go and I will have completed my sophomore year. Not only have I declared my major, but I am finding out more things about myself as I learn the ins and outs of writing.

My ten page story for my fiction class is due on Tuesday! Don’t worry, I have started it. I have about three pages done, and plan on working on it for a few hours tonight.

The reason I haven’t gotten more done it because it took so long to decide on a topic. I tried writing different things, but everything felt too bland and cliche. I felt that I should write about something that I know, or can atleast relate to. This is hard to do without writing about myself, or a situation that I’ve been in, which is not what I am going for at all.

I decided that my main character would be a male, which is a great way of detatching my own personal experiences from the character. However, I put him in a town that is much like the one I grew up in. The man is in is later twenties, and is unhappy with the path that he went down after highschool. He’s married with three children, which he having a hard time supporting. He does not love his wife, nor has he ever really, and in the story he makes realizations about himself, and eventually his own selfishness.

I still have a lot more work to put into it, so the plot may change some, but the characters and themes are pretty much set.

Wish me luck..

I finished reading the four short stories that are going to be work shopped tomorrow for my fiction class. They were pretty good, and I am glad that this group did not write more than ten page stories.

I was slightly annoyed that one author used a metaphor in their story that was strikingly similar to one that I had used earlier in the semester. To their credit, it wasn’t exactly the same, and was used in a different context. Still, it’s not a very common metaphor to use. The professor actually made a remark to me that it was one of the most original metaphors that she had ever read.

Maybe this is why I am aggrivated. Maybe the author didn’t even make the connection, and thought it up on their own. Stranger things have happened. I once heard that everything has already been written and already been done. This is a depressing concept. If everything has already been done, what is the use of writing?

Today felt good. I was praised be my manager for my constant postive attitude. He told me that it would serve me well in life, and in my career after college.

I believe that this is true. A positive attitude is a very important trait for people to have. In the writing field, people get turned down and critiqued all the time. Growing tough skin is vital unless you want to be fed to the dogs.

It’s important to take in peoples criticism without letting them kill your spirit. Achieving will help you later in life with your career and over all outlook on life.

I think that I have become more open to critiques this last year. Taking course where workshops are a major part of the assignments, you learn to take things with stride. Not everyones opinions may be right, but you should listen with open ears. The purpose of workshops is that we all can learn and help eachother. We are all working toward the same goal, to become better writers. Some people may not agree with my opinions on their work, but I would like them to respect them just as they would wish the same from me.

Last year I wasn’t that positive at all at what I was doing. I did not have a major, I didn’t have goals, and I wasn’t making as good of grades as I could have. This year as been a change for the better. I’ve transfered schools, declared a major, found a sense of security, and made the deans list. It’s amazing what a little drive can do for a person.

If I keep going on them same path I know I can make it far. I still have self doubt. I still don’t have as thick of skin as I should. I know that I can’t get there over night, but it does strangely feel better to do it slowly. You learn the most amazing things about yourself in the moments of transformation.

I had four short stories to critique over the weekend. I’ve seen a common thing that people have been doing in their stories: Writing them in 3rd person and giving the narrators voice the personality of the main character. I am not sure if this is a proper/popular thing to do, and maybe it is just a matter of personal taste, but quite frankly it annoys me.

When I stumble upon this technique it tears me from the story, causing me to step out and reread the passage to make sure I am understanding it correctly. I look for signs that is is just the characters thought, such as “He/she thought”. When I can’t find anything hinting to this, I keep reading while looking for any sign of the narrator having a disctinct personality.

One way I think that this technique could possibly work is by giving personality to the narrator through out the rest of the story. If a fly on the wall narrator does not have a distinct voice through out a story, I don’t think that they should have one at all.

Another common thing I am seeing is switching between past and present tenses when a person is doing something important. Now I know this is a beginning writing course and that I also am a novice, but in the stories over the weekend the switching between tenses seemed to be on purpose. Hopefully these were all just errors and not a technique that has totally eluded me thus far.

It is about a month in half into the semester. Prior to my Writing Fiction class I had no experience with writing my own fiction. I have now written about five three page stories, and a number of one to two page incompleted stories, which I am proud of. They are not great by any means, but it’s a start. In a few weeks, my first nine page story is due for our writers work shop(being a novice a signed up for the last possible work shop). I still need to come up with an idea for my story before I can begin writing.

I am slowly learning my stregnths and weaknesses in the world of fiction, partly by what comes naturally, and partly by the critiques and notes recieved by my professor and class mates. Characterization is one of my strong points, and is the thing I find most enjoyable in writing. I love coming up with different personalities, and seeing how the characters interact with eachother.

Dialogue is also somewhat one of strong points, however I have realized that I may be putting too much dialoque in to my stories. Which leads me discover my weakness. Summaries. I recently learned in class that dialogue should only be used when it is needed or important, or else is starts to sound bland. This is a very frustrating concept for me, because I’ve always thought that too much summary is boring.

So the brainstorming has begun. Hopefully soon I will decide on a story, so I can begin the possibly slow and painful writing process. One concept from Writing Fiction I am comfortable with- You can always go back and revise.

I’ve been reading “As I Lay Dying” by William Faulkner, for American Literature. It is intereting to read a story that is in multiple fist person point of views, which vary from chapter to chapter. I think that the use of alternating povs is necessary in this story to convey the southern renaissance theme. I’ve also been learning about the different use of pov’s in my Writing Fiction class. I’ve brushed up a bit on the basics, being the different main tpes of pov’s theat include:

3rd Person Omnicient- All knowing 3rd person, delving into thoughts, knowing what is going on multiple places.

3rd person limited-Fly on the wall, not capable of delving into thoughts, or able to see multiple things.

Second Person-Narrator that talks directly to the reader, as if they were the main character in the story.

1st Person- Told from almost always the main characters perspective.