So I have decided to stick with my original story idea. I am learning that writing a short story is not instinctual for me like research writing is, so I am going to rely on the peer review and the class workshops to make my story better. I have a basic idea of what I want to say, but I'm hoping the more I think about it, the better it gets.
I decided over break to stick with the idea I have been drafting, and stay away from some other topics that are closer to me because I am not ready to write about them yet. There are a couple writing territories that I could do well at, but they are too personal and I don't think it would come out how I would want.
I am sure I want to have a happy ending in my story, I am just working out how to make it interesting and dramatic without becoming too dark. Reading other short stories has definitely helped me think about where I want it to go. If I had to turn in my story now it would probably be disastrous, but I am hoping I will be able to work it and improve it in the next couple weeks.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
the creative writing learning curve...
So I am finally starting to catch up on all my missed work. The past two weeks were a little rough, I had both strep throat and the flu back to back. Anyway, I am finally feeling better getting back into the swing of things.
I regret that I missed last week's class because this is a very new process to me. The writing assignments help though. I didn't really know all the prep work that went into developing a story before you actually start writing! I am so used to writing research papers where the formula is easy: research, thesis, outline, paper, and citations... To be honest I thought that creative writing was more of a trial and error process where you write a story and polish it as you think of new ideas and so on. I was unaware that there were so many writing exercised to help before the actual story writing begins. I admit it all makes sense now though. I was struggling in the first week to come up with a story topic that I could have written about and made interesting to others to read.
I have a lot more respect for this kind of writing and I am still hopefully that this class will enhance my writing skills and make it easier to write a stronger thesis paper when I get to my senior seminar class for history.
I still don't know exactly what I want to write my short story about though. I am trying my best to develop a story that I will enjoy writing. If I don't enjoy writing it then I know there is no way anyone else will enjoy reading it!
I regret that I missed last week's class because this is a very new process to me. The writing assignments help though. I didn't really know all the prep work that went into developing a story before you actually start writing! I am so used to writing research papers where the formula is easy: research, thesis, outline, paper, and citations... To be honest I thought that creative writing was more of a trial and error process where you write a story and polish it as you think of new ideas and so on. I was unaware that there were so many writing exercised to help before the actual story writing begins. I admit it all makes sense now though. I was struggling in the first week to come up with a story topic that I could have written about and made interesting to others to read.
I have a lot more respect for this kind of writing and I am still hopefully that this class will enhance my writing skills and make it easier to write a stronger thesis paper when I get to my senior seminar class for history.
I still don't know exactly what I want to write my short story about though. I am trying my best to develop a story that I will enjoy writing. If I don't enjoy writing it then I know there is no way anyone else will enjoy reading it!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
My first entry
Hey cyberspace,
My name is Todd. I am opening this account for school purposes. I have to maintain a blog throughout the semester for my creative writing class. I have never been one to write about, or even talk about, my feelings or emotions. I generally have become very good at keeping things inside, which is probably a bad thing, but I haven't exploded yet. I have always been a little skeptical about blogging. Why would someone want an infinite number of strangers reading their thoughts? This will definitely be a new experience for me, but I will give it my best shot. I don't believe in doing anything halfheartedly anymore. I will either give my best, or not do it! haha.
Recently, there is not much that I won't try. My life has been somewhat of a shambles in the past few years and I am only recently putting the pieces back together. As a result I have set out to better myself and try new things.
In high school I was very shy, but always did well in school and sports. I was accepted into every college I applied to save for one, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I am born and raised in Annapolis so all I can say is that I always wanted to go there as long as I could remember. I decided to go to prep school for a year after high school under a scholarship from USNA and then entered the class of 2006. I was almost immediately disillusioned with the place I had built up in my mind to be so great, and after struggling for 3 and half years I decided that place, and the military in general, were not for me. I floundered a bit after that, missing the chance to finish school right away and instead took a job in the yachting industry which I still love! I got the chance to travel, meet some amazing people, and play on boats all day. I got laid off last year when the economy tanked, and subsequently moved to Maine in September for a fresh start. This is my first semester back in school since the end of 2005.
I also have struggled with a personal loss. The passing of my 23 year old fiance almost 2 years ago sent me spiraling out of control with no direction in life for over a year. Not a day goes by where I don't think about it, but I have learned to be more productive in life again. I have kept a lot of feelings inside for a long time, but things have been getting better over the past 6 months.
So I guess I would not be doing this if it wasn't for class. I have never taken a creative writing class before. I am a history major, so by practice I learned to write objectively. I am excited to try something new, and I am also hoping that this class will improve my writing skills in general! I have been told my many professors that good historians are first and foremost good writers. Let's see where this goes...
My name is Todd. I am opening this account for school purposes. I have to maintain a blog throughout the semester for my creative writing class. I have never been one to write about, or even talk about, my feelings or emotions. I generally have become very good at keeping things inside, which is probably a bad thing, but I haven't exploded yet. I have always been a little skeptical about blogging. Why would someone want an infinite number of strangers reading their thoughts? This will definitely be a new experience for me, but I will give it my best shot. I don't believe in doing anything halfheartedly anymore. I will either give my best, or not do it! haha.
Recently, there is not much that I won't try. My life has been somewhat of a shambles in the past few years and I am only recently putting the pieces back together. As a result I have set out to better myself and try new things.
In high school I was very shy, but always did well in school and sports. I was accepted into every college I applied to save for one, the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. I am born and raised in Annapolis so all I can say is that I always wanted to go there as long as I could remember. I decided to go to prep school for a year after high school under a scholarship from USNA and then entered the class of 2006. I was almost immediately disillusioned with the place I had built up in my mind to be so great, and after struggling for 3 and half years I decided that place, and the military in general, were not for me. I floundered a bit after that, missing the chance to finish school right away and instead took a job in the yachting industry which I still love! I got the chance to travel, meet some amazing people, and play on boats all day. I got laid off last year when the economy tanked, and subsequently moved to Maine in September for a fresh start. This is my first semester back in school since the end of 2005.
I also have struggled with a personal loss. The passing of my 23 year old fiance almost 2 years ago sent me spiraling out of control with no direction in life for over a year. Not a day goes by where I don't think about it, but I have learned to be more productive in life again. I have kept a lot of feelings inside for a long time, but things have been getting better over the past 6 months.
So I guess I would not be doing this if it wasn't for class. I have never taken a creative writing class before. I am a history major, so by practice I learned to write objectively. I am excited to try something new, and I am also hoping that this class will improve my writing skills in general! I have been told my many professors that good historians are first and foremost good writers. Let's see where this goes...
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