Throughout this class I’ve learned how to craft and frame a story with an emphasis on being able to finish it indefinitely. I’ve also learned how to navigate word choice and learning when to omit words or replace them; and how to truly workshop and peer review others’ works. This class has given me the ability to learn how to work in a time frame with a deadline and I’ve finally learned how to reflect and edit on my own pieces while still maintaining the ability to incorporate and add.
I haven’t written fiction in a really long time, but it has been such a fun challenge for me to step back into. I really resonated with all the discussions we had in class about raising the stakes and tension, making complicated characters, and making settings feel like real places. In my own writing, I am eager to take my peer’s feedback and adapt it to make something new and better than my original drafts for both my first story and the next one I will do. My biggest goal for this second round of workshop/my second story draft is to try and make a story that has more for the reader to presume/solve. It meant a lot to be in a space that both finds the good and great in your work, but also isn’t afraid to show you where it could be stronger.
Every time I am in one of these writing classes, it reminds me of my passion for writing. Not only that, but my passion for others’ writing as well. I just love this art in many of its forms and I have learned that discussing writing, reading other people’s work, and helping by giving feedback really helps motivate me to write. I leave each workshop session wanting to sit in front of my computer to write. I have learned a lot about the application of what we’ve read in the assigned readings this semester, such as the chapters on voice, and point of view. I’ve seen many examples thanks to my peers of the different ways to apply that knowledge, and it helps broaden the scope of my understanding and ability to use it in my own writing. I’ve learned a lot from the feedback I’ve been given, but also the feedback I gave as I know a lot of the things I notice in other people’s work, are things I missed in my own or could use some of that advice for myself. I hope other people in here learned from the great advice they gave as well, because everyone had very valuable things to say.
This first round of short stories has been really good. I think I have learned a lot just by hearing the feedback for everyone, not just my own feedback. I now know going into my second story what everyone liked and what I can improve upon to make the next story as good of a first draft as it can be for workshopping. I am very excited to see which direction we all take our stories. It was interesting to see the intersections of some of our stories from this first round and I hope we have some unplanned similarities again as it was very cool to compare and contrast two stories that had similar elements in one workshop day. I appreciate all of the feedback I’ve gotten on my first story and I am glad that some of it can be used in general and not just pertaining to only my first story.
Through this writing process I’ve learned a lot about myself and my writing. In past writing classes I’ve struggled with formatting and dialogue and I feel that I really showed growth and improvement in writing this short story. I also decided to challenge myself as a writer and write a story out of my comfort zone. In the past I wold write a lot of romance and this story was more along the lines of crime and murder. It was difficult to write the protagonist as a disliked character but after the workshops feedback I’m glad I was able to move the readers the way I wanted to. I overall feel around of my achievements and can’t wait to excel more in this next short story.
I have definitely learned a lot from this workshop experience, especially in terms of tension and the tone of a character, or the vibe, or whatever you want to call it. Something I always struggle to balance in my head is the narrator’s perception, primarily when writing in first person, versus the way I want the character’s true self to come across, which is something I plan on exploring more with my second short story. I also found it really useful to be bound to the literary fiction category, as I often write in the dark fantasy genre, where my descriptions of setting and worldbuilding are often vivid and detailed, going on for a while before I get to the point I’m making. While those definitely enhance my writing, this workshop allowed for me to get into the headspace of my characters first and foremost, especially with my first short story since I was writing in a character’s point of view that I had come up with for a different project but hadn’t fleshed out. Hearing other stories helped me solidify my ability to pick up on symbolism both in others’ work and my own, as I often do these things entirely subconsciously, such as with my ash symbolism in my short story.
– That the process cannot be completed alone. If you allow yourself it to be in an echochamber of only your ideas, they will (likely) not flourish to their highest potential. Writers often think their ideas are clear to the audience but it is not possible ot know this unless you give your work an audience.
– The process is recursive. No one sits down and writes the worlds greatest short literary fiction piece in one sitting. It is something that needs to continously be re-approached and met with fresh eyes.
– The process must be intentional. If you sit down to write because you “have” to produce something, it will be enormously difficult to do so. You must take the time to explore your story world even before putting pencil to paper so that every sentence is a piece to a larger puzzle.
Reflecting on the short story writing process, I feel like I have learned that the themes that your story possesses will shine through after it is written. I now know to not worry so much about what the theme I am trying to show until after. No matter what story you tell there will be some type of theme that shows through to a reader weather it is what you were aiming for or not, once knowing that theme after you are done you can them reflect on that and see if there is a way you can dial up the tension surrounding that to keep the reader more engaged. Intentions don’t always land where we want them to.
I also think that I could work on having more of an underlying aspect or background to my stories, like the iceberg example that Jesse gave us. I would love to do something like Coco did with hers where a lot of the different actions and descriptions of things in the story go beyond the surface level.
Class discussion:
Getting what you have in your head out on paper and then sitting on it and then going back to edit is the way to go. Willingness to consider writing the same story from other perspectives. Process cannot be done alone, others bring in great insight (intention vs reality- what you intend vs how the story comes across to readers).
Over the course of this first workshop I have learned a lot from reading others stories, and having my own story worked on. I’ve seen how to create complex characters, with so much meaning behind them, even if they are only around for a few pages. I’ve learned that a short story doesn’t have to have an insanely story line or chaos within the limited space, and it can be a place of reflection and growth on things. Going forward I’m going to continue picking our specific aspects of life, the smaller moments that are just as impactful as the larger ones, and use those to create a new story for myself. After seeing all of the directions that everyone went in during this first workshop, I have some areas and ideas that will fit within this range and scope. Being able to see different types of craft, pace, perspective, emotion, and elements really helped me see more into short fiction, and the type of story that I want to emulate. Overall, I think that I just learned to have fun with your writing and that will help you create a piece that you are proud of and want to continue working on.
I’ve realized I spend far too long chewing on my stories rather than just taking the plunge and writing them. I definitely need to loosen up and let my stories exist before I start to comb through them for things to change. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is to not worry so much about page limit, because worrying about a story being too long will only hinder the process. Write the story to its completion, and then worry about its length and substance in the editorial process. The point of a story is to have story, and short stories are fully capable of packing a punch when you aren’t afraid to write them (like I have been, leading to stories that sort of meander rather than run).
Every decision matters in a writer’s work, no matter the wording or characteristics, they all show something about the characters and the world they inhabit. This means I can’t be lazy with my characters, they have to portray themselves rather than the story at large.
I need to have tension early in my story, something that keeps the reader from getting bored too quickly, and sometimes it would be a good idea to create more tension after that too.
Give the readers an eye on things they legitimately wouldn’t know how to imagine. It’s not horror of the unknown, it’s making sure the reader understands the capabilities of the characters.
It’s not uncommon to recognize different tones and voices in different writers. Many of them can draw from similar sources, ideas, or styles they’ve read before.
11 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 21”
Throughout this class I’ve learned how to craft and frame a story with an emphasis on being able to finish it indefinitely. I’ve also learned how to navigate word choice and learning when to omit words or replace them; and how to truly workshop and peer review others’ works. This class has given me the ability to learn how to work in a time frame with a deadline and I’ve finally learned how to reflect and edit on my own pieces while still maintaining the ability to incorporate and add.
I haven’t written fiction in a really long time, but it has been such a fun challenge for me to step back into. I really resonated with all the discussions we had in class about raising the stakes and tension, making complicated characters, and making settings feel like real places. In my own writing, I am eager to take my peer’s feedback and adapt it to make something new and better than my original drafts for both my first story and the next one I will do. My biggest goal for this second round of workshop/my second story draft is to try and make a story that has more for the reader to presume/solve. It meant a lot to be in a space that both finds the good and great in your work, but also isn’t afraid to show you where it could be stronger.
Every time I am in one of these writing classes, it reminds me of my passion for writing. Not only that, but my passion for others’ writing as well. I just love this art in many of its forms and I have learned that discussing writing, reading other people’s work, and helping by giving feedback really helps motivate me to write. I leave each workshop session wanting to sit in front of my computer to write. I have learned a lot about the application of what we’ve read in the assigned readings this semester, such as the chapters on voice, and point of view. I’ve seen many examples thanks to my peers of the different ways to apply that knowledge, and it helps broaden the scope of my understanding and ability to use it in my own writing. I’ve learned a lot from the feedback I’ve been given, but also the feedback I gave as I know a lot of the things I notice in other people’s work, are things I missed in my own or could use some of that advice for myself. I hope other people in here learned from the great advice they gave as well, because everyone had very valuable things to say.
This first round of short stories has been really good. I think I have learned a lot just by hearing the feedback for everyone, not just my own feedback. I now know going into my second story what everyone liked and what I can improve upon to make the next story as good of a first draft as it can be for workshopping. I am very excited to see which direction we all take our stories. It was interesting to see the intersections of some of our stories from this first round and I hope we have some unplanned similarities again as it was very cool to compare and contrast two stories that had similar elements in one workshop day. I appreciate all of the feedback I’ve gotten on my first story and I am glad that some of it can be used in general and not just pertaining to only my first story.
Through this writing process I’ve learned a lot about myself and my writing. In past writing classes I’ve struggled with formatting and dialogue and I feel that I really showed growth and improvement in writing this short story. I also decided to challenge myself as a writer and write a story out of my comfort zone. In the past I wold write a lot of romance and this story was more along the lines of crime and murder. It was difficult to write the protagonist as a disliked character but after the workshops feedback I’m glad I was able to move the readers the way I wanted to. I overall feel around of my achievements and can’t wait to excel more in this next short story.
I have definitely learned a lot from this workshop experience, especially in terms of tension and the tone of a character, or the vibe, or whatever you want to call it. Something I always struggle to balance in my head is the narrator’s perception, primarily when writing in first person, versus the way I want the character’s true self to come across, which is something I plan on exploring more with my second short story. I also found it really useful to be bound to the literary fiction category, as I often write in the dark fantasy genre, where my descriptions of setting and worldbuilding are often vivid and detailed, going on for a while before I get to the point I’m making. While those definitely enhance my writing, this workshop allowed for me to get into the headspace of my characters first and foremost, especially with my first short story since I was writing in a character’s point of view that I had come up with for a different project but hadn’t fleshed out. Hearing other stories helped me solidify my ability to pick up on symbolism both in others’ work and my own, as I often do these things entirely subconsciously, such as with my ash symbolism in my short story.
– That the process cannot be completed alone. If you allow yourself it to be in an echochamber of only your ideas, they will (likely) not flourish to their highest potential. Writers often think their ideas are clear to the audience but it is not possible ot know this unless you give your work an audience.
– The process is recursive. No one sits down and writes the worlds greatest short literary fiction piece in one sitting. It is something that needs to continously be re-approached and met with fresh eyes.
– The process must be intentional. If you sit down to write because you “have” to produce something, it will be enormously difficult to do so. You must take the time to explore your story world even before putting pencil to paper so that every sentence is a piece to a larger puzzle.
Reflecting on the short story writing process, I feel like I have learned that the themes that your story possesses will shine through after it is written. I now know to not worry so much about what the theme I am trying to show until after. No matter what story you tell there will be some type of theme that shows through to a reader weather it is what you were aiming for or not, once knowing that theme after you are done you can them reflect on that and see if there is a way you can dial up the tension surrounding that to keep the reader more engaged. Intentions don’t always land where we want them to.
I also think that I could work on having more of an underlying aspect or background to my stories, like the iceberg example that Jesse gave us. I would love to do something like Coco did with hers where a lot of the different actions and descriptions of things in the story go beyond the surface level.
Class discussion:
Getting what you have in your head out on paper and then sitting on it and then going back to edit is the way to go. Willingness to consider writing the same story from other perspectives. Process cannot be done alone, others bring in great insight (intention vs reality- what you intend vs how the story comes across to readers).
Over the course of this first workshop I have learned a lot from reading others stories, and having my own story worked on. I’ve seen how to create complex characters, with so much meaning behind them, even if they are only around for a few pages. I’ve learned that a short story doesn’t have to have an insanely story line or chaos within the limited space, and it can be a place of reflection and growth on things. Going forward I’m going to continue picking our specific aspects of life, the smaller moments that are just as impactful as the larger ones, and use those to create a new story for myself. After seeing all of the directions that everyone went in during this first workshop, I have some areas and ideas that will fit within this range and scope. Being able to see different types of craft, pace, perspective, emotion, and elements really helped me see more into short fiction, and the type of story that I want to emulate. Overall, I think that I just learned to have fun with your writing and that will help you create a piece that you are proud of and want to continue working on.
I’ve realized I spend far too long chewing on my stories rather than just taking the plunge and writing them. I definitely need to loosen up and let my stories exist before I start to comb through them for things to change. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is to not worry so much about page limit, because worrying about a story being too long will only hinder the process. Write the story to its completion, and then worry about its length and substance in the editorial process. The point of a story is to have story, and short stories are fully capable of packing a punch when you aren’t afraid to write them (like I have been, leading to stories that sort of meander rather than run).
Every decision matters in a writer’s work, no matter the wording or characteristics, they all show something about the characters and the world they inhabit. This means I can’t be lazy with my characters, they have to portray themselves rather than the story at large.
I need to have tension early in my story, something that keeps the reader from getting bored too quickly, and sometimes it would be a good idea to create more tension after that too.
Give the readers an eye on things they legitimately wouldn’t know how to imagine. It’s not horror of the unknown, it’s making sure the reader understands the capabilities of the characters.
It’s not uncommon to recognize different tones and voices in different writers. Many of them can draw from similar sources, ideas, or styles they’ve read before.