More Fiction

     As we start to wrap up our discussion in class about fiction I believe that I am finally starting to get a grip on what fiction writing is about. When we first started to discuss the first fiction packet I was confused as to how short the stories were. I almost felt as it was just poetry. I now understand what separates these stories apart from poetry. These stories have actual characters in them. There can be just one character or multiple characters, but there is at least one. These characters are what the story revolves around. They create the meaning of the story. In poetry there didn't have to be a charter. It had to just be writing that made you feel something.
     I believe that out of all the readings I had to read about fiction writing my favorite had to be Lamlott Polaroids. This wasn't a fiction story, but was a how to write good fiction. The way that Lamlott wrote out this information made if fun to read, but also taught me a lot which I believe will help me when writing my fiction stories for class. The number one thing I learned from this reading that was you have to let bad things happen to good characters. I think that this hit me the most because when I am writing I really start to enjoy my characters so when it comes time for me to have something bad happen to one I lesson the degree of the "badness" because I don't want to hurt them to bad. This is taught me you have to let the bad things play out how they should in order for a good story to unfold.
    Another thing that I learned was you have to let the story come from the characters. The plot will grow from who the characters are. Their personalities and what they like to do will grow into a wonderful plot for your story and you can take it from there. This is just like with dialogue. Each character is very different because of this when each character is talking they will need to sound different. Just like in real life how you talk is different from how your mom talks or your best friends. There might be some similarities, but over all your personality shines through.  Applying these new things that this reading has taught me I believe my fiction writings with be much stronger now then they would have before.

Fiction Packet #3

     In this fiction packet there is a great difference between the first story and the stories that come after this one. The first story titled When it Rains it Rains a River seems to be written differently then the other fiction stories. This story seems to repeat is self over and over again. The phrases like us brothers, when it rains, and the world Girl are repeated multiple times throughout the story. This story to me seems to be about two boys with wild imaginations. When it rains they like to disobey their mom and go out into the mud and play. The like to make a girl out of mud who seems to come alive. They also seem to see fish swimming and are able to touch the stars. I think this story is light and is just about kids being kids and using their imagination every day to have fun.
     The second story The Falling Girl was the one I seemed to enjoy the most. This story was written to me like any other story. It was spaced like a normal book and did not have repeating phrases like the first story in this packet. To me this story could be about two things. The first think I thought this story was about was the precious of a teenager/ early adult to be perfect in today's society. At that age it is so hard to fit in with all the super models and you always want to make yourself prettier. I thought that maybe that was what this story was about because when she was falling and eager to get to the ball she kept seeing what she said where prettier girls falling faster then her to get there before her. As I got to the end however, it began to have a couple in a lower apartment talk about how they didn't like the view because they only saw older woman falling and could hear the sound hitting the pavement. This began to make me think that the story was now about slowing down and enjoying your life. Stop and take a second to enjoy the little things that you would ordinarily pass up.
     There were two more stories in this packet. The next one was titled August 25, 1983. This story was written like the second one in the sense it was like a normal book. This story to me seemed like a mystery and I wasn't quite sure what exactly going on. To me it seemed to be about a man who dreamed of his older self. It seemed that the younger man was looking for guidance about what he should do with his life. With dreaming about the older him and talking to him it seemed he wanted to have advice about where his life was going and how he would end up. The last story called The Fifth Story was written differently then any of the other stories in this packet. This story with the "first story" which gave you a little detail then each story would build off of that. The actual story itself didn't really seem to have much meaning behind it. It was just about a woman killing cockroaches, but the way it was written was interesting and made me want to keep reading till the end.

Fiction Writing

     When we first got our assignments to read the first fiction packet I was kinda confused. The short stories seemed a lot like the poetry we had been reading. As i read more and read the second fiction packet I discovered there were some differences. Each of the stories actually had a character. The character may have not had a name, but there was a person or character in the story. Also each story seemed to have a theme that went a long with the story. These are actually stories and that is what makes the difference.
     With reading the second packet I noticed many differences with the story besides the actual story itself. In the first story, Internal, you can see it uses headings in each different section to almost break the story up. In the second story, Point and Line, it seems a lot more spaced out then the other two. Some of the "paragraphs" only have one or two sentences in them, which sets it apart from the other stories. There is also writing on almost the edges of the page that are not in line with the other words. I like that feature, it makes those words stand out more. The third story, Close Range, is written like any other normal story I have read.
    Out of all of the three longer stories my favorite would have to be Internal. The first thing that drew me into this story was that it is about the health care field which is something I am interested in. I also like the headings in this story. To me it seems to break it up and lets your mind rest for a minute and take it all in. I also like the over all story. I like how the intern is set out to study two separate patients, which are both the doctors he is working for "brother". As the story goes on and on the intern seems to becoming almost crazy. In the end you are left wondering if the patient he is studying is actually studying him It's almost like a mystery and I liked how it left me wondering.  

Poetry Assignments

Poem I wrote from the new poetry assignment:

August 18th, a day that will never be able to scratch from my mind.  
I was fast asleep on a route to my own version of a fairy tale,
When I was awaken by a "slam" that wasn't kind.
My mom had just gotten a phone call on her Verizon phone.
Loretta Reese was no longer with us.
I felt like a snail moving in a slow motion.
All I could see was red as everyone began to fuss. 
The confusion sank in as I began to wonder how?
The news that my grandma had passed was shock.
I will forever miss her smile and loving ways.
She will always have special place in my heart sealed with a lock. 

An old poem I wrote from the first assignment:

The rain that hit my face made it easy to conceal my lingering tears from a stubborn, shattered, dead heart.

It was hard to stay poised while I could still feel the despondent pain. 

As I sat on an indigo bench,

I could uncomfortably watch the scene play out over and over again like a mirage.

He took advantage of my transparent heart and put it threw his martyrdom ways.

He created what felt like fissures throughout my body and left me feeling like nothing more then sediment at the bottom of the ocean.

Letting him have this hold on me made me feel turbulent and hopeless.

Will it ever get better I asked myself?

Or will I slowly decompose all together from heartbreak.

As speaking those words I had an imminent feeling things were going to change for the better.

There was a break in the clouds and an abundant ray of light broke through catching the raindrop prisms, creating the most beautiful rainbow.

That moment was when I knew I could get through this and he was nothing more then a distant memory now.