Writing Exercises

I rewrote my major conflict scene with Magnifying Conflict in mind. It actually was about two pages long. I did go with the extreme on it. It was an interesting exercise, but I found that at the end, I scaled a lot of it back. I think it was actually better with less details. The scene now has one aspect that was not even hinted in my original rough draft. I added a line in a more dramatic scene which is more humorous. I was attempting to keep people on their toes, I suppose. Since my ending was considered jarring, I thought having another line that might seem a bit out of place would actually benefit the story. Also because of this exercise, my human antagonist was altered. In my mind I saw him a certain way, but decided to add some details so others might see him a certain way too. That made me add two lines to my closing. I think it improved the story. I hope it did.

The In-Class Revision exercise helped the most. Though it was not done in the exact way of the book stated, I think I followed it pretty well. I printed out my story along with the comments from Dr. Lacina, and comments from classmates that I deemed very important and inciteful. I also had a section of what they liked too...just so I didn't cut out something others seemed to enjoy. The In-Class Revision is made up of a large amount of exercises. Because of comments, I changed some of the dialogue, and greatly revised the opening third. It has a lot of the same details, but the whole style was changed. Though I am unsure if I technically started the story in the right place (the middle), I still think the beginning of my story started with the right line. Another thing I wonder if I succeeded or failed at was if my title was just thrown at the top of the page or chosen with care. I did not use my first title choice, but did use the one I thought of right before I posted my rough draft. I was planning on changing it for the final version...but I grew to really like the title. It does fit with the story, and in my mind means a few different things. It can be interpreted a few different ways. The only thing that might not make it a good title is that it is a Spanish title in an all English story. There was reasoning behind it though.

The With Revision Comes Final Meaning exercise reminds me of the last short story discussion we did - which I think was the worst posting I did for a discussion. I attempted to do the same thing with this. Because of this exercise, and also feedback from others, my story was altered a bit. I know what my final meaning is, and I hope it came across. It is not incredibly deep and philosophical...but I do have a meaning.

When all is said and done, I know that some will not care for my story. That is to be expected...with basically anything I write. I have trouble with Hollywood endings...and I like open-ended stories too. This one is a bit more tightly wrapped up than I expected (and wanted) it to be, but my outcome differed from what I expected it to be. I had a vision of how the story was going to end, but as I was writing, I knew that vision was to be scrapped. So...I just wrote and had the ending reveal itself to me, instead of me trying to force it to what I expected. (That last sentence makes me sound insane).