Essay Leaves me Wondering

One of the most liked pieces was called "Mint Snowball." It is a story I can relate to. Both of my grandfather has passed and can relate that there are many small things that remind me of him or where was was from. The layout of the story is well planned. First giving who owns the story what they serve, second what is so special about the place/object, and finally on a personal level what it means to her. A special moment in the piece is the descriptive moment of how taste is translated into vision. After tasting that dessert she images the Swiss village. This story has a real feeling, because it defiantly could of happened and invoke those feelings. A more informative playful story is the "Mute Dancers: How to Watch a Hummingbird." Woven throughout the piece are facts about hummingbirds from their body functions to the Mayan culture they have influenced. There are cleaver short metaphors like, "most birds are busy singing a small operetta of who and what and where" (296). Much of the creative language makes the essay feel more fluent and exciting. When I read the Goldberg writings I feel like my confidence does not need this and I am understanding of how to take different situations. However, the most interesting idea to help motivate writing was in the "Blue Lipstick and a Cigarette Hanging Out Your Mouth." The idea of just doing something different can get a person into a different mindset in writing, had never crossed my mind. I agree that actually putting on different clothing or a different way can help give insight on how a character may act. To make a character seem real, you have to know something about them if they were in real life. That is why people base characters off of people they know. All the readings have their moments for this week.

Fiction Final Packet

Fiction is a large and one of my favorite. This last section of fiction simply reminds me of the other realistic fiction/poetic we have read in the class already. The first two stories obviously go together because the two groups are the same in each Us Brothers and Girl. These two groups seem be think alike because there was never any "well one of us" until the end of "When It Rains it Rains a River." Many chains of thought are in this writing. Examples are Earth to Mud mean fish and a Girl to Moon to Stars to Fish to Burning Fish. The first one symbolizes everything coming from the Earth or grow out of the Mud. The other chain is more interesting and reminds me of a relationship. A girl is something far reaching like the moon, a heartbreak is the shattering into stars, a requirement/need relates to the need for food or relationship, and the burning is the chance you take when getting into a relationship. In the class discussion about "The Falling Girl" it was called a Science Fiction, but there is no proof of anything not normal. To me it seems to be a big metaphor for life. Through the different groups in life they have different qualities/concerns about her. Some of the more deranged stories are "The Fifth Story", "August 25, 1983", and "Death of the Right Fielder." In the "The Fifth Story," it talks in a line always starting with that a women told him how to get rid of the cockroaches. Throughout the different sections, I was able to piece together the story slowly gaining more information. The true science fiction story to me was "August 25, 1983." There was a man looking at himself in the future. It reminded me of the Time Travelers Wife. Where one person understands the situation and the other is sort of in shock. Beyond that story it just brings of ethical questions of is knowing the future really better? Maybe it is nice to know when you die, but also daunting and troublesome. The most confusing story of what it contributes to anything is "Death of the Right Fielder" where it talks about how great being in the Outfield is and the inner circle are not as great. Sadly happy to say, I'm glad we are done with fiction.

Juice not Juice

First, did not realize that the chapters were all different stories. The first story, “Translation,” I didn't feel connected to the character or understand the story; therefore, did not like the story. There were some very mysterious parts like a sickness, moon cycle being important, and people getting black skin. The most disappointing part of the story is I’ll never know. There was a lot of metaphors like mountains have flirty behavior and an exquisite face and people can improve by licking. One interesting element in the story was the different hints in the story. The visions and spirits throughout the story gain more detail. This indeed is a story fiction story, but not one of interest. The environment was generic with a mountain, forest, and town area. As the story developed I was not sure of the people leaving were important. It states she misses them, but is it just the people because they have left and the new people she doesn't get along with. The following story “Proportion Surviving,” was confusing, but had a revolution. The first thing to notice was the countdown till the crisis. At the beginning, you cannot tell what it is, but by the end of the story I believe it is a heat wave that causes him to no longer be able to drink juice. This character I felt more attached to, because I was told more about her. Her obsession of juice could be linked to an earlier reading stating to write about obsessions was Goldberg. Overall, all the stories I did not feel a strong connection to the characters, a lover, and fast pace, so I didn't get a feel of what was going on. I’m not sure why every story was a lover, but don’t feel they are even important to the story.

My Own Fiction Writing

The topic of fiction is a large one. In particular, I have written science-fiction and fantasy. All of my personal writings are first written in with pencil in those 25 cent journals. The way the pencil feels in my hand and lead to paper is a magical feeling. After writing by hand I would then go back and type it. This allows me to check my ideas and catch some errors. My true first attempt at writing for my own enjoyment start in middle school with a science-fiction book called June 5^th with aliens. Looking back at it, the grammar was horrible and the way I thought of the story was scene to scene. I had not sat down and really think in the long term where this was going. Now it sits unfinished in my desk. My second attempt was called Blank another science-fiction. Done in the same fashion I had improved my grammar and spelling when I started this in 8^th grade. I first would think of events I wanted to happen like a fire tornado and a violent, but innocent girl shows up. Occasionally, I would have some of my friends read over what I had written and determined that I needed to rewrite my entrance to give more background to the situation. This story was more like a universe. After writing the first few chapters I knew where it needed to go. This plot had more going on and slightly intimidating. There were many minor and major characters at different times. At one point the two main characters split up leading me to have chapters go back and forth between the two. My final attempt in junior year of high school I did a very different genre and structure. This topic was fantasy with a cliché topic with a different twist on werewolves. The pattern of writing switched from narrator, to girl main character to boy main character. Besides the personality change the font would change, so a reader can tell who is who at the beginning.

3 Authors with Guidelines

In the Goldberg reading, I was most intrigued by the idea of starting to write about obsessions. These are the things a person would know. Similar to Lamott urge to write about characters that are based off real people you know. Make your character real. Is what Goldberg urges. There can be everyday experiences in life that can really change a character forever. My relationship with any person is based on their first impression. After a first impression though, we find out more about the person and the particular language they use. Just like Lamott says in his reply about characters to get them a personality. To this extent I would say treat your characters like you would a new friend. Lamott really does this by telling to make characters reliable. You want a friend to be there for you. Though in a story, you don’t want only honest people. The real thrill of the journey is characters trusting the wrong character that had alternate motives and how the noble character was able to outwit them. In thinking of reliability, does this extend to in a negative light? In the Walking Dead, you could count on the Governor to seek revenge at whatever cost. Since this is not a film there has to be description and the writing or evoking of the different five senses. Though the limiting of descriptions of scenes need to be meaningful. Though not brought up in class, there is something called too colorful. In my opinion, the third example in Burroway was the worst. Plus, did not understand not using words like “was” and “would” when the present versions “is” and “could” were not. In all the examples he gave there was the word was at least twice though the number he did use went down. Overall, I believe what was said had merit and can help writers find their way.

Longer Short Stories

The first reading got my attention right away, because I can connect with this girl. This style of writing is very casual and presents her ideas straight from her head. There is also an interesting construction of this short story. There are many divisions in the story almost like it is following an APA format. This may contribute to scholar like internship of psychology. Through these divisions it separates different events and thoughts she has. Some other separation makes sense like in “An Observation Begins” where it talks about her beginning to observe Kagen’s brother, while some don’t really say much like the section “What I Can Take As Given” it only has the word nothing. As the story continues her, mental thoughts are shown through her italic font and questions she lists. There is a lot one can tell about the main character and her boss Kagen. From her you can tell she is the nerves type from her hiding in the bathroom from Kagen, organized by her constant construction of lists, determined based on her evening spent drilling holes in walls, and critical this is based on her process of analyzing what she observes and is told. From her boss you can tell he is a philosopher from is continual adding of types of people.  Though this story there are details about what goes on there is no detail about the senses. The story was in my opinion unresolved, because no one knows for sure if the true test was her to study Kagen’s brother or for him to study her. 

Shorter than my Story

When reading the short stories in the packet I was a little surprised how short of them were. Most of the short stories are like memoirs from different people’s life. One of the stories I liked was “misdemeanors” where the husband and wife have a different version of the same story. This small story gives a lot to a reader. One can distinctly see the personalities of the two main characters, understand the memory, and stated enough detail to picture the story telling and the flashback. Though it was a few lines it was able to entertain and express a lesson which is the most basic point of a story. One other short story I enjoyed was called “Morning News.” This is where a man is real with his audience about him dying. In this story, one can again see the personality of the main two characters by the end of the story. The basics of a good short story are that you understand the character and can understand the story.