#learning reflections

Intro

In Crafting Short Screenplays, I thought about my memories, my process and my audience. I understood the importance of human connection through conflict and resolution in stories.

Chapter 1

I was able to better understand how to simultaneously tell my own story while connecting with the audience. Even though my story may not be someone else’s experience, our inherent desires and drives are the same. Therefore, I thought about which stories of mine have meaning that audiences can connect with driven by deeper feelings. For my writing process, I’m going to start thinking about emotions and which memory could best portray that emotion to the audience through my story.

Chapter 2

This chapter, especially doing the Le Menu exercise, was really interesting and insightful. Although everything on that list is what has shaped us as individuals, it’s not something we usually sort out into lists like that on paper. It made me look deep into my self to figure out what I really love, value and need and how I’ve been shaped by my experiences and decisions to feel and act the ways I do.

Chapter 3

In the creative process chapter, I discovered however crazy and messy your ideas seem at first, they have potential if you work with them enough. It is actually helpful to start out in a messy and crazy brainstorm process because ideas may come out that you totally forgot were there.

Chapter 4

I would not like to write with a partner for this, however, I did appreciate her insight and tips on why writing with someone can be extremely helpful and an extremely creative process.

Chapter 5

I’m going to keep the Le Menu and Mood Exercise concepts with me because both of these helped me unveil shorter and simpler stories that the audience can connect with that also display or unveil something about me as the writer. I’m also going to take away her notes and concepts on the creative process because it helps me come up with new and fresh ideas. Also, I liked her notes on the emotional flow and leaving out the boring stuff so you can intrigue the author with what’s important to the story.

  Mood Exercise:

Scene: My mom drops me off at the dorms yelling “See you in the morning to say goodbye! Have fun sweetie!” after me as I run up to the dorm hall. (excitement and eagerness on my face).

Next scene, in a guy’s dorm room drinking with them, laughing, and playing loud music. 

Next scene: The RA tells us the cops are coming to give us all MIPs (scared/fearful look)

I rethought the tense of my story and the details in it when I thought about the heart of the story. Either I am in the mindset of when I was 16 or I'm in the mindset of me now as a 21 year old. I originally was going with the mindset of myself then, but if I'm going to go that route I need to think more about my emotions at the time to fill the story with more description and detail. However, it's helpful to look back at the situation 5 years later with a reflective perspective. I'm going to experiment with both ways and see which works best. The word I thought to center my story around is 'Revelation" but I also want to experiment with writing different stories to see which will be best for a Cowbird story.

I read "The Outsider'  and 'Is This A Date?' on hippocampus for more insight into short memoirs. The Outsider was about a Jewish boy who suffered bullying in Christian grade school by classmates and one teacher, and ends up lashing out at the end. 'Is This A Date?' was about a Muslim girl who tried to join a study group in one of her classes and ended up mistakenly going on a 'date' with a guy she wasn't really interested in. She also felt guilty because her religion looks down upon males and females hanging out alone, but he was still extremely angry and offended she denied him. Both were well written and had the common factor of feeling different among the societal norm or large groups of people. I liked the perspective being able to see through their eyes at how ridiculous some people can act because of your religion or race.

I also read Fast Food on Brevity about a Jewish boy trying to act cool in front of his friends but is embarrassed about his parents certain formalities. When his friend makes a nasty remark about his parents, he leaves the reader hanging on what exactly was his response was, but I'm pretty sure he shut the kid up. This was a good story to write in the tense he felt as a kid at the time because he describes wanting to impress his friend and being embarrassed in front of his parents well from that mindset. 

I listened to a couple of the student audio examples, but 'C Student doesn't even see it coming' really stood out to me because of the creative manor in which he portrayed his story like a newscast or a sportscast. It made me think of different ways I can be creative with my stories. 

Code Talkers:

I chose to read this piece because the author immediately delves into the story and you’re there in her bedroom listening to her brother’s music. Rather than reflecting back on the story, she narrates it like you would a fiction story. It’s easy to relate to the story of a young girl trying to understand what’s happening around her. I especially liked the lines: “I think the messages are not hidden but that people fear what they don’t understand. I don’t understand either, but I’m not afraid.”

  The Sky Turns Blue and the Sun Appears

This story took some turns that I was not expecting. It starts of so abruptly, “Look at those tits” which definitely got my attention. As she describes her summer at the beginning of the piece, I thought that the story would be about her father’s terrible behavior but once you get to the end, you see that it’s about the day that made her go from being an adolescence to being an adult although she was only 14. I enjoyed her descriptions and I really got into the story, however, I think she added a little too much detail; I wanted to just skim over some parts when she was talking about losing her dog.

  Confessions of a Nervous Child

This one was very relatable. I too was a nervous child and was scared of everything. The way the author talks about his trial and tribulations with a touch of humor really made this story easy to relate to. It was really touching to hear about his teacher and his parents who, though exasperated, were there for him and just wanted him to be happy. I thought of my own parents all of the things I’ve made them put up with.

  Collection of Dogs, Collection of Selves

I picked this one because I was intrigued by the fact that the author had a collection of dog figurines. It started off a little monotone but by the time it hits 1:00, it has much more emotion and personality. I like that he views each of the figurines as little artifacts from his past self and that it’s now a tradition to keep it going and it’s a great way to remember how far he’s come.

  Targeted

A Conversation With My Father

I found this short story in Brevity's newest edition. It was the first of a few that I read, and I honestly couldn't find one on the site after that I thought had as much of an impact on me. The author perfectly captures the overflow of emotion surrounding death, love, and parenthood. The dialogue almost made me tear up because I could hear the voices of my own family members in the conversation; I could feel the sincerity in the words and thoughts of the author and her father. I was impressed with the artifice references, they made me feel like I was right there with them. I would definitely try to attempt to use the author's mode of storytelling in my own work. She perfectly captures feelings and emotions revolving loss, death and family in one simple scene. It reminds me that the little moments in life aren't so trivial. 

Vanilla Bones

This piece from hippocampus magazine was intriguing from the start. The opening is perfect: "Sometimes her silences make me feel like I’m underwater, reaching upward through murky dark." I felt like this entire piece was full of hooks, though. I really did think it was great and made me want to keep reading, but I almost got annoyed with how many "serious" things were being thrown at me. That could just be me though. It makes sense for the story, I can only imagine the overwhelming feeling of having so many intense things going on in life, but I thought it was too much for the passage. But it does properly reflect the intensity of the story... I'm just confused at how I feel about this one.

Stranger In My Skin

This story was presented as an audio recording, but I kind of wish it wasn't. The narrator/author does a wonderful job of writing an interesting story, but I didn't really like it as an audio. I just couldn't imagine myself being told the same story in real life, which in my opinion is how audio stories should be told. It didn't feel casual to me, and I think that's what got in the way of me enjoying it. I did like that I could feel the emotion in the author's voice, that her fluctuations really made me understand what she thought was ridiculous, confusing, etc. 

Liverpool Street

The Editor at the Breakfast Table

This story intrigued me because it reminded me of what we've talked about in class about criticism and reading about writing. The author tells a story about how she didn't realize when she was a kid, but she is thankful that her father edited her writing. She reflects on how criticism is a gift and all good writers get edited.

A Gun Story

This story captured my attention from the very beginning. The author is telling a story about a time in his life when he was struggling to live in a country with so many cultural differences. In the US this situation would've been handled very differently, but in Russia it is more common. This story tells us that the author had to learn how to deal with cultural differences in scary situations and he struggled making decisions that would've been no-brainers if he were in the US.

Is This a Date?

This is another story about the author experiencing cultural differences. The author is put in an uncomfortable situation that would not be acceptable in her home country, but is commonplace in the US. She struggles to tell the guy that a date is not allowed, and he is frustrated after she admits that. The story shows, through exploring her thoughts, how hard it was to admit that to him, but she stuck to her religion despite the cultural norms in the US that go against it. She depicts the internal struggle very well, and I'm sure that was hard to write, since her audience most likely would not know what those feelings were like.

A Not-Quite Coming Out Story

This audio story, along with others, captures the writer's voice and emotion when telling their story. It is a very personal, intimate story and the fact that it is told through audio makes it even more personal and intimate. I feel like I am sitting next to the person, listening to them express their emotions in a story about their life. If I come up with a deep, personal story I might choose to use the audio format to make the emotional connection with the audience more prominent. 

Anthony Griffith: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Week 3 Reflection

Reading the memoirs from Brevity and Cowbird helped me get a sense for the specificity in storytelling, Stories that made you want to keep reading are the details of dialogue, colors, feelings, even smells.

In Brevity, the story 'Ten Years Ago' about her overhearing her crush talking to another girl using the phrase 'ten years ago' and how it made her feel old then. She also finishes with where she's at now very poetically by doing it in one or two lines. 

I also enjoyed the story 'Girl Fight' in Brevity because the author really tells it as if they are in sixth grade again. The way he keeps mentioning how the other boy's Marty's mom is fat before it's relevant to the story to capture that 'I was right and he was wrong' attitude of a young boy. 

I loved the post in Cowbird 'Appreciation' about traveling across the country. I've gone on long road trips with friends before and I could really connect with his feelings of freedom and excitement. He was able to tell a story in so few lines, but using details in the right places to catch the reader's attention. 

I also loved the post 'Lily' in Cowbird because my Dad has shared stories with my about specific instances like that from my childhood I'm sure he could tell just as sharply and beautifully. Children say the most amazing things sometimes that capture the world in their eyes and the love in their heart in a perfect light.