Metacognition: Short Story Writing

Writing my short story was a fun yet frustrating process. It gave me the opportunity to be free and creative with my writing, but it involved changing my story many times to make it just right. In the end, I know that the changes were for the better.

I began with an idea which, I admit, was pretty unrealistic. But I liked it, so I went with it. After receiving feedback from Mr. Allen, I realized that my plot was so unrealistic to the point where the reader would have a hard time enjoying the story because it would sound ridiculous. I then reread my story, or the story fragment I had written at the time, and kept the parts that I believed were good enough to be rewritten.

I then took those parts, my main character's poor relationship with his wife being my main "pressure," and twisted them around so the story would be slightly different and more believable, but I didn't have to change it completely. I was much happier with this story and thought I would definitely be successful. I was wrong. In this story, the main character's wife died. In my feedback, Mr. Allen commented that her death sounded forced and I should somehow tweak it. I was frustrated with this, that was the biggest push on my main character and I was proud of it, but I knew that he was probably right. I just believed I had a good idea going for me.

I talked to my mom about my story and tossed some ideas around with her. I realized that I had had the idea of the wife dying stuck in my head and it was hard to imagine anything else happening, so it was good to have a fresh mind help me with new ideas and scenarios. We had the idea of the wife going into a coma instead. That way, my story would be more dramatic and pressure would still be put on my main character, but the wife didn't die, so it wouldn't be as much of a stretch.

From doing this project, I learned that if I get an idea in my head for writing, it gets stuck there. I have difficulty seeing my story go any other way, so if I need to change my story, I have to get inspiration from somewhere else. That doesn't mean I take the idea from someone or something, but I may get a flash of inspiration from an outside source. I wish I wasn't like that, though. It makes writing much more difficult because I get stuck in one section of my imagination, as opposed to imagining all different things and choosing my best idea. I like the fact that after taking a break, looking at something else, and coming back, I usually have a more open mind. And although that's an extra step I'd like to take, it's worth it in the long run.

Change of Mind: Details Matter

Recent activities and discussions in class have shown me how much thought actually goes into creative writing, whether a short story or a movie. I never thought that it was easy or came right to you, but the discussions in class and the process of writing a short story have shown me that there's a lot more to it then coming up with a good plot line; the little details in the writing matter a lot.

Reading "Stone Boy" and discussing it afterwards helped me pick out the details in writing. I remember when I first read "Stone Boy" at home before any discussion, I really liked it but only saw the main plot or the top layer. The next day, we discussed it in class and it opened my eyes to how much more detail and ideas you can get from the story if you look deeper into the writing. I never would've noticed how uncomfortable the main character was having control over his older brother or exactly how much pressure was being put upon him if we didn't talk about it. I am currently reading The Constant Princess by myself for some extra reading, and these discussions have helped me pick up so much more from the book.

The process of story writing has also helped me appreciate the technique of word usage and little details much more. Mr. Allen said that verbs can be powerful if you use the right one, and I've found that this is definitely true. One word can say so much, and if you can pick up on that while reading a story, it will tell you so much more about what is going on that any amount of dialogue can.

We watched a clip of the movie "Apocalypse Now" in class, and the discussion of the film technique introduced me to how much you can learn from the small details that most people wouldn't pay attention to. We touched on the noises in the background and the gun underneath the main characters pillow; things that I normally wouldn't think much of. The discussion showed me how much these little things mean and how much you can learn about the character just from the placement of his gun. A couple weeks ago I was watching "Cool Hand Luke" with my dad and I remember saying, "My English teacher is getting into my head!" I noticed the acts of repetition or the hidden messages in the movie that I wouldn't have noticed before and it drove me crazy! I admit, at first I wanted to write off what we learned in class and assume I would never use it in my everyday life, but I did, and I loved it. It made the film mean so much more by finding these little details. I had to admit to myself that details do matter, whether writing or reading a story, and they'll bring so much more to the story than you would've thought.