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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
After reading “Writing the Short-Short Story” by Starkey, I can honestly say I have gained a better understanding of all the elements that go into creating short-short fiction. Personally, learning all the aspects was interesting as I grew up reading countless fiction novels. I love the suspense and built up anticipation that every chapter gives. However, what I noticed is that although this is the fiction genre the writer is limited to 100-2,000 words. With that being said, every word and paragraph must be meaningful to develop the story and keep the reader intrigued. The decisions between word choice, characters, and dialogue all have the power to make or break a story. Therefore, the writer has to carefully consider all even if it will not be included in the writing directly- simply the thought process. In other words, Hemingway’s theory of knowing what to omit but keep hidden between the lines. Two things that stood out to me was the importance of having character development and sudden change. I learned that the character’s must be believable and to describe them by what they do or say. With the three stories mentioned, I was able to see the different approaches but similar concepts to reach an interesting ending. The abrupt dramatic twist at the end must leave the reader thinking. Overall, all these details play a huge role in mastering the short-short story and convincing the reader.
ReplyDelete-Natalia Martinez
In Crossing the River Zbrucz by Isaac Babel, I found it incredible how he was able to paint such a beautiful hideous image in the first paragraph of page 104. He starts off by describing gorgeous “fields of poppies […] blossoming around us”, then he continues his descriptions with disturbing images/smells of the sun being a rolling severed head, the stench of yesterday’s blood, slaughtered horses, etc. He created a very contradicting setting, which defends the overall tone and style of the essay. It was beautiful yet disturbing; the mentions of nature and death. Nonetheless, it captivated me and made me want to continue reading. Barthelme’s The Baby definitely had to have a deeper meaning because it was too unethical and disturbing to comprehend superficially. Maybe the baby represents something new, and the father represents the oppressor who doesn’t want the baby to ruin/change things. At the end, the father accepts the change (new way of acting/being/thinking) and celebrates with the baby chaotically. This essay mainly made me focus on the characters and how the father was more of a round character (we saw his good and bad sides), while the baby and the mother come off as flat characters who were only supposed to represent an idea/quality. In Marzipan, I like how Allen leaves the reader wanting more at the end. In the beginning I thought the story was pretty bland and already didn’t like the characters. The woman was boring while the man was annoying; however, it got real at the end. The reader learns that inside the man is an insecure, lost, hurt person. A bit cliché nowadays, but overall it is still intriguing. I’d like to know more about him and his past. In this particular essay, one could focus on the dialogue that revealed who the characters are and how it moved the story along. The woman was a complete generic bore, and the man was seen by the reader as an arrogant fool; yet, it was soon revealed that he is more complex and not who he is when acting out the part of the smooth player.
ReplyDelete- Jasmine Hinojosa
After reading Starkey’s chapter on “writing the short-short story,” I gained a better insight on the main points there is in writing fiction. I quite like this genre as anything from horror, thriller, or even romance falls into this category. Starkey mentions the elements of fiction which are structure and design, character, dialogue, setting, and point of view. Fiction’s structure is set up in a series of events, in which every part of a story is important. Characters play a key role in which are categorized in being round or flat. I like how Starkey mentions that when creating characters, one has to “see the world through their eyes” (118). We must be able to step in their shoes and understand the characters first. In writing dialogue, dialogue is so important to the short-short story as it can bring the story to life, revealing something to the readers to better understand the plot. In setting the scene, the scene itself helps shine on the characters on struggles. For a clearer picture, a question we need to ask ourselves is how much information will be shared with the audience? (129) The last element is point of view, which is my favorite. We, as creators, get to dive in an imaginative world of fiction and decide in what lens will our audience get to see our work. Will it be in first-person, in which the character is part of the action—or will it be in third-person, allowing the narrator to see from a shoulder perspective?
ReplyDelete-Karen Lamas
In the short story Crossing the River Zbrucz by Isaac Babel it’s about a solider that is facing the second world war and is about the aspect of death. The horrors of war is the overarching theme of the story. The author uses amazing imagery to set the reader to understand what the solider is going through. The women is the representation of what happens in reality after war.
ReplyDeleteDonald Barthelme’s short story Called The baby, is about parents trying to make rules about a baby not ripping pages from a book. The baby rebels and keeps ripping pages, the parents go to the very extreme, and still fail, so at the end they end up giving up and let the baby rip the pages and they do it to. I think it’s ironic that they end up breaking their own rules at the end, but this story makes me wonder if there was anything wrong with the baby and why couldn’t he/she stop ripping the pages of books.
The next short story “Marzipan” by Roberta Allen is about a Englishman hides his true self under a false image, he suppresses moment when his mother died, and he is reminded by when the girl mentions that she loves marzipan which is something that his mom loved. The moral of the story I believe is that we all have some deep hurt in ourselves and we can’t hide it forever we need to learn how to deal with it and let it heal.
After reading this chapter, I have learned that fiction and creative nonfiction have different elements to them. For example, Starkey discusses the design and structure of how a fiction story should look like starting on page 98. The story must follow chronology, leading to suspense. It can also include the protagonist, antagonist, flashbacks. Then, Starkey discusses character creation 116 and focuses on the different elements behind them. For example, Starkey asks several questions on page 120 such as “Where were they born” How old are they” What jobs do they have” etc. These questions are important to think about when creating a character of your own for the reader to connect to. Then, on page 133, Starkey discusses the different points of view that a character could possibly have. For example, they could be in first, second, third, and third omniscient. It totally depends on you to figure out what point of view you want the character in. Overall, this chapter made me realize that fiction writing allows you to really be yourself. You can write a story for the most random ideas you may have, or however you please. Although there are many more different elements to it than nonfiction creative writing, you are still confronting your own version of the truth.
ReplyDelete-Gilbert Sanchez
This chapter was a cool read. This was very resourceful. For example, Starkeys “writing the short-short story” gave a lot of tips and suggestions on writing fiction. I have stated this before, I am not the best fictional writer I’ve never really explored in the horror, thriller, supernatural genres. I guess I’ve always written academic essays so I’m comfortable with that but would love to get out there and dip my toes in newer genres. Another cool thing I liked about Starkeys essay is when he makes you think by asking you basic questions, but in reality those questions are what help make a fictional essay a better read. I used to think fictional writing had to be completely made up and there had to be vampires and fairies involved but this chapter was a nice reassurance that you can totally be yourself and have the freedom to write about things you like and just twist it up a bit.
ReplyDelete-Daniela Rios
In the reading, Starkey talks about what works and what doesn’t when writing a short-short fiction. He provides a list of elements: Structure and design, character, dialogue, setting, POV, tone, and style. Knowing how to use these elements in our short-short fiction will guarantee a well written story that’ll attract the reader’s attention. It’s a lot of structuring for just 100-2,000 words. Reading the three stories “Crossing the River Zbrucz” “The Baby” and “Marzipan” I realized how limited, and simple, yet descriptive they were. All containing the same structure by starting with exposition and ending with a climax, leaving the reader with questions. I think of this as a cliffhanger. I really enjoyed learning the do’s and don’ts and will implement these methods into my own writing. The part I enjoyed the most about the reading was creating the characters. I like the idea of three-dimensional characters and how flawed, and imperfect they are in a way that could surprise or shock the reader. As a fictional reader, I see this a lot in sci-fi and romantic novels. And it really helps us connect with the character, well at least I can connect with them. I don’t know how many times I’ve become emotionally invested with a book character after something unexpected happens. Which makes the story great and unforgettable. The three stories Starkey provided were proof of that.
ReplyDelete-Bethzaida Ayala
Fiction is something that is fake or not true, it’s something that’s made up. Poetry and drama are a part of the fiction genre. On page 100 it says that readers love happy endings so writers tend to do that. I realized that almost every movie I’ve watched has ended on a happy note and now I understand why. Even though it is a movie and not a book I think it follows the same concept. I also likes the quote “Life is complex, fiction should be too.” In the short short there should not only be good characters but bad ones too. A short short story can be as short as 100 words or as long as 2000 words. People prefer reading short shorts because they are shorter than a chapter book and it is faster to read and takes less of their time. This was pretty interesting because nowadays people no longer like to read they would rather be on social media, so that phrase makes sense but is sad to say. You should be able to summarize a short short in about 25 words or less. Round characters are more realistic more like us. Troubled characters make best characters. On page 119 it says not to give everything in the beginning because the reader won’t be surprised in the end. I understood that there should be some type of excitement in the end to keep readers engaged throughout the entire short short.
ReplyDelete-Maria Ramos
In this chapter we learn about the “short short” story. Starkey explains the main components of a short short story. He talks about the size and length and amount of impact you are supposed to make in the fewest amount of words as possible. Then we read through three stories. We read “Crossing the River Zburcz” “The Baby” and “Marzipan.” After reading the stories I tried to spot a major difference between a “short short” story and a short story and well besides the length I felt like these three stories were trailers to movies. They presented a problem and a setting and then the story only went just far enough to hook you but then it almost ended too soon. I felt like all three stories could have gone on longer but I feel like part of the point of the short short story is to let the reader use his or her imagination to close the story on their own account. Later on in the paragraph we discuss the different elements that help the writer develop and well written story. The two elements that I felt were very important were scene setting and developing tone. I feel like past stories we have read would not have been so good if they did not set the tone well enough for us to engage. For example, “The witching hour” I felt like that story was a good story but I felt the first paragraph made the story because it did its job.
ReplyDelete-Alex Rodriguez
This chapter on fiction was very long, but it had some interesting topics. It mentions that fiction is something that is fake and that poetry and drama are part of fiction. There were also a few good short stories and some very helpful tips on what to do and what not to do while writing fiction. In order to have a good fiction story you must have structure and design, character, dialogue, point of view and setting. I strongly agree that people prefer to read short shorts. They are faster to read, get to the point quickly and they are just as enjoyable as any other read. One thing I learned from the reading was not to give the reader all the info in the beginning on the story. By doing so you will take away the suspense from the reader which leads to no surprise at the end of the story. What I did not agree with was happy endings. Just about every single movie and book out there have happy endings. I prefer unhappy endings because it’s something different and not many people would expect it because not many writers do this. Overall this was a great chapter that should and hopefully help me become a better writer.
ReplyDelete-Noe Ramos
In reading pages 98-140 I definitely feel there is a lot of information to be told about writing fiction short stories, as said in the beginning of the readings, it is something made up. So therefore it can be anything you want it to be, beyond the sky's the limit. So much so that the literary critics feel that “it's hard to tell the truth even when we want to”. One must truly believe and tell the story with one goal in mind, from the opening sentence, to the end, no matter how long or short it may be, the point needs to come across. Before I began to read the first pages, I skipped to the model short stories themselves because I wanted to read them in my own perspective, before I read them over in terms of what the reading was about. At first I freaked out reading “The Baby” because how does one even think it’s okay to leave a baby of two years old locked up for so many hours without eating. The story wasn’t dragons and aliens, but something that could be believable enough for someone to actually question, wow did they really leave the baby in there that long? Is that possible? What were they thinking? Then I realized hey this is a Fictional story, but with very real attributes. What I got from the reading is that it doesn't matter the length of the story so as long as it has a well thought out beginning, middle, end and gets the point across, that is your fictional story.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Rodriguez
After reading chapter 2 of Creative Writing, I have learned that fictional stories have just as many beautiful details, paths, and complications that creative nonfiction has. In pg. 100, paragraph 2, the topic of literary ambiguity made a connection to me. I have always been aware that I am an easy to please person when it comes to watching movies. Obviously, there are limits to what I find enjoyable and will view as terrible, but for the most part I can watch a "feel good" movie and, well, feel good! Of course, most of the public who engage in fictional stories want to be given a happy ending. This is because we know that these stories are hard to come by and even harder to experience because the average citizen's every day life is mundane. We as a consumer want to indulge ourselves into a story comprised of characters we can relate to, going on life changing adventures while accomplishing their goals so when the story is over we will look back what we need to accomplish in our own personal lives and get that last push of motivation and become the person we strive to become.
ReplyDelete-Raul Salazar
After analyzing pages 98-141, I learned the different components to being able to compose a short-story and understanding the elements that make up a fiction piece all together. Understanding the obvious between creative nonfictional and fictional writing, the most important basic things to really pay attention to when reading or composing are: structure and design, the characters being listed in the story if any, any dialogue that may be composed, a setting to explain the story in more depth, and explaining the point of view, tone and style as well. As composed by each author, there were 3 different short stories that helped explain the components needed to make up a short story thoroughly. In “Crossing the River Zbrucz”, Isaac Babel creates a setting of being in the WWI and expressing the imagery of death. It gave me a suspenseful feeling wanting to know more about reading feeling like I could have given more detail in the story itself. In “The Baby” by Donald Barthelme, I found this story to be quite catching due to it being about 2 parents wanting to create discipline in an intense way towards a child by setting certain rules against it tearing pages off books continuously. I found this reading to be quite funny due to the last sentence of it being “The baby and I sit happily on the floor, side by side, tearing pages out of books and sometimes, just for fun, we go out on the street and smash a windshield together.” This gave me humorous and ironic vibes as well in stating that “ if break the rules more often and you’ll gain an advantage over those who are too afraid to risk it.” Lastly, for “Marzipan” by Robert Allen, I felt like it could have been a nonfiction piece in a way because it gave kind of a sad message in explaining that us as humans we often fail to recognize hurt because we try to mask it with something else and in this particular case, the author has his character mourn for the loss of his mother and one night him being inebriated and remembers nothing more than her image but tries to conceal his hurt by trying to make conversation with a beautiful woman at a party. -Ana Silvia Mears
ReplyDeleteReading Chapter 2 “Writing the Short-Short Story” by Starkey and seeing how they breakdown the three stories I see all the hard work the authors really put on them. In the beginning of the chapter they talked about how Roberta Allen from the story “Marzipan” said that short-short stories are more popular because people have shorter attention spans and have little time to read so these stories are perfect for them. I found that very interesting because although it did seem like an insult at first, but when you actually think about the way these generations are very lazy to read unless it’s short and interesting; she has a point. When reading these stories, I was at first confused because I didn’t know what was going on since it went from killing the pregnant girls father to putting consequences on a fifteen month old baby to admitting a dark secret, but I was asking myself questions like “88 HOURS INSIDE THAT ROOM BECAUSE SHE TORE PAGES OUT OF A BOOK?!” or “Okay what the hell is going on why did he admit to her that his mother killed herself after a few seconds of knowing her???” and I believe that is what the stories want you to do. They want you to question why they wrote what they wrote, and they leave you wanting more answers on the chaos they wrote.
ReplyDelete-Melissa Garcia
After reading I’ve learned a whole bunch on witing a short-short story. Fiction can be anywhere and everywhere. There are 5 different elements of fiction and they each have a specific part they bring the essay together. One thing that does stand out is how they said how you have to decide on your story and then have yourself answer why you chose that specific story to write. Roberta made a good point on how people love short-short stories because people do have a short attention span and these types of stories are between 100-1,000 words max. Crossing the River Zbruc by Isaac Babel is a story about a solder receiving a chilling surprise in the middle of the night. My guess maybe he is dreaming? The Baby by Donald Barthelme the main point of this story is how the baby gets punishments for tearing pages of the books. The dad would leave her in a row for 4 hours for each page she tore. It ends with the dad understand her and even joining in on the paper ripping. Marzipan by Roberta Allen talks about a young man reveals a dark secret while at a party. He admits that his mom killed herself the way he comes to say this because his mom loved marzipan and him seeing the girl near him eating that had him reminiscing.
ReplyDelete- Yaretzi Diaz
Writing a short-short story is a type of fiction writing I never considering doing. This chapter got me thinking of different types of fiction an author can write. I always thought fiction was novels, books, stories, and even short stories. But with this chapter, I got introduced to short-short stories which are like one hundred to no more than two thousand words per short-short story. When writing fiction, a short-short story should have five elements; which are structure and design, character, dialogue, setting, and point of view, tone, style. Most authors like Roberta Allen move towards the direction of writing short-short stories because the popularity in them. She sees that short-short stories grab the ever-shrinking attention span of people this day and age. Another main point I picked up on is the topic of the story you write. Before you begin any writing, you need to decide what you are going to write about and if it’s in the plot ask, “why?” All three stories tell a quick tale in between the average word count for short-short stories all without sounds rushed or lacking details. The stories grab your attention quickly and let go just as fast. A lot of tactics I plan on using for short-short stories.
ReplyDelete-Miguel Garcia