Writing
Despite it being at 8:05 in the morning, my Fiction Writing class is awesome. For one, it's fairly short, which is awesome. Two, the readings that we do are really cool. Some are stories themselves, and some are tips on writing.
For instance, one of the readings for Monday is called "Don't Do This" by Jerome Stern and it's a list of rules and examples of what not to do in writing. As I was reading through, I was like "this makes sense...but can you not use it ever? Some of the rules were...
- Don't write about things you don't know about
- Don't write the last line to be the surprise (And then the alarm rang, and it was all a dream, etc.)
- Don't write stories that are simply idea-driven (then you seem to be giving your readers a sermon)
- Don't give your characters phonetically similar names (it makes the reader confused)
And the list goes on and on!
The very last rule is what tied this piece of work up perfectly - "Don't believe any of the don'ts above - Art is made out of broken rules . Art pushes at the envelope of the never-done, but also constantly recycles the forever - done. Cliches are the compost of art . Transformations, inversions, reversions, and conversions continually revive fiction. If you dare, these don'ts can be your pleasure ground." Am I weird or did any one else's heart swell?? When I read that, I laughed, smiled, and my heart beat fast.
It's ok to do things differently. It's ok to be weird. It's ok to break rules.
Every class we do an exercise, and Wednesday's was to think back to your first memory, and write about it from another person's (who was there) point of view. I wrote about me being dropped off at so and so's house when Sam was 2 weeks old and my parent's took him to the hospital. Ok, I don't really remember it well, but I remember it was the same person's house where Sam (years later) knocked out my front tooth. And I remember they had a teen (?) daughter (pre-teen probably at the time of my memory). I remember it was a Sunday night (I think). But it didn't really matter what I did and didn't remember, because I wrote the story from the mom/wife/my mom's friend's point of view - having a two and a half year old dropped off at her house for the night when her friend could possibly be losing her newborn baby boy.
I'm sure you'd love to read it ;) But I had to turn it in, so I promise that when we get the assignment back (if we do...) I'll share it with you all.
Other news - loving all my classes, and I'm super stoked because Tuesday nights for Child Development I get to volunteer in the nursery at a program in Raleigh called "Step Up" (YAY - babies!), and for my ELM class I get to observe...wait for it...KINDERGARTEN at Reedy Creek!!! I'm beyond excited for that. One day out of the semester, we have to go for a whole day - from before the students get there til after they leave - yayy!!!
This weekend - Cal and I are going to our first (real) work party!! And we'll be the youngest there by 5 or so years! Sunday night, Cal is performing in NC State's annual Mr. Engineering!!! If you want to come, it's at Talley (I think) our student center from 7-9 and is $3 a person. I'll be his "assistant" in his talent. I'm SO excited (yet nervous!!)! Last year there was over 300 people !! AH! I don't care if he wins or loses (although winning would be GREAT), because it's just an awesome experience to have! He already won "Mr. Mechanical Engineer" for the year, and to me he'll always be my Mr. Engineer!! :) Hope to see you there!
For instance, one of the readings for Monday is called "Don't Do This" by Jerome Stern and it's a list of rules and examples of what not to do in writing. As I was reading through, I was like "this makes sense...but can you not use it ever? Some of the rules were...
- Don't write about things you don't know about
- Don't write the last line to be the surprise (And then the alarm rang, and it was all a dream, etc.)
- Don't write stories that are simply idea-driven (then you seem to be giving your readers a sermon)
- Don't give your characters phonetically similar names (it makes the reader confused)
And the list goes on and on!
The very last rule is what tied this piece of work up perfectly - "Don't believe any of the don'ts above - Art is made out of broken rules . Art pushes at the envelope of the never-done, but also constantly recycles the forever - done. Cliches are the compost of art . Transformations, inversions, reversions, and conversions continually revive fiction. If you dare, these don'ts can be your pleasure ground." Am I weird or did any one else's heart swell?? When I read that, I laughed, smiled, and my heart beat fast.
It's ok to do things differently. It's ok to be weird. It's ok to break rules.
Every class we do an exercise, and Wednesday's was to think back to your first memory, and write about it from another person's (who was there) point of view. I wrote about me being dropped off at so and so's house when Sam was 2 weeks old and my parent's took him to the hospital. Ok, I don't really remember it well, but I remember it was the same person's house where Sam (years later) knocked out my front tooth. And I remember they had a teen (?) daughter (pre-teen probably at the time of my memory). I remember it was a Sunday night (I think). But it didn't really matter what I did and didn't remember, because I wrote the story from the mom/wife/my mom's friend's point of view - having a two and a half year old dropped off at her house for the night when her friend could possibly be losing her newborn baby boy.
I'm sure you'd love to read it ;) But I had to turn it in, so I promise that when we get the assignment back (if we do...) I'll share it with you all.
Other news - loving all my classes, and I'm super stoked because Tuesday nights for Child Development I get to volunteer in the nursery at a program in Raleigh called "Step Up" (YAY - babies!), and for my ELM class I get to observe...wait for it...KINDERGARTEN at Reedy Creek!!! I'm beyond excited for that. One day out of the semester, we have to go for a whole day - from before the students get there til after they leave - yayy!!!
This weekend - Cal and I are going to our first (real) work party!! And we'll be the youngest there by 5 or so years! Sunday night, Cal is performing in NC State's annual Mr. Engineering!!! If you want to come, it's at Talley (I think) our student center from 7-9 and is $3 a person. I'll be his "assistant" in his talent. I'm SO excited (yet nervous!!)! Last year there was over 300 people !! AH! I don't care if he wins or loses (although winning would be GREAT), because it's just an awesome experience to have! He already won "Mr. Mechanical Engineer" for the year, and to me he'll always be my Mr. Engineer!! :) Hope to see you there!
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