A short story has the ability to provoke a magnitude of insights and emotions, at times more so than a full-fledged novel. In addition to this, as their name suggests, they are short. That's right, the longest of short stories may clock in at an unimaginable ten pages. What's not to love about them? Such power can be compacted in such a brief story. Immediately after hearing that we would be writing one for English class, I was excited. I couldn't wait to tackle this important yet easier challenge. I thought it would be like a delightful spring-time jog through a park: brief, wonderful, and still a decent workout. I could not have been farther than the truth.
Right from the get go, I was stuck. Our preliminary job was simple: to create a setting, or a world in which our story will exist. My problem wasn't that I had trouble creating this setting. No, making this scenario was easy. I had seen plenty of movies, read many books, and studied many aspects of this world in my sixteen years of living. I believe that I understood the themes of our world to a passable degree, or enough so to formulate possible insightful settings. Instead, my issue was that my creative brain was working against me. I was unable to choose a foundation for my story that I was completely satisfied with. For two hours, I sat in front of a blank computer screen as the ideas appeared and disappeared in front of my eyes. There was too much opportunity, if that makes any sense at all.
Once I had decided on my setting, which happened to include a homeless person in New York City, things lightened up. Next we were given the task of actually writing the story itself. This included character development and the creation of the actual plot. This creation was where I found the most enjoyment. This part of the story writing process is where the imagination thrives. This entire world that you can create simply by a few strokes of the keyboard, it's surely something. Your own vision is created, and that liberty is lacking in much of our lives. And so, I crafted my story with two things in mind. Opportunities of further insights, and the whole "Form Is Content" shin-dig that we have been butting our heads with throughout the entire year. As the plot extended, I learned more about my own story than I had previously imagined. I was satisfied.
The next few steps were the grind. From then on, it was a battle of constant revision. The purpose of these revisions were to clarify, structurally stabilize, and to provide a greater emotional depth. That last part was the most difficult. It was stressed that we should add a continuous pressure on our characters to further emotional depth and to provoke a change in our characters. I divined that the pressure should not be blatant and obvious, but rather subtle and lingering. However, I struggled. I could not find a suitable way to dump all this pressure on my character without feeling like it was a bit too much. Many revisions were made in my story in which I deleted numerous parts where the pressure was too obvious and too forced. It was difficult for me to find that healthy balance, but I eventually achieved what I was aiming for.
As a result of this process, I something quite interesting. If you are aiming for the top tier, aiming to create something worth recognition, any creative piece requires intense thought, a surprising amount of depth, and at times meticulous correction. Even with the amount of time that I invested into my short story. I believe that there are even more opportunities for my story to be polished and perfected. I just haven't found them yet. However, watching something you created grow and develop into something worth showing is truly a satisfying feeling. A short story is no jog in the park, but instead, it is a marathon. The whole twenty-six miles and then some.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Change of Mind: Being Different
There are billions of people on this planet, and we all strive for the same thing. As a society, we idolize the elite and strive to emulate their wealth and success. These were my beliefs, and I found absolutely no fault in living by these goals. I now realize that I used to have a very misconstrued view of the common goal of society. By experiencing the process of writing a short story and by analyzing the themes of the movie Once, I began to see it all differently. We should all embrace our individuality and strive to work off of those strengths, instead of trying to fantasize about unrealistic possibilities.
Growing up, everyone is subconsciously and unknowingly fed these ideas that lead them to believe that life's goal is to be successful. I am not arguing against that; it's a fine goal. However, people attempt to reach this goal by being something that they are clearly not. I used to marvel at incredible businessmen and athletes and drool at their incredible stories. There are those who strive to be like Bill Gates, and bask in the wealth of the world. There are those who strive to be like Michael Jordan or Lebron James and dominate the court with an uncanny and other-worldly ability. I was no different. I grew up trying to be like my brother. He was so ridiculously talented at everything that I was interested in. Whether it was through art or music, I always knew his future was going to entail one hell of a life. But in those fields, my future was non-existent.
I began to recognize the power of individuality when I was writing my short story. As I was crafting and shaping the narrative of my story, I was struggling on how to add pressure to my character. In my story, the protagonist had to somehow interact with a homeless man in order to learn more about herself. As I was pondering countless scenarios in which this interaction would occur, a sudden and random insight struck me. I was not limited in the paths I could take. It was my story. I could have the two characters meet on the peak of Mt. Everest if I wanted them to (although the setting was New York City...) I was the author and it was in my power to do what I wished. This insight allowed me to find what I believed to be a perfect scenario for the story, as it shed all limitations. This self-prescribed power was interesting to me. It was interesting because I knew that each and every one of my classmates had the same power, and they each produced a unique and beautiful story. It was quite impressive.
Another influence in my change of mind was the movie Once. The thing that captured my interest was that fact that it was a love story that was so different than the rest. All of the raw emotion and feelings that the characters felt were fused with the music. It was a type of love story that I have never seen before, and it worked so well. I could tell that the movie did not have any feeble attempt to be like any famous love story in history, but rather chose to set its own stage, and be drastically different yet equally astounding.
The combination of the two insights led to my complete change of mind. Why strive to be so successful in the same tracks as someone who had previously struggled to make his own mark? Is that truly success? There is no thrill, no life worth living in a life with those goals. We must set our own stages, and each be elite in our own unique, and individual ways. There are billions of people on this planet, and we are all different people. Make the most of it.
Growing up, everyone is subconsciously and unknowingly fed these ideas that lead them to believe that life's goal is to be successful. I am not arguing against that; it's a fine goal. However, people attempt to reach this goal by being something that they are clearly not. I used to marvel at incredible businessmen and athletes and drool at their incredible stories. There are those who strive to be like Bill Gates, and bask in the wealth of the world. There are those who strive to be like Michael Jordan or Lebron James and dominate the court with an uncanny and other-worldly ability. I was no different. I grew up trying to be like my brother. He was so ridiculously talented at everything that I was interested in. Whether it was through art or music, I always knew his future was going to entail one hell of a life. But in those fields, my future was non-existent.
I began to recognize the power of individuality when I was writing my short story. As I was crafting and shaping the narrative of my story, I was struggling on how to add pressure to my character. In my story, the protagonist had to somehow interact with a homeless man in order to learn more about herself. As I was pondering countless scenarios in which this interaction would occur, a sudden and random insight struck me. I was not limited in the paths I could take. It was my story. I could have the two characters meet on the peak of Mt. Everest if I wanted them to (although the setting was New York City...) I was the author and it was in my power to do what I wished. This insight allowed me to find what I believed to be a perfect scenario for the story, as it shed all limitations. This self-prescribed power was interesting to me. It was interesting because I knew that each and every one of my classmates had the same power, and they each produced a unique and beautiful story. It was quite impressive.
Another influence in my change of mind was the movie Once. The thing that captured my interest was that fact that it was a love story that was so different than the rest. All of the raw emotion and feelings that the characters felt were fused with the music. It was a type of love story that I have never seen before, and it worked so well. I could tell that the movie did not have any feeble attempt to be like any famous love story in history, but rather chose to set its own stage, and be drastically different yet equally astounding.
The combination of the two insights led to my complete change of mind. Why strive to be so successful in the same tracks as someone who had previously struggled to make his own mark? Is that truly success? There is no thrill, no life worth living in a life with those goals. We must set our own stages, and each be elite in our own unique, and individual ways. There are billions of people on this planet, and we are all different people. Make the most of it.
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