I've been writing stories since I was about 6 or 7. So yeah, it's nothing new. But I was looking back at some of my the things I wrote, and I noticed a pattern through all my work--I never finished anything. I always had great ideas, great starts, great characters...but then the story would fall flat. I'd run out of ways to develop the plot, or I'd get bored of the setting, blah blah blah. This made me wonder, what if I actually finished a story?
For one, I would have more than just a fragment of an idea. I would have a finished product that I could hopefully be proud of, a story that I could share with family and friends. It would be proof to myself and to everyone else that I can finish something. And, if all goes well, I could maybe earn a good grade :]
Obviously, I'll have to finish my story, one way or another. It's part of the assignment. I'm not just going to turn in a half-finished story. But it's going to take a lot of self-discipline for me to stick with it. This writing process might turn out to be an important growth experience for me. I'll have to commit to an idea and run with it, no turning back. I can't wait to see how it unfolds.
3 comments:
Kate,
I totally agree with you about being more comfortable with the short story unit than with Heart of Darkness. I too have been writing little, short stories since I was younger and have not finished many of them! I'm also really excited for this unit because we will get a chance to get a lot of feedback about our writing, which is something I don't get when I'm just writing stories at home. I can't wait to read your story! I know it'll be great! :)
Kate,
I agree with you about liking the change of pace in english class. Writing and reading short stories will be using other parts of our brain and be a lot different than Heart of Darkness.
I thought it was funny when I read your paragraph about not finishing short stories because I have the exact opposite problem. Sometimes I have good ideas or plans for different plots and I know how it is going to end. However, my problem is, I don't always know how to begin my story. I always struggle with beginning my story in a way that will grab my reader's attention and that always takes the most thought and effort for me.
But I like this process of editing our short stories a lot because he says we won't have a final product until around May, so that will give us plenty of time to make these stories the best that they can be.
I feel like this happens to me too, except for me it's more like I get an idea and I never write anything down. In our eighth grade class we had to write a "vocab" story and that was one of my favorite things just because it gave me an excuse to write something. I'm really enjoying this assignment.
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