Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Genre Play - 3/26 Discussion Thread

Greetings, Class Community. 

Please list what genre (narrative style) you are most interested in writing in. Feel free to make a distinction between physical writing and digital writing - if there is one. 
Please include a sentence or two explaining why you prefer that genre style.

Then if you agree or disagree with another classmate's post, you may reply directly to the post with your comments.
Dr. Hill 

32 comments:

  1. I'm still not 100% positive on what I am going to write about, but I am thinking about writing in first person. I have been considering writing a memoir, so it would make sense to use first person if I do.

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    1. During our last class we discussed the benefits and limits of first person narratives. I wonder if anyone in the class remembers some of the key points. If you remember some of the benefits and limits we discussed, please post them for Rachel.

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    2. Some of the points were:

      -people find it more personable and more towards social media
      -constraints though are the reader only sees into one of the characters mind unless of course the point of views change

      That's all I could remember from the top of my head.

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    3. Most memoirs use first person narrative strategies. I posted some information about memoir and narrative style in another blog post. You may find the information helpful.

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  2. I originally wanted to write poem but I've been thinking about writing a short story instead. I think I'll be able to get my point across better through a short story rather than a poem

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    1. Ummmmm, I say go with your instincts, your writer gut. There are benefits and limits associated with both genres of writing.

      If you decide to use poems, please remember that certain forms (styles) of poems add to the meaning of the poem. For example, sonnets are traditionally written about love.

      Poetic Forms

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  3. I tend to write vignettes when I feel like being creative, mainly because I do not have the patience to write a short story or a novel (yet). With vignettes I can jump right into the action and focus on the event or emotion that I want to illustrate between my characters. The vignettes are convenient because I can then input them into chapters I write for the novels that those characters are supposed to be featured in.

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    1. I think that is a great idea. This type of project reminds me of Lucille Clifton Generations You should check it out!

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    2. My favorite isolated flash fiction work is Lover's Ear You may like that work too!

      Question: Is there a way that your vignette style of writing is transformed in digital space? If so, how?

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  4. I decided to write a short story. It is in first person.
    The only thing i was confused about what how to format it.

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    1. Morgan, I think it is important to ask yourself what format will work best for the story you are trying to tell.

      What digital formats work best?
      Also consider that if you decide to use a more traditional digital format like microsoft word, what benefits and limitations will be associated with using that format.

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  5. I think the narrative style I am going to choose will be first person. It seems as if it is a much more interesting choice for the reader and keeps the audience involved in the story more so than other narrative styles.

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    1. First person narratives are usually more attractive to readers. It usually helps the reader relate to the narrator and characters in a more intimate way.

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  6. I feel more comfortable with writing about fiction genre, like a tragedy. I like to make the readers to be on the edge of their seat while reading and begging to find out more. I like being in control of the characters lives and event that take place throughout the book and give them my own twist to dramatically change.

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    1. A tragedy??? What are you going to make us cry about? :) Well with tragedies it is important to keep the reader interested. This post may be helpful to you.

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  7. (Whoops I was looking at the discussion board on blackboard...)
    I tend to lean toward prose fiction, myself, and have a particular bent toward horror. My project idea was to primarily tell the story in chat logs, possibly with external links to pictures and the like. I realize that if I go with the external links I can *only* work in a digital space. I'm interested in the building suspense post, hopefully I can look at it more closely later tonight.
    Working in chat logs for this project will be a challenge, and I'm torn on my idea, if I want to do a word document or take the extra step and set it up on a blog (I do love Tumblr...)

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    1. Blackboard was not cooperating with us this afternoon.

      Rachel do you plan to stick with the Homestuck inspired writings?

      It will be interesting to see how the tropes associated with 'horror' stories will play out in that space. If I remember correctly from your presentation, Andrew Hussie has a few examples of horror writing in this type of genre.

      Good luck!

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    2. I'm likely going to do the story told in chat-logs thing as Hussie does... I have pictures as well that I think will serve to enhance the narrative, and considering adding music, we'll see how it develops. Hussie has pretty much every genre covered in Homestuck, I think, he goes from comedy to drama to horror to sci fi and fantasy in the course of the comic :)

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  8. I picked a short story because i like staying in one moment and giving as much detail as possible. Poems are not my strong point and i think with short stories it can help build my writing skills.

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    1. The short story is a great way to capture the moment. Choose a great moment. Give your character a 'moment'. This is a good interview clip about writing by Kurt Vonnegut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmVcIhnvSx8

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  9. The format I will be using for our social media project will be poetry - I'll be writing a series of three poems about online relationships that I have had. Typically I prefer to write in prose from, however for this subject matter, I thought that poems would be a more suitable format. I also considered writing a memoir style piece about the online relationships, but I have not decided whether or not I would like that. I think that for what I am writing about, poems might be more appropriate because poetry allows you to be much more personal and sincere whereas prose and memoir writing is more straightforward and factual. I think that poetry will allow me to be more open and honest about these relationships I am writing about.

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    1. I agree, Suzie. Write the poems. Poetry is not oppositional to memoir writing. Many poems are confessional poems

      Please read a few by Sharon Olds

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  10. I think I am going to write a short story in first person as well. I agree with Erika, whenever others get more involved in the story.

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    1. I think that is a great idea, Courtney. Please review the advice that I gave Erika and then take a moment to review the video under Morgan's post. Although the video speaks to writing fiction, I think many of the rules can be applicable when writing non fiction.

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  11. Personally, I prefer to write either cellphone novels or fictional prose of sorts. The cellphone novels because it is very easy to write a small part for a story without having to really sit there and write for long hours. For the fictional prose, I want to write novels, but I never seem to be able to get past the 20,000 words of it.

    But when it comes to school and assignments, I tend to write short stories that tend to leave people wanting to see more or a very large cliffhanger. Afterwards on my own time I tend to want to expand them.

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    1. I get that. Considering that you have started to write the "WWII" story using a more traditional digital format, what kind of story will you begin as a text novel

      Are you going to use www.textnovel.com?

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    2. I am using textnovel.com. I have actually already started one on there. It's called Afternoon Sunlight. I update it when I get the chance or when I get inspired to write something for it.

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  12. I have a topic, but I'm not totally sure of the direction I want to go with it. I'm leaning towards doing a series of poems, with each poem being a different perspective. If I do decide on doing a story, it'll more than likely be a tragedy and in third person.

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    1. Kaylyn, I will enjoy reading which ever genre you choose to present your story in. The varied perspectives of the three poems sounds intriguing.

      Try drafting the work in both genres. That exercise may help you decide which presentation format you like best.

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  13. Students, I have to take a quick break. I will try to respond to each of your comments shortly. :)

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