LITR 3731: Creative Writing
Student Journal / Portfolio Sample Submission 2003
Tamrynn Huckabay Fett
2 December 2003
Creative Writing Portforlio
Introduction
When I started this class I did expect it to be more enjoyable than some of the other Literature classes I had taken. I wanted a break from the standard, and knew that this elective would also serve a purpose in my life. Because I had taken Creative Writing in high school, I knew it would not be a blow off class. In some ways research papers are easier than pulling information from my own head and making some one understand it the way I do. Reading helped me to write more successfully, but as most Literature majors I read much more than I wrote. This creative writing class broadly covered a great deal of information in only sixteen weeks. The three genres we learned about in our “text book” by Stephen Minot, Three Genres: Poetry, Fiction, and Drama. There was only four weeks assigned to each genre. It seemed the information was flying by my head, but I gathered up enough to feel like a more confident writer than I did before. The set up of the curriculum was different than expected, but reasonable for a three hour class meeting only once a week.
The class went right along with the book starting the semester with poetry. I use to write poetry all the time. Having read over some of it again recently, I must admit, it would have been beneficial for me to have taken this class back then. Poetry still is not the highlight of my writing endeavors, but at least I can make it flow. It was a new idea for me to accept that anyone would revise poetry. I had been taught that poetry in the raw was the truest form, and that the way it was written the first time is the way it was felt and ought to be left alone. I was wrong. In order for me to really be a good poetry writer I need to take a semester long workshop, but this class has helped me to improve a great deal.
Rhyme has never been difficult for me, and Minot’s advice about muted rhyme only expanded my word choices. Rhythm was the most difficult part of poetry for me. It is understandable since I cannot clap on beat in church either, but needed to be improved. By far, I have not reached perfection, but am now aware of my syllable congruencies.
Fiction is perhaps the easiest genre for me to write. It is only an embellishment of true life. True life is often crazy enough, and then to get the permission, even encouragement, to make it more exciting is a wonderful invitation. I accept. I pity the children who learn to read, and imitate the story-telling only to be punished. Short stories have always been a favorite both to read and to write. Not to sound overly corny, but in a short story the reader gets to take just a small road trip, while in a novel the reader is on a full vacation. My life does not leave time for vacations, so I take pleasure in little fifteen minute road trips. If I did have time to read more novels that were not for school assignments I might not see the “long vacation” as a “business trip.” I might become more interested in writing novels as the writer in me develops, but short stories seem like a good jump start. Minot teaches about how to take real life and alter it in order to disguise the true life characters, as well as make changes for the entertainment of the audience. When a movie is based on a true story it may be a very loose base. Surely in my fiction I needed to remove the day-to-day droning events that add nothing to the value of the story.
Surprisingly, drama was not difficult. I found it much more fun than tedious to put words into other people’s mouths. Having been in theater in jr. high and high school I really enjoyed being on the other side of the acting fence. It would be an interesting assignment in a theater class, to have each student create a short five minute skit, and then hand it over to another student to direct. While I never had been given any guidance on drama, and the preparation for the genre was quickly run through I struggled the least with my drama piece. It was much like the fiction in the embellishments of real life. Making things sound natural was not difficult because I have been having conversations my whole life. Even though in life sometimes one person dominates an entire conversation in drama it is easiest to keep all the lines short. Knowing what I know about drama does give me an appreciation for the writers of today’s sitcoms as well as the classic play writes.
None of my work is ready for publication, but it is clear that is has come a long way from where it started. Each piece is a work in progress, but has already come a good distance in from where it began in my mind. This portfolio is not only for a grade, but to help me see how much my writing grew over this semester.
Fiction Development
Fiction, according to what Stephen Minot teaches in his book Three Genres, is only a re-write of real life. It is easiest to write about what is familiar, therefore a writer usually takes stories from his or her own life and develops them into interesting fiction. I took the story of a dear friend in developing “Red Dress, White Tennies.” The story was interesting enough to be told just as it happen, but would have open wounds that have yet to heal completely.
A family friend lost a daughter December 2001. They had a charmed family life until the utopia of their home changed dramatically through tragedy. Their daughter woke up with what they thought was a stomach virus, but the virus held on for two days. On the eve of day three an appointment had been set to see the doctor. It was around 2 a.m. when she threw up, and stopped breathing. The ambulance was called, and her mother did CPR until they arrived, but before she arrived at the hospital she was brain dead from lack of oxygen. The autopsy showed: the stint that had saved her life after birth, when water was settling on her brain, had become infected and led to her death by lack of oxygen to the brain.
That was the seed of my story. She left two brothers, who were also her best friends to grieve her before they even understood death. Watching and listening to them as they tried to grasp the loss they had before them was how I formed “Adam.”
Adam had to be more like someone else, in character, than either of the boys in the real life story. His personality was that of my older brother when we were young because I could best imagine how he would have acted in that situation. He was independent, protective, and loving toward his siblings. Adam was able to get himself ready for church without help, he found a way to get his sister’s shoes to her, and he was concerned for her even after she was gone to Heaven. Sam was added so that Adam would not be alone in his grief. It was a softening of the blow not only for Adam, but for the reader.
Annie was very much like the girl who died. She never tattled, never talked back to adults, and always played sweetly with other children. One of her brothers actually told the pastor, “It doesn’t seem fair, she was the good one.” I used that line, slightly clarified in Adams thoughts. “Annie never argued. She was the best of us. That’s why it doesn’t seem fair, but I guess if I were Jesus I would rather have her come to Heaven than Sam or me.” Originally I had the line just as her brother had said it, but I was told that it was too unclear especially if a child were to be reading the story.
The Bible stories were used to help comfort Adam as he realized that Annie was going to live in Heaven now. I tried to use stories that were widely known from children’s Sunday school classes. I actually called my little brother, who is the same age as Adam, ten, and asked him what stories he could tell me from the Bible. He knew many more than just the ones I used, but I chose the ones he told me first, figuring they were more popular.
I used Grandma to transition from the funeral scene into the imagination of Adam and what Annie was doing in Heaven. Grandma was the first to suggest that Annie had so much to do in Heaven that she may not even be watching her own funeral, as Adam had expected her to do. Having a loving figure like a grandmother there to introduce the idea adds to the innocents of the thought process Adam goes though.
My first conclusion pushed the edge of melodrama just because it was overly stressed that Adam would miss his sister. At the age of ten, before he understands death, Adam likely doesn’t realize how much he will miss his sister. Grandma, served me here again as I brought her up in another short dialogue:
“She is lovely in her red dress, and no one saw her white tennies,” Grandma said to me as we left the church.
“If anything ever happens to me Grandma, will you make sure I get my tennies?” The audience is able to see Grandma as an accomplice to Adams innocent childhood mischief, and sees the bonding taking place between the two very different characters as they are no much different in this situation. It separates the reader from the sorrowful event, and adds some amusement to the story.
Poetry Development
Be Friends: Early Draft
1
I am purple 4
My hair is green 4
And I’ve learned 3
The world hates me…4
2
I give clothes3
To those in need,4
And to the hungry 5
I’m never mean. 4
3
I help clean streets, 4
And adopt stray cats, 5
But headed home 4
suffer verbal attacks. 6
4
I want a friend, 4
And would play sweet, 4
But everyone 4
Thinks I’m a geek. 4
5
So, I’m purple 4
And my hair is green 5
It’s just what I look like 6
Not a reason to hate me.7
Rhythm is not my strong point, but everything rhymes. After realizing how severely I lacked order I went to work. My first order of business, was to call in reinforcements. Robert was able to help me a great deal on how to take what order I had and alter it just slightly to create structure within my poem. It is almost embarrassing to look at the poem now, but it was a great learning experience, and helps me appreciate what the poem has become. The structure is now 6 stanzas of four lines with four syllables and the seventh stanza having a four, five, six, then seven syllables. The change in the last stanza helps to bring attention to the point the poem which is that appearances do not matter.
As I revised I tried to add more of the specifics that may have happen to the purple girl with green hair. The only reason I say “girl” is that I made one of the stanzas: They call me names,
And take my purse.
They laugh at me,
And point and curse.
I would like to think that young boys do not carry purses. This stanza was added right bellow a revision of stanza three that is posted at the top of the poetry development. Rather than just having “verbal attacks” I moved it into a four syllable line “I am attacked,” and then go on to explain the attack. I was unwilling to let go of the slant rhyme between “cat” and “attack,” and this was very proud of my self for finding a creative way to keep they best part, and still improve upon it.
The other stanza that I added was below stanza four above:
Being caring
Must be uncool
For populars
Are all so cruel.
This again helped to emphasize the pain that is caused because of social hierarchy at early ages. It painted a picture of the stereotypical snob, and how they pick on the underdog, who is usually not a bad person, but an unpopular one.
The idea of the poem started because of my two-year old cousin who is very smart, and always pleasant, but has a birth mark on her face. My aunt is concerned for how she will be looked at by other kids her age when she gets older. That was what caused me to go in the direction of prejudice because of appearances only. The reason I chose purple and green was not only because I did not want to make it racial, but a purple and green character would be amusing to a child.
Everything stayed short and simple because this poem I wrote as a children’s poem. I wanted it to be enjoyable to an adult audience, but also understandable to a child. Hopefully, the adults would already know that appearances are not important, but the children would have an opportunity to learn from the poem. This piece was tied tightly to a moral, but I tried to stay far enough away from the lesson that I did not sound like a preacher.
Drama Development
The
Scarlet “B”: Earlier Work
Concept
sentence: Teenage girls are having a private conversation in a classroom, and it
is overheard and misunderstood by a few other students in the classroom.
Theme sentence:
Private matters should be kept to private places in order to avoid
misunderstandings.
Corrie
Jennifer
Tamrynn
Laurie
Robin
Mr. Andresakis
David
Laquita
(Enters Corrie,
places her bags down on the desk in front of Jennifer and turns around.)
Corrie: I’m
glad you’re here. I didn’t see
you at lunch and was concerned, not for you...
(interrupting
her)
Jennifer: Gee!
Thanks, I appreciate that.
Corrie: No, not
like that.
Jennifer: Yeah,
I understand. (change tone from joking to inquisitive) Why?
What’s up?
Corrie: Tamrynn
is acting really strange today. I
asked her what was wrong, but she just asked if I had seen you.
(Jennifer makes
a face of concern mixed with pity)
Corrie: You already know something, don’t you?
Jennifer:
I might, but I hope I’m wrong.
(Enters: Tamrynn places her bags between Jennifer and Laurie. Corrie turns around to give them privacy, but leans back to listen.)
The drama restriction was that it had to take place in a class room. At first I thought this would make it much more difficult, but then realized the perfect setting. What is more dramatic than high school? Everything is blown out of proportion, and the world revolves around each individual youth-especially the girls. Having substituted in the past I was familiar with situations that were similar to the one I wrote about in my drama. Girls are often having conversations inappropriate to the setting, and certainly inappropriate for the audience that is eves dropping. They get angry at the eves droppers as though the conversation was taking place over the phone and their line had been tapped.
I chose the idea of pregnancy not because I had heard in a classroom, but because it was the most inappropriate thing to discuss in a class room. Just like girls do, I created silly code words such as her “assignment” being late, her boyfriend being her “partner,” and her failing the “test.” No one had to wonder what was being talked about, and the entire class was listening to their private conversation.
The beginning of the drama did not get right to the point in the version that I brought to class. I was encouraged to bring Tamrynn into the conversation earlier. I brought her up, but did not want to disclose her distress until after the minor confusion at Corrie’s concern, which was changed to worry.
It is not until Tamrynn shows up that the concept sentence begins to be acted out: Teenage girls are having a private conversation in a classroom, and it is overheard and misunderstood by a few other students in the classroom. I could have made my thesis sentence something about not gossiping, but I thought that would be too cliché for high school. They gossip, so I made my thesis sentence pertinent to the students who were feeding the gossipers the information.
When Tamrynn enters I tried to make it seem like the other class mates were trying to do their own thing and let her talk to Jennifer. The interjections by other classmates is what showed the eves dropping that was taking place. I added a few more of these after listening to the class read it out loud because I wanted to emphasize my thesis sentence: Private matters should be kept to private places in order to avoid misunderstandings. I considered putting another gossiper at the conclusion, but it seemed to take away from the punch line.
In the original version I did not have any appearance of the teacher, but because the scene takes place between classes I felt it necessary since there are only seven minute passing periods in high school and at least three are taken up by the girl’s conversation. He had to show up in order for the scene to end without being too abnormal. Girls do not just drop a topic as juicy as teenage pregnancy. The audience would not have been happy with an immediate drop off of the conversation either, and to soften the change of mood that happens with a teacher’s entry I tried to add some humor. Rather than giving him a line like: “Remove your paper and books from your desk and prepare for the test.” I had him introduce the book, The Scarlet Letter. Anyone who knows the plot of The Scarlet Letter sees the irony of Tamrynn situation.
I was not trying to make light of the situation of teen pregnancy, but I
did not want to write a didactic play. The
topic was not the subject: the inappropriateness of the topic was my focus.
The humor was never poking fun at the possible pregnancy, but at the way
the girls were handling the situation. I
even had Jennifer add a slight lesson by saying: “I told you to stay away from
that topic. You’ll flunk the
test.” It was fun to write and
fun to listen to as it was preformed, and if I had pressed the lesson it would
have been less enjoyable.
Conclusion
From the first creative writing class that I took in high school, to where I am after taking this course I have become a much more competent writer. Competency will be necessary since I want to teach creative writing in high school. The trouble will be finding a high school that still allows that class as an elective. Deer Park took the class out the year after I graduated, and I wrote a letter begging them to bring it back, but four years latter they still have no interest in the course.
The question concerning the class is how much educational value it has for young people, and even at a college level, but the truth is that it is necessary to the Literature of the future for creative writing to be taught. Hundreds of years from now, whose work will our grandchildren read if no one teaches us to write? Maybe they will not read at all. A more simple explanation for the value of the class is that a person rarely gets paid to do something poorly. Novelists and screen-writers are good at their job, but probably did not develop their skills over night. It takes time, and hard work to become good at any trade, even if the talent is already there.
The workshop idea is perfect for a high school class room, and would work out even better since most classes meet at least three times a week. Mondays could be work days where everyone begins their piece which to be completed by Wednesday. The entire class could be used for brainstorming if that is what is most beneficial to the individual. Wednesday would be the small group revisions where the students would have their work read and critiqued by at least three other students. The students would need to bring at least three copies to class so that each of the editors could write on their copy and return it to the author. By Friday the suggestions that had been made by the small group would need to be applied so that the students could share their piece with the class. The class would be asked to take notes on each fiction for things they thought needed to be touched up or worked on, and specific ideas that they either liked or disliked. After class I would pick up the notes and give to the authors the class’s critiques which would all be anonymous. The anonymity gives the students freedom to be honest with out causing any hard feelings, but I would still ask that the truth be said with tact. I will not be teaching seasoned writers, or adults who are striving to be successful in the field or writing. In order to help the students to continue trying the atmosphere in my class will need to stay positive. At the beginning of class each Monday the piece that had been worked on all week would be turned in to me for a grade.
Whatever text we used as a class would be as similar to Stephen Minot’s Three Genres as I could find. The first fifteen minutes of class would be spending in brief discussion of the reading that had been done. I want my students to lead the discussions, but would request that each of them turn into me five questions or statements about the reading. This is not only so that I can be sure the reading is being done, but also so that I can help guide the discussion when needed using the words of the students instead of my own.
When I have a family I hope to have reached a point in my writing that I will feel comfortable with publishing. I would like to take “Red Dress, White Tennies” to a point of at least minimal revision. I did learn in this class that no work ever reaches perfection, anD can always stand to be revised again. Because I will not be the bread winner for the family, meals will not depend upon my success. I would publish only for my own self gratification. Mostly I want to write children’s literature, and even if it is never published I hope it will install a love for reading in writing in my children.
Every one of the pieces that I worked on came many miles from their birth place, but I do think that fiction is still my strongest genre. The piece that is posted still needs some work before it goes off for publications, but from where it started it has developed in to a work that I can be proud of. It was the text and the peer reviews that helped me to see where my original work was flawed and what changes would be most beneficial. The fluff was taken out and the parts that were crowd capturing were enhanced.
While I learned many things about how to write and how to revise the most important thing I learned was that I am capable of writing anything, but not on my own. The importance of a writing group was stressed a great deal in this course, and I had to change my mind about accepting help being cheating. It is comforting to know there are people like me out there who really do write just because they enjoy the way if makes them feel. It is also good to be one of those people again after suffering severe burn out from other literature classes.
Appendix:
Poem: My poem was read and edited in class, which helped me a great deal. I heard a lot of people say they wanted to hear more specifics from the poem, and no one liked the title. Robert was most helpful with this piece because he actually showed me where the rhythm was off and what would be the easiest rhythm to keep.
Fiction: This piece did not get finished until a few hours before it was due. Jennifer and Laurie were my main contributors in editing. Both of them agreed that I had many inconsistencies with tenses, which I waded through and hopefully, figured out. The parts that they liked and the parts that they found confusing were all the same. The cinnamon rolls seemed to be liked much more than the conversation with Dad in the car on the way to the funeral, so I got rid of the conversation with Dad, and added a little to the cinnamon role scene. The grandmother was developed because of Laurie’s suggestion to give her more depth and form a relationship between the boy and his grandmother. That ended up being great help to me since I then saw how she could be an introduction to the thoughts of Heaven as well as a cute conclusion. My brother, who is ten, helped me to use words that were fitting to his vocabulary, and also to choose Bible stories that most churched boys would know. He agreed with the removal of the conversation with Dad, not because it was boring, but because he would not have talked to out Dad when he was very sad about something like that.
Drama: The class edited my drama and everyone seemed to like it more than I wanted them to. I was hoping for more feed back than I got, but what I did get I ran with. People liked the interjections from non-conversation members so I added a few more of those. Besides that there were only a few word choice suggestions that I took.