jluolsita

So, my blog has finally reached its end. I don't want to think about it like that though, just because the class is over doesn't mean I plan on ending the blog. I will continue to post and write down my story ideas.
Whether I will have time for it next semester is a different story.
I really hope I can though, because quite frankly, I really enjoyed ding the blog.
It allowed me somewhere to just rant and rave. No matter how awful the story ideas, I could post them here.
In fact some of my friends have requested that I finish some stories.
I tried to create a back-story for every main character I created and sometimes they were unique and completely different from the actual story I wrote.
For example the Little Sultans story has a back-story which is completely different and I plan on finishing it.

I wanted to say something important to wrap everything up for this semester, maybe talk about difficulties and things i learned, strengths I realized I had.
I'm at a loss for words, but I'm going to make a list of things I did...


This semester I:
-took alot of freaking credits
(I should have taken less)
-wrote alot of stories
(so glad! because I love writing so much)
-learned who my real friends are
(It was a difficult adjustment)
-learned the importance of making dialogue believable
(believe it or not, it's something I had never given much thought to)
-lived like I was going to die tomorrow
(hahahah, I wanted to stick in something corny)
-ate mainly ramen, or didn't eat at all.
(who needs food?)
-slept a total of 4 hours each weekend and around 25 hours a week.
(sooo many projects)
-made over 40 phone calls to bursar/registrar/great lakes/loan companies
(each call lasting at least a half hour)
-realized that I am capable of creating vivid characters, even if they aren't based on real people.
(I fooled you all didn't I? For the most part, none of this stuff has happened to me. Maybe one event has, out of three stories. I am NOT telling you which one. Deal with it!)
-learned once again, that people aren't always how they appear to be. They can be much kinder than they pretend to be.
-went to Chuck's Sunflower Farm

That might have been a bit long and probably didn't make too much sense. But, I mean... Whatever.
I thought it needed something more, so I'm going to end with a song.
Till I find inspiration and write again,

~ Julia

A Lucky Find

Somewhere in the United States shiny stainless steel is collected, compacted and formed to create a pristine physical shape. Many people gather around kegs and either worship or cringe at their specific contents. This particular keg somehow found its way into the hands of four college sophomores. No one ever really knows what to expect after purchasing a keg. Their intentions are good and undoubtedly do not harbor ill will. But of course, they can never really be sure of who will drink from it, who will drink too much of it, or who will regret ever meeting that keg.

( Read more... )

Character Sketch:

Nasha was a pretty girl with long brown hair and dark eyes. People often mistook her eye color for being black. This annoyed her to no end. It was one of her many pet peeves, along with the most common one: having people mispronounce her name as Natasha. They were always so determined to add in that unnecessary extra syllable. She was a small girl; she was only around 5’2. It was really easy for people to overlook her and ignore her. In fact many times her friends would walk right past her as she was waving at them, because they hadn’t seen her. She is Spanish and her family is hard on her all the time. Trying to force morals into her head and hoping that she will turn out the correct way. What they didn’t know was that Nasha was a good kid. She knew what choices she was making in life and always made them carefully. She did things in moderation, or if it wasn’t in moderation she was always able to make it home safely and alone.

That’s the one thing that bothered her the most. That all her life she had felt alone. She never had a real relationship, not even once. Now that she was in college the rules had all changed. Without the necessary skills and without knowing how people are supposed to date, she felt like a fish out of water.

Topic: Looking Ahead. What strategies will you employ to continue to write, now that this class is over?

I've definitely learned some new techniques that I like quite a bit. What works best for me, is outlining really and making a character sketch of the main character and a bit of a back-story.
I find myself coming up with multiple stories for one character, but then only completing one. I really hope to finish all the other side story ideas I've come up with.
The most important thing really, is to write because I want to. Not because I have to, there's so much freedom in writing and sometimes it can be a bit intimidating. But I find that comforting. I would rather have no limitations to what I can produce, then to have to cross out all my ideas because they don't fit within the boundaries of what assignment I am given. I'm always nervous about how other people will interpret my writing. But I will continue to write and keep this journal up to date.
I hope I will have time next semester to be able to do it.
The hardest thing is to find time. There are just so many assignments given at once sometimes.

I wanted this to be my last post, but I want to post my rough draft of my last assignment and the character sketch for it as well.

I have used tags to separate all the different types of journal entries. Some of them are projects and some are the specified topics.
I suppose that is all.

So it seems I have some entries that I scribbled into a notebook but don't have dates on them. /(>_< )\
I'm going to post them anyway and hope I didn't miss any posts. I just re-read everything and I believe it is all there.


Topic: A Scene which has been imprinted into your mind:

It was really hard for me to think of a specific scene. I have seen so many movies in my lifetime and most of them stick for a while. but my memory has just programmed itself to delete it all after some time.

But the first one to come to mind was a scene from Pride and Prejudice.
It's the scene with the rain when Mr. Darcy is proposing to Elizabeth.
It's raining and there are only two characters in the scene. Darcy approaches her from a distance and doesn't get closer till the mood switches from joyful to anger. Before he leaves the camera angles are closer to them both as they argue. He is kind of almost screaming and looming above her, then storms away after she gets closer and begins her argument. This scene stuck because of the huge contrast form the scene before it. I haven't seen the movie in quite some time, but from what I remember the scene before it was a party. The rain emphasizes the importance and helps to make the scene more dramatic.
I'm not sure how well I described that. But I was able to find the clip on youtube.


After I put some thought into it. I came up with another scene. The ending scene in Scarface. This scene always stuck with me because of how emotional it is. It's the downfall of a great man. A man who worked all his life to achieve something and stopped at nothing to do it. It's sad to see the state he is in.

It won't let me embed this video. But I spent so much time trying to find the correct one so I'm going to put it as a normal hyperlink.
Scarface Ending
^
click to watch


Topic: Observe people's quirks in their dialogue and write about them.

Person 1: When he talks, he turns his head away mid-sentence or after a sentence is complete.
(At times even during the climax of a story).
The gesture is amost like he is shaking his head to try and get the hair out of his eyes. Though his hair isn't long at all.
There wasn't anything too off about the words he used to describe things or the way he spoke. I just remember noticing the head gesture and he would also clear his throat from time to time.

Person 2: Flinches while he eats as if it is causing him pain. He chews slowly as if each bite takes too much effort. He eats french fries like shrimp. Leaving a piece as if it were the tail and the moving on to the next fry,

Topic: Reflections on Group Writing. As an individual, how did you find the process of group writing a story? Was it an enlightening or frustrating experience? How do your views reflect those of your group?

I hated it. Absolutely could not stand the idea of it. It felt like I was role playing, but I couldn't even have a major role. At times I felt powerless as I waited for members to post something, or i'd forget to post something. It's just a giant mess really.
I'm not even sure how I'm going to go about ending it. It's just, a project on top of other projects and it's easy to forget about it.
I'm not sure what they thought about it. I do like what we came up with though. it isn't as extravagant and slightly ridiculous as some of the other things. But, I think it's believable and it works.
I much prefer writing pieces myself. It's easier, the viewpoints aren't shifting so much.
It's hard to edit because, can't really be sure whether to make the entire piece from one person's perspective.
It's just a messy process.
I could have done without the project, honestly.

I did learn some things from it all though and I did like my group members. Actually, the project grew on me a bit. it still leaves me flustered and I don't always know what to do with it. but over the semester I have grown a new appreciation for challenging things. This project being one of them. It's easy to understand the complications involved. Everyone does have other things to do and on top of that, trying to keep the characters consistent.

I think there is more to say, but I really can't put it into words. For once, I'm at a complete loss for words.

Topic: Reviewing Others' Writing. Write a "review" of at least one other student's blog, with an aim to "share" your readers with another writer who you respect.

So today I will be sharing with you a link to someone else's blog in my class. She's a friend of mine and her style is rather creative. Her writing is sophisticated. I also like the way she gets inspired by pieces of art of something extremely specific. The main character of the piece I read was a girl who fancied believing in fate and uncertain futures. A typical romantic who is hopeless to connect with someone and finds her way. It's a concept which is often quite common, but most women don't want to admit that they think this way. I found the piece to be witty, as with most of Jackie's writing.
Whether she means to do this or it is just a byproduct of her subconscious is unknown to me.
I really don't know what else to say.
I enjoy reading her things and I hope she will continue to write.

jackiecampbell.blogspot.com/

ps: Her ideas for the third fiction writing project are very interesting. I'm curious as to what she will end up writing and submitting.

Topic: Reflections on Writers. After hearing your fellow students present, what are your thoughts concerning the writers you were exposed to? With a specific focus towards of which writers you were previously unaware, what did you learn?

I was surprised at the novels that were presented. I was expecting authors I had never heard of and books that were considered "classy" literature. It actually made me slightly nervous to go to class on the days that we had to present. I don't generally read books that other people find to be interesting and valuable. I would honestly rather read a book that was capable of making me forget everything around me and not think about the real world. I like to lose myself in the fantasy and completely unbelievable elements of the story.
I find myself drifting to the nostalgic areas of my childhood when I walk into a barnes and noble and just opening up a Sarah Dessen novel, or drifting to Khaled Hosseini.
This might be a little bit side tracked from what I was attempting to say. But I was just surprised and glad. I mean the Bartimaeus Trilogy was mentioned, which I have to read the last two books of over break, hopefully. lol
But I have a story to write and a term paper to plan and a ton of Astronomy work to catch up on.

So I'm supposed to post my powerpoint here, but I can't exactly figure out how to do that...
Actually I don't think I can. But I'm going to do my best!

( Click to see screenshots of slides... )

Project 3: For your third fiction writing project, you will construct a complete story, between twelve and twenty pages long, double spaced. Though this piece is longer than your previous pieces, it is still a “short” story, and when planning your story prospectus, please consider what length of story may reasonably be told in that space by comparing the length to previous pieces we have examined.
This story should involve all of the narrative elements we have discussed in class thus far, and your plot structure should be aesthetically proportional (many new writers include too much exposition) and should follow a reasonable sequence of events. Additionally, at least one of your characters should be a “round” character, the story should involve tension, and there should be dialogue in the piece. Beyond that, you are free to pursue whatever interest you wish.
You will need to prepare a prospectus (a rough outline of the characters, context, conflict, and resolution) of this scene for posting on your blog and presentation in class on Tuesday, Week 11. We will rough draft this piece inclass on Tuesday, Weeks 15 & 15. The final draft will be due on the Monday of Exam week on Turn-It-In.

Topic: Pulling it all together. Submit a plot synopsis for your third Fiction Project.

I want to write about something important, that goes unnoticed. Something that could happen, though people tend to ignore that it could and that it does happen. Often times a blind eye is turned to certain things.
This time instead of a my usual plot synopsis. I did a rough outline of what I wanted to happen in the story. The sequence of events really.

Idea:
- Okay so the party one, follows around the buying and placing of a keg; witty banter in which the keg has a mind of its own and criticizes the people at the party. (or maybe not.)
- Then the piece would catch the attention of a girl at the party. She is drinking and looking rather sad.
- The narration switches to her perspective once the keg has been kicked and essentially is dead.
- She is sitting alone sipping at some extremely strong rum and coke, trying to find someone to talk to.
- But the guy who had found her attention earlier that night had left with another girl, who turned out to be his girlfriend.
- Tragically upset and disheartened she watched the party empty out.
- When a guy spots her from across the room. (not sure if I want the narration to switch to him again, It might be too much going on.)
- He’s not as drunk as she is, though she is too drunk to notice that.
- They talk and hit it off. They laugh about their preferences in beer and whether they prefer bowls to bongs. It seems like a match made in drunk heaven.
- She thinks to herself: How lucky I am to have found someone decent, and how fortunate Gina couldn’t come with me, she would have ruined this.
- He asks her to come to a different party with him. She accepts and leaves.
- The keg makes one finally protesting statement before someone manages to pour one last cup out of it.
- They wander around town trying to find the correct house and street.
- Her level of drunkness increases, she begins to wonder how much she drank and hopes to not make a fool of herself.
- Things begin to blurr, his words sound as if they are all muttered in the same breathe.
- They walk onto a main street as she clings to him(the stranger) for support.
- She can barely walk in her heels and miniskirt.
- She curses herself for not wearing better shoes, he hears her because she messes up and says it verbally.
- He smiles down on her and insists he will get her home safely.
- (HE NEVER GIVES HER HIS NAME)
- He lets go of her hand and she walks too slowly, losing him in the crowd.
- She catches sight of a guy wearing similar clothing and stumbles after him.
- He glances over his shoulder once.
- He turns onto a side street and she tries to catch up.
- It get much darker as there are no street lights. She doesn’t realize how far she walks when suddenly she if tapped on the back and spins around.
- To find someone entirely different.
- It wasn’t the guy she had met earlier, and she begins to panic.
- She looks around to find she is actually in an alleyway not too far from the hustle and bustle of a drunken city.
- The guy tries to calm her down and talk to her.
- She drunkenly stumbles closer to him, he takes this as an advance and catches her.
- She looks up at him to say thank you and suddenly they are kissing.
- She doesn’t understand it, but is so distracted that she goes along with it.
- She doesn’t realize the buzzing in her pocket, a call from Gina and the nameless guy.
- They continue to kiss in the alley and he backs her up against a wall.
- A thought crosses her mind that she doesn’t want to do this, but her mind is too fuzzy and her body is reacting in different ways.
- He begins to grab at her and press against his lips with a greater intensity.
- She tries to murmur a protest, but it gets caught in her throat and instead her hands are pulling at his jeans and her body is pressed up against his.
- (narration change, as if it is zooming out and observing the people walking past the street.)
- People hear her screams and assume it is just the noise from the parties above, some window that is open that no one is aware of.
- People comment on it or just continue to walk by.
- The screaming stops and a girl stumbles out and wanders around looking for a bench.
- Her mind is fuzzy, her body aches and nothing makes any sense.
- No one saw the guy leave the alley before her, no one sees her cry.
- She remembers she has a phone and grabs it from her pocket.
- Straightens out her blouse and checks the missed calls.
- Notices one from Gina and calls her back.
- Composes herself and tells her nothing is wrong.
- “Hey gurl hey. How are you? You bitch you probably spent all night eating krispy kreams and watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
- a murmur form the other line.
- “Are you still watching it?”
- “I’m ganna come over, set up my blankets girlie. See you soon.”
- She jogs there and cries the entire way.
- Her feet ache and she doesn’t have shoes anymore.
- Ends with a paragraph about decisions and how she had never been good at making them.
- Last line, something like: Somewhere in the dark alleyway a bright yellow sunflower hairpin glistened and caught the eye of a pedestrian. They walked towards the item, pocketed it quickly and wandered away content with their find.