NESS' BLOG

Ness

Well that wasn't so bad
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

When I attended my first Creative Writing class I became very fearful when I saw what we had to do. When I took Creative Writing in high school there wasn't much involved. You pretty much just showed up to class, though that was optional sometimes, and submitted the assignments. But for my university class we have to do these writing exercises and we're expected to give constructive feedback when we workshop a student's exercise. You also have to get your stuff workshopped, which was the one that scared me the most. I mean, I write stuff but I don't like sharing it, which is kind of strange when you think about it. Why write stories at all if you don't plan to show it to someone.

So I finally gathered up the guts to get one of my exercises workshopped. Better to get it over with, right? And it wasn't that bad. The exercise of mine was one about dialogue; we had to write a scene and through the dialogue get across who the characters were. For the most part the class seemed to like it. There were some things people didn't quite like and I totally saw why. The main issue was with how natural my dialogue sounded. Some people thought it was pretty natural while some thought it sounded a little forced, like I was trying too hard to describe the characters (which I was but let's not go into that ).

But it's the funniest thing, really. My writing is totally influenced by Joss; he's the reason I got into writing in the first place. But while his writing is the most awesome-st there is out there, we all know it's not natural. His characters exist in worlds that don't exist. So when people say my dialogue doesn't sound natural, it's true, but at the same time, it is natural because my characters end up really meaning what they're saying even if they're using words and phrasing that aren't common. That's Joss' influence. His characters aren't fake people; they could be any person out in the world, they just happen to talk a little different. Though I have to acknowledge that I do have to change, or try something different. The class isn't going to be familiar with Joss-isms so I really can't rely on that way of speaking.

On the up side, I sort of squashed my fear of sharing my work. But the one downfall is the fact that the classroom is a safe environment. All 17 of us are in the same boat. I may be comfortable sharing with my fellow classmates but I still have to get over my issues with posting my fics. But I still have the rest of the year. We'll see in May whether my irrational fear goes away.

COMMENTS

Wednesday, September 27, 2006 2:29 AM

NYARL


As a fellow writer I say to you, give it a show and keep writing.

You will improve over time. And what is the worst? Somebody says your stuff sucks? I say, okay then, show me your writing or explaing to me why is sucks.

Keep at it and don't be afraid. Imagine if Joss had never shown anybody his work??

Hey - think about that!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:09 PM

BLUEEYEDBRIGADIER


May? Aww...can we bargain ya down to Christmas Break? Cuz May's a long way away:(

;)

Keep up the shiny work, Ness! Definitely can't wait to hear about your further adventures in creative writing:D

BEB


POST YOUR COMMENTS

You must log in to post comments.

YOUR OPTIONS

THIS MONTH'S ENTRIES

ARCHIVES

2006 November

2006 September

2006 August

2006 May

2006 April

2006 February

2005 September

2005 August

2005 April

2005 March

2005 February

2005 January

2004 October

2004 September

2004 August

2004 June

2004 April

2004 March

2004 February

2004 January

2003 December

OUR SPONSOR