Duck Lake

Mammoth Lakes, California. My home for a short while. Sometimes I miss it very much.

I'm Not Really Good at Writing Fiction.

Though this may be a shock for some people, when it comes to English, fiction is my first love. I’m sure I am not alone when I say that I started reading at an early age. My father was also and English major; I can vividly remember when he first told me about symbolism and them. After that, I have never been able to read fiction in the same way. Fiction became a puzzle that I always tried to decipher, not in a DaVinci Code way, but in an analytic way. I love dissecting literature and breaking it down into its simplest elements, I know this “kills it” for a lot of people, but for it breathes life into it.

Because I have such a strong affinity for fiction, reading what I deemed to be “good” fiction has always inspired feelings of jealousy in me. I have tried my hand at short pieces of fiction and have never been happy with the result. I can’t really blame it on any single thing, perhaps I am too ambitious, or maybe I use too many adjectives. I could read a piece of fiction and easily tell you what makes it work, but when I try to capture these same elements in my own work, I fail. Sometimes, I try so hard to get a certain point across that the work becomes dull. That’s probably it, I have no faith in my readers; it’s their fault.

Although I don’t have faith in my fiction writing, I know that attempting to write fiction has benefits beyond practicing creativity. So, it is something that will be required in my classroom. Like the other genres that we have studied in class, sometimes being able to recognize elements of the literature is not enough. The practice of using these elements in writing reinforces their function in literature. While a student may be able to bull shit their way through an essay, feigning understanding, a student that is able to employ elements of fiction in creative writing must have a definite grasp on the concepts. Thus, creative writing exercises in fiction can also serve as an adequate form of evaluation

Reading and Writing a Myth(matic)

When I began writing my myth, I was conscious of the elements that are common in myth, but it didn’t feel like I let it dictate my work too much. After studying poetry in this class, I made conscious efforts to include poetic devices in the work. For creating a myth, I only used these characteristics to get me started; from there, I took many liberties.

I think I felt so open when writing the myth because the myths we read in class were so strange that very little seemed “out of bounds.” It is possible that I got a little too creative and did not stay grounded enough in the “rules” for a myth, but I ultimately decided that I didn’t want to do something so traditional that it seemed boring.

I wouldn’t say this writing assignment really enhanced the study of myth for me as much as writing the poetry. I gained most new knowledge of myth by reading the explanations of the different types of myth, and then reading examples. However, this does not mean that I think it is an assignment that should be omitted from the syllabus.

Like the poetry exercises (last time mentioning poetry, I swear), we were given “prompts” to get us started writing. The study of myth served this same purpose. There is no question that creative writing plays an important role in education; though it may be difficult for many students, they benefit from practicing because they are forced to be aware of elements of fiction, as well as their own grammar. Getting students to write creatively sometimes requires giving them an outline. The myths and supplemental myth materials fulfilled this requirement. Armed with examples of myth and its purpose, I was much more comfortable creating one of my own.

Assignments like this also provide an outlet for students who often struggle writing academic essays, but thrive in a different creative setting. By having several assignments that require various types of writing, students’ writing ability become easier to evaluate. Often it will become clear if they are having a problem fundamentally, mechanically, or structurally. If it is clear that students can write eloquently when being creative, but suffer when writing academically, curriculum can be tailored appropriately.

Yep.