March 6th 2016 archive

Short-story writing Reflection

Well, it was hard to get it started, honestly, since it is a short-story and there’s a limit of 800 words. I am not familiar with short-story writing concept since I’ve been writing with no word limit since secondary school, so I reread Lamb to the Slaughter. I liked the way how Roald Dahl gave so much space for me to imagine what was the husband trying to tell the wife, or if he managed to tell her, how would her reaction be like, or what if she had a different reaction when she had sensed what was coming up next, would there be a different ending. I thought that was the tip of writing a good short-story, so I tried using the same method.

I tried to picture the situations that had happened around me, but as soon as I started, I deleted it, because even I thought it was really ‘interesting’. So I thought of creating a situation that might happen, and if it really happens (though I really wish not), what am I going to do? What are the actions that I’m going to take and are the chances high for me to achieve my objectives in that situation? Will I get shaken up or will I be steady enough to get through all the obstacles? I wonder.

P.s. I came across this quote one day while surfing the net, and this is my inspiration to my short-story.

Love your parents. We are so busy growing up, but we often forget they are also growing old.

-Unknown-

 

Week 1: Story Lab

It was the first week of the semester in 2016, everything was so different compared to the system that I had back in Advanced Diploma. We had to decide on the major, the studio and the electives. This is a different experience for me and I actually felt like I’m living an undergrad student’s life for the first time.

We were asked to read two books and a short story in the first class: The Substance of Story by Robert Mckee, The Philosophy of the Short-story by Brander Matthews and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. Among the three readings, I enjoyed reading The Substance of Story the most as I can relate the most to Mckee’s words. He specifically broke down the characteristic of a protagonist into many parts, which was something that I have never thought of when writing a story. I know how important it is for the protagonist to have an aim or objectives but the way Mckee explained why the protagonist may have a self-contradictory unconscious desire really clicks in my head, and that’s when I thought this could be the tip to write a better story.