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- Reading responses must be AT LEAST 200 words.
- Include your full name at the end of your comments. Unnamed comments will be deleted.
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- Reading responses are due by midnight on the night PRIOR to our discussion of the required reading.
After reading this chapter, I have learned that fiction and creative nonfiction have different elements to them. For example, Starkey discusses the design and structure of how a fiction story should look like starting on page 98. The story must follow chronology, leading to suspense. It can also include the protagonist, antagonist, flashbacks. Then, Starkey discusses character creation 116 and focuses on the different elements behind them. For example, Starkey asks several questions on page 120 such as “Where were they born” How old are they” What jobs do they have” etc. These questions are important to think about when creating a character of your own for the reader to connect to. Then, on page 133, Starkey discusses the different points of view that a character could possibly have. For example, they could be in first, second, third, and third omniscient. It totally depends on you to figure out what point of view you want the character in. Overall, this chapter made me realize that fiction writing allows you to really be yourself. You can write a story for the most random ideas you may have, or however you please. Although there are many more different elements to it than nonfiction creative writing, you are still confronting your own version of the truth.
ReplyDelete-Alec De La Garza
What I acknowledged from this chapter was that creative nonfiction and fiction both have different elements to them. Obviously, because one is fiction and the other is nonfiction. It explains how a fictions story usually follows a series of events that every fiction story usually would. That would include the rising action, climax, falling action, and the resolution. Also, these kinds of stories usually have it’s protagonist and it’s antagonist and sometimes even flashbacks that a character might have. Starkey then goes on to explain on page 120 on how important it really is when creating a character. When creating a character you must ask yourself what their job might be, where were they born, and other things relating to their background. Starkey then explains on page 133 that the writer can simply place their character in any position in the story. First, second, or third point of view is totally up to the author. Long story short, this chapter made it clear that writing in fiction is really just an opportunity to be your self with no limitations. Although nonfiction creative writing has similar and not so similar characteristics, it’s still the author writing their own beliefs and truths.
ReplyDeleteClarissa Partida
I like when the author says it is hard to the true sometimes specially when a person is writing fiction because a individual uses his or her imagination to create the story. In the other hand non-fiction have more reliable information. Good short fiction stories should have the following elements like Characters, dialogue, tone, setting and good structure as well. I both non-fiction and fiction both genres are use for creative writing but a person can lie a bit in fiction like I can make up a story and say some things that are not true. I like the author goes deep detail by detail in elements that compose fiction. A good structure in the story will have a good sequence, memories, suspense music, and the characters. I like how the author give an insight to the reader in how to do a logline. Writing dialogues must be good, short, and concise. Also good grammar and every character should study their lines and be prepare to know what to say. I suggest to have a good setting in the study fiction most popular books that I have red use the wilderness setting because is a good landscape. The require characters in the fiction story are the protagonist, the antagonist, 2nd and 3rd person and also the extras. Each character have different moods, tones and point of views depending on what role they play in the story.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do not like is when the author emphasizes a baby is punish just for tearing a page from a book. In the short fiction story "The baby" the baby will be traumatize in the future because putting a baby in the closet is not the best way to punish baby that is domestic violence. I believe if an individual does not the baby tearing up the babies from the book just put it away. I would not like to do a logline because I am a person who like to give details in every aspect and I would not be able to express my ideas clearly. If I do a logline will be a limitation for me. I do not like when fiction requires a lot of things it is not just the basic elements because every element of fiction have many concepts that a good writer should learn.
Oscar A. Jacome Serrano
It was interesting reading the fiction part the Starkey writes, the elements are very different from non-fiction! I tend to love reading fiction a lot more since I find them a bit more interesting, feels like I’m watching a movie in my head. I usually read fantasy, and horror stories since those are the ones that interest me the most. I didn’t realize there were so many elements that go into fiction. From developing the story, to even characters and settings. It makes sense to make sure you put care into this since you have to make the reader believe what you are writing. Non-fiction you have to make sure you are telling the truth, and do your research as well most of the time. Fiction you really have to make the reader believe what you are trying to say. I think I loved the part about making the characters since they are so important to the story! Especially when you’re trying to think and relate to the characters “I inhabit each of them. I try to give them my sympathy, even the ones I don’t like very well; to understand why they are as they are, what they do to make what they do defensible to them.” (Pg.118). I think what Sue Miller says makes a lot of sense when making a character. If you cannot understand you character how can you write about them.
ReplyDelete-Alyssa Rangel
Throughout this chapter, Starkey makes it clear how between a creative non fiction and fiction story there lies a great amount of differences. He discusses in detail how there are a few key elements that are essential for the build up of a great fiction piece. Basically, Starkey mentions how it is indeed necessary for you as the author to get as personal as possible since it is up to one to choose the point of view, chronological order, and the amount of truth you want your story to hold. Though, both genres are utilized as concepts to develop short stories in creative writings, one states a lot more concrete information than the other. As we know, and confirmed through this reading, fiction is about imagination and creativity. We decided how much amount of truth lies within the lines of a fiction story structure. While on a non fiction we tend to read a somewhat, more informative type of piece. It is common for developing writers to see fiction as a bit more of work due to the fact that it indeed requires a few more elements in order to get it going smoothly among the characters, setting, plot, and order trying to be portrayed for the audience.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Rodriguez
Hola buenas noches Victoria me gusto tu respuesta yo tambien pienso igual que tu que Starkey usa muchos elementos para las historias de fiction y lo que me gusta de fiction es que puedes mentir un poco cuando vas a escribir tu historia y en non-fiction tienes que ser honesto con tus lectores
DeleteOscar A. Jacome Serrano
Obviously, Fiction is different from Nonfiction. Fiction is a made-up piece fused from imagination. Nonfiction is supposed to be writing in its truest form. But I feel both are similar. They both need creativity, in a sense, to create the illusion and give off an impression. Starkey claims fiction has the elements of structure and design, character, dialogue, setting, and point of view with a tone and style. But so does nonfiction. Nonfiction tells stories to. There’s characters in nonfiction. Ever heard the latest gossip or read the paper? There’s a main character, the center of the gossip and the reason there’s even gossip. The setting in which the gossip took place or was heard from. The structure and design of how the story is told along with the point of view, tone and style. The person was perhaps judgmental, seen it from a third person POV and the style was very animated with constant gestures. Then there’s the dialogue, “he said, she said”. It could’ve been true yet exaggerated but perhaps altered constantly as it was passed along. It’s not imagination unless it was passed along with the intention of creating trouble. I don’t completely agree with Starky’s claim.
ReplyDeleteSusana Lupercio
When it comes to reading and writing I find myself drawn more towards Fiction. Non-fiction is fine, but I feel like there is a line that your tread when writing, where you don’t want to make it too exaggerated with artistic words and crazy metaphors because then people start to roll their eyes, or feel that it’s set up too perfectly. There have been many non-fiction books that I tried to read that had that problem. One of the things the reading covered was dialogue, one particular part stuck with me when Starkey said “most professors of creative writing would probably agree with Daly Walker that “the language must fit the character” (pp. 125). That’s a big problem I have, when I write emotion may take over my character, and that’s how I try to write it but then when I read it over it comes off as unrealistic because the character “wouldn’t do that”, I don’t know how to balance an emotional piece of dialogue and unrealistic reaction. Another problem with dialogue that I have is over writing dialogue. There are many times, where a piece of dialogue turns into a monologue by accident, but I need to cut it down and leave the good parts, like Starkey said, “for good dialogue is likely to prove one of your most useful tools as a storyteller” (pp.128)
ReplyDeleteAisha Teegarden
Like all of the Starkey works, we’ve read this is a solid informative piece. It defines a huge amount of things that most people wouldn’t consider when beginning their works. Having a greater understanding of the medium you’re working on is a great help in producing a good product. I also appreciate how Starkey encourages his readers to throw framework to the wind if they feel inspired. Anything to get words to paper. He further splices this work with advice on how to approach/ put together your inspired work into something readable. He is not wrong at all when he says many mediums require this. I doubt most people could think of a bad short story off the top of their head. If a short story is not well put together, it is practically guaranteed to fail. Novels have some room in this respect. Starkey only marginally goes into the actual mechanics of putting together a quality writing. However, in-depth writing advice is a genre of its own. There are excellent and free online resources for the most technical portions of writing.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Hinkle
Reading about Fiction feels different after learning about Non-Fiction and focusing on that for a bit. To begin with, I thought Non-Fiction was boring and would be hard to write in comparison to Fiction that it could be anything, but, as we got to learn more about it I got a better understanding and realized it isn’t hard, you just have to know what you want to write about.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this piece by Starkey talking about all of the elements for Fiction. I quickly thought of a novela, or a movie because of the chronological order, and I feel like it is like this because you don’t want to confuse the reader with another direction.
When characters are mentioned, it made me think about how difficult it would be to create a whole persona with a background, because you wouldn’t want to get it mixed up. This, in comparison to Non-Fiction seems a little harder because you can’t just copy someone from your real life. Although this would be hard I feel like it would be so fun because you would be able to express yourself, or show yourself in a way that nobody else knows.
Something that is difficult for me is the point of view in which you would be telling the story because a lot of the times I find myself switching from “I” to “she” and even though i can understand it with ease, it could be a little difficult for a reader.
-Cecilia Cantu
In “Writing the Short-Short Story,” what can be taken away from this reading is the importance of narrative, backstory, and the elements of fiction. Breaking down the elements of fiction are structure and design, character, dialogue, setting, point of view, tone, and style. These are elements that are learned throughout our English education from elementary, middle school, high school and to the present now in college. I seemed to forget them when reading because it becomes so routine that you forget the contextual of what you are writing. The checklist of creating characters was the most fascinating for me because I remember being a small fourth grader writing stories and coming up with characters for my story. Seeing the precise detail of correctly creating and developing a character is so helpful because I hope to venture into writing creative fiction pieces. The ultimate goal is to publish a novel to see where I can go in that direction of the creative world. The third-person omniscient point of view is completely new to me because I feel that the only way for me to connect to this is through looking at what I have read that has this point of view. I am certain that third-person omniscient point of view is in The Hunger Games trilogy and the brilliant Harry Potter books. This opened my eyes on how much I need to read more on creative fiction to be fully aware of all there is to know before writing at all.
ReplyDeleteKrista Olivarez
Nice commment Krista I agree with you the teachers talk about that in High Schhol.
DeleteLike all of the Starkey works, we’ve read this is a solid informative piece. It defines a huge amount of things that most people wouldn’t consider when beginning their works. Having a greater understanding of the medium you’re working on is a great help in producing a good product. I also appreciate how Starkey encourages his readers to throw framework to the wind if they feel inspired. Anything to get words to paper. He further splices this work with advice on how to approach/ put together your inspired work into something readable. He is not wrong at all when he says many mediums require this. I doubt most people could think of a bad short story off the top of their head. If a short story is not well put together, it is practically guaranteed to fail. Novels have some room in this respect. Starkey only marginally goes into the actual mechanics of putting together a quality writing. However, in-depth writing advice is a genre of its own. There are excellent and free online resources for the most technical portions of writing.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Hinkle