Skip to main content

Week 6 Lab

This week, I read Chapter 2 of Empoword, a writing resource for college students. It was a great crash course of sorts for the basic elements of composing a story or narative, with thorough outlines on how to keep the plot moving, sequence, pacing, scope, and reflection. I found the refresher on point of view especially helpful, since I am planning on writing my storybook from a third person limited point of view (from little Egan's perspective!). What I really want to try incorporating are the examples given that illustrate proper characterization and flow. I really worry about writing a boring narrative that sounds like the same old story people have read before. This website gave tips on how to include more and specific details that help the reader share the vision that the writer is trying to create. It is much more effective to talk about the unique traits of each character, understanding that the reader will imply the rest (obvious traits), and make them memorable. Characterization will be a big element for me in plot development since each chapter will be mostly free-standing, and it is important to quickly develop each new scenario and the new characters they bring in order to get right into the plot. As such, I think a good approach is to make my main character very dynamic, illustrating his changes during his journeys. The people he encounters will be more static, stuck in the same place for a long while, unchanging and constant. This will help develop the morals and impacts I want the reader to experience.
There were a bunch of fun charts and graph Empoword included in this chapter too, to help writers collect memorable experience and lay them out visually to weave into an intricate story. I loved the sort of mathematical approach, assigning different experiences different "wowness" values and then graphing them based on how interesting they are. Readers want to be impressed, and the best way to achieve that is give them something they've never experienced before.

Azuki Hedgehog: ready for an adventure!

Comments

  1. Hey Moriah,

    I was very glad to come across your story lab post. I do not think that I have previously visited the empoword site, so this was great exposure and I will use it in the future. Thanks for pointing it out! It sounds like you took away some very helpful tips. I will try to incorporate some of these into my own writing.

    -Andy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for giving such a thorough reveiw of empoword. I shall have to check it out, as it sounds like an excellent source for writers. I'm glad to hear you gained a lot of useful knowledge from it. The charts and graphs you mentioned sound super interesting! It's true that new, creative ideas are impressive.

    P.S. Cute Hedgehog-I want one!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reading Notes : Hans Christian Andersen, Part B

ANOTHER FAVORITE. The Little Mermaid is such a classic, and the original slaps. I guess I am old and beaten down now, but this version is my new favorite. The Disney version will always have a special place in my heart and be a part of my childhood, but his original version is so poetic. It is definitely more my style; it leaves an impression when the heroine doesn't get to live happily ever after, which is okay too! The world Hans Christian Andersen weaves is glorious . I could feel the mermaid's pain, urgency, and suffocating need to love and be loved. This is a story that will never get old, part of it due to how beautifully it is written. One of my favorite parts is when he describes the five older sisters and the things they experienced going to the surface for the first time. The scenes he paints makes me feel like I am experiencing those beautiful landscapes for the first time, too. Often time mermaids are fantasized, and it was interesting seeing it from the other per...

My Favorite Place...Practically Perfect In Every Way

    I have been flying all over the world since I was young, much in part because none of my extended family lives in the United States. As I got older, my excursions got further and futher from East/Southeast Asia and began creeping into the riches of Europe, and whan incredible joy it has been. Throughout my time in Italy, Spain, Germany, etc., I kept retuning to the United Kingdom. London is truly one of the most beautiful and energetic cities I have been to. It is rich with history and culture, making Oklahoma pale in comparison. I have always preferred large cities to the mundane country life, and there is nowhere I'd rather enjoy my years than in the United Kingdom.  Image Details: London at Twilight, source: Geograph What better place to feel the pulse of the city than at Piccadilly Circus?  (on one side you can see some amazing architecture, and on the other the large electronic billboards always flashing their lights to the busy patrons be...

Introduction to the Mother of Hedgehogs

Hello! First of all, I hope you are having an amazing day so far. If not, please first enjoy this picture of my first hedgehog, Mochi, in a tiny santa hat.  Personal Photo: my first hedgehog's first Christmas! It might be an unusual choice of pet, but it is one that I highly recommend for students. I am a senior, graduating in May with a degree in Chemistry&Biochemistry and a minor in Pre-Health Social Sciences. These past four years have been very time consuming, and I wanted a pet that would accomodate my schedule. Enter: hedgehogs. They are solitary, nocturnal, small, don't require a lot of resources or space, perfect! And once I got my first, I became hooked on other exotic animals as well. I hope to one day have a large assorment of interesting critters and reptiles!  Aside from loving my hogs, I try to spend my extra time travelling all over the world. Both my parents immigrated from Asia, and we frequently travel back to visit my extended family. I ha...