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ENG 131, CREATIVE WRITING
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TURNING POINT MOMENT Here's a way to find your own, original story! If you consider that only you have experienced the world as you, then the more specifically you tell what happened to you, the more unique and original your story has to be. You should try, however, to write about yourself, not as yourself but as a character in a story. That is, don't write this assignment/suggestion as a personal essay. Rather, think of yourself as a hero who has to overcome a problem. Create a dramatic tension. Build to an ending. Otherwise what you will write will be an assignment that is flat, perhaps accurate, even "true," but not what folks expect when they sit down to read a story! QUICK HINT: DON'T WRITE IN FIRST PERSON. That is, give your character a different name that your own and thereafter don't use "I, me, my." Rather, refer to the character (your alter-ego) as "he/she," or by the character's name. That will help assure you aren't just reporting what happened to you! FOR MORE ON HOW TO WRITE A STORY NOT AN ESSAY AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACT AND FICTION, CLICK HERE: Try this... Most likely your idea or moment will come to you as a "middle." You may recall a crisis or triumph that has altered your own life, redirected your path. Your middle, therefore, will consist of describing in great detail the actual moment of occurrence. The beginning will tell who you were before the event, evoking a life unaware of the coming changes. What was life like for you before you changed? Who were you before? The end will be the proof of your change—in what way you are different; how your life has been affected. You may, in fact, present some judgment as to the importance or permanence of
the event. Are you better off? Do you see this now being your life-long path or
can you, will you change directions again. I was happy and well. I got very sick (I died). I have recovered with the following new perception on my life. I was unhappy and/or unwell. I got very well (I found happiness). I will or won’t ever go back to that condition again. The number of possibilities are as varied as people’s lives. The real test is whether you can make your own experiences come to life in highly descriptive prose.
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Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Dr. David B. Axelrod
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