Though not everyone may be aware, Lebanon Valley College has a creative writing club called The Draft, in which students are able to submit drafts of poetry and creative fiction pieces for review. Tonight I attended a group meeting to see what The Draft was up to.
The group began their session by reviewing senior Rebecca Barnard's Revolutionary War fictional short story. Although she is a Math major, Rebecca loves writing creative fiction and submits many stories to The Draft. First, she read a paragraph that she particularly liked to the group, and the group critiqued it. Then, a group member provided a quick summary of the story, and the group began discussion by talking about what really stood out to them that they enjoyed or "would steal." As one member of The Draft pointed out, Creative Writing professor Dr. Martinez shares with his classes that techniques of writing are often stolen and incorporated into other writers' work. As long as the work is not plagiarized, learning from another's techniques can be a good way to grow as a writer.
Some specific things The Draft looked at in the story were the usage of metaphors, anachronisms, and the tone of narration. President Mike Cripps shared some tips for the editing and revising process of fiction. He said that it is very important to detach yourself from your own writing and to look at the writing objectively in revision. Once you are able to do this, pick out the parts that are working, and continue developing the story from those elements. If line-by-line revision is not working, sometimes it may be best just to start the narrative again from the beginning. The Draft member Nicholas Thrailkill shared a quote: "There is no good writing, only good re-writing."
Besides sharing the importance of editing, characterization was also discussed. I agree that though it may seem strange, sometimes the main protagonist/character is the hardest character to portray in writing. This is the character that we follow through the entire story, so sometimes he may seem like the "normal" person we can trust. We spend time embellishing unique and quirky traits of other characters, some of whom might be working in opposition to the main character, that they might in fact become more interesting than the main character. Therefore, it is important for all of the characters to possess interesting traits, to help the narrative progress. One tip for this task is to ask yourself more about the character than you will ever need to know, such as its favorite movie or its favorite foods, and this detailed thought process will give you a better understanding of the character.
During the meeting of The Draft, students received feedback on their own personal writing, and they also discussed writing tips, such as those I have discussed in this post. If you enjoy writing or want to become a better creative writer, consider attending The Draft's meetings at 9:30PM on Mondays.
The group began their session by reviewing senior Rebecca Barnard's Revolutionary War fictional short story. Although she is a Math major, Rebecca loves writing creative fiction and submits many stories to The Draft. First, she read a paragraph that she particularly liked to the group, and the group critiqued it. Then, a group member provided a quick summary of the story, and the group began discussion by talking about what really stood out to them that they enjoyed or "would steal." As one member of The Draft pointed out, Creative Writing professor Dr. Martinez shares with his classes that techniques of writing are often stolen and incorporated into other writers' work. As long as the work is not plagiarized, learning from another's techniques can be a good way to grow as a writer.
Some specific things The Draft looked at in the story were the usage of metaphors, anachronisms, and the tone of narration. President Mike Cripps shared some tips for the editing and revising process of fiction. He said that it is very important to detach yourself from your own writing and to look at the writing objectively in revision. Once you are able to do this, pick out the parts that are working, and continue developing the story from those elements. If line-by-line revision is not working, sometimes it may be best just to start the narrative again from the beginning. The Draft member Nicholas Thrailkill shared a quote: "There is no good writing, only good re-writing."
Besides sharing the importance of editing, characterization was also discussed. I agree that though it may seem strange, sometimes the main protagonist/character is the hardest character to portray in writing. This is the character that we follow through the entire story, so sometimes he may seem like the "normal" person we can trust. We spend time embellishing unique and quirky traits of other characters, some of whom might be working in opposition to the main character, that they might in fact become more interesting than the main character. Therefore, it is important for all of the characters to possess interesting traits, to help the narrative progress. One tip for this task is to ask yourself more about the character than you will ever need to know, such as its favorite movie or its favorite foods, and this detailed thought process will give you a better understanding of the character.
During the meeting of The Draft, students received feedback on their own personal writing, and they also discussed writing tips, such as those I have discussed in this post. If you enjoy writing or want to become a better creative writer, consider attending The Draft's meetings at 9:30PM on Mondays.
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