Week 5: Famous Last Words

This week I did not do a storytelling assignment. Oddly, it was a bit more difficult for me to focus my thoughts and start writing in the same way that I did in the past. I am hoping that it was due to a time constraint. I do not want to believe that I have just run out of ideas for satisfying stories with so much left to do in the course.
Instead I spent a significant amount of time editing the first story that I wrote following Week 2, "In Dark Corners." I enjoyed writing this story. Even though it may not be perfect I am proud of this work. Typically, I do not see myself as a talented writer much less a storyteller. I watch a lot of movies and read a couple books a year. But that hardly qualifies someone as being a good storyteller. Writing these stories and receiving positive feedback from my peers reminds me of when I first started sketching. I had never had much of a talent for art as a kid. But somehow I just felt motivated to see what my work would look like if I decided to pick up a pencil. And surprisingly I was satisfied with the end result(not always but I made progress).

(How do you see the glass?)

Sometimes I think that I can't keep up with this course. But not because it is unreasonable in its deadlines but because of my weekly schedule and study habits. Even so I enjoy the class and try to stay optimistic. In spite of the work that I missed during Week 2 when I got sick I have been able to catch up by completing the extra credit assignments. I wish that all of my classes would have extra credit assignments that I could do when the regular work got too hectic or I missed a deadline.

Week 4: Famous Last Words

During this week I was able to finish Narayan's Ramayana. I enjoyed the book thoroughly because of the mythology that was constantly being highlighted throughout the story. Rama is constantly developing relationships with mythical creatures and gods who are often engaged in very "human" tragedies such as familial betrayal and broken hearts. Fantasy stories such as these provide great flexibility for storytelling because the writer can decide how much of the fantasy world and how much realistic drama he/she wants to include in the story.
I am very satisfied with my latest storytelling post. It is an origin story for the king Dasaratha, set in a time when we was just a child. Like I mentioned before, creating a children's tale about surviving a monster's cruelty is just one example of the many interpretations that can be made from the original narrative.

(Jatayu, one of the main characters in my storytelling post, battling Ravana)

One other major milestone for me was my decision to go with the Portfolio project. After considering why exactly I enjoyed writing stories for the readings, it became apparent that the portfolio would give me the creative freedom to produce stories that are less focus on connected plots and more focused on originality.

I have already posted my first story to the portfolio after editing the author’s note. Getting feedback on my stories is something that I look forward to for my storytelling posts so I think that this assignment will fit nicely with my strategy for writing these stories.

Missing so much work in Week 2 was definitely an unfortunate event for me but I am optimistic for the remainder of the semester especially since I am more confident about what my project should be for the remainder of the academic year. After looking at other people’s storybooks and portfolios in the making, the whole process seems a lot more exciting when I think about everything improving and breathing life into their own characters and narratives.

Week 3: Famous Last Words

For week 3 I believe that I did the most reading and writing than the first or second week. To be honest I usually do not enjoy the idea of anything akin to creative writing. The process of creating something artistic or entertaining from nothing can be an intimidating process. This thinking has definitely permeated other aspects of my life such as with my hobbies. With drawing for example I always prefer to sketch from models than to try and produce drawings from memory. Maybe I'm reaching too much with that connection but the main idea here is that I was not expecting to like storytelling for this class.

However, I find myself interested in finding ways to tell stories on The Ramayana that sometimes warp the thinking and motivations of the characters. I was surprised at myself for being able to write more than 500 words in my last storytelling exercise. I honestly was not sure how the story would turn out but then something strange happened. I started imagining the beginning and conclusion of the story first and then tasked myself with getting from "point A" to "point B". Eventually, I started worrying that I would not have enough words left to finish the story in the way that I had imagined and I began to think that if I had more than 1000 words that maybe I could better describe the anxiety among the King's subjects or the atmosphere of chaos spreading throughout the castle in my story. The whole experience of writing these stories reminds me of my art classes in high school and how much I preferred to create appropriations rather than create my own artwork. So maybe I just enjoy manipulating the aspects of stories rather than writing my own.

In my opinion those "what-if" scenarios offer an entertainment value that varies depending on the reader. For some the peculiarity of the story alone may keep their attention while others may find the stories entertaining for their ability to confront elements of the original text and offer alternative endings for the characters, sometimes endings of which we believe they are more deserving.

These exercises have definitely made me lean towards the storybook assignment for this class.

(Even the most outlandish stories often reflect values and experiences that are relevant to the reader)