I LEARNED WHAT?!

Hello again! Yes I know, I've been gone from this world for awhile now. 

But this time I have a really good excuse, I promise! 
1) My brain needed a good rest after all the classes I took.
2) I had to find an internship (which the Lord has graciously provided me)
3) I had some things to finish for school as well

I know, I know. Not my best excuse... Well I should have you know that while I was away I took two great "writing classes" (I call them that because they aren't really classes on writing, but I did learn a lot about writing from them). 

The first was a class called "The Short Story" where the professor had us read like 70 something short stories then had us evaluate each one of them to find things like the authors world view, the singular effect of the story, or whether it had a singular effect, what the tone was, the irony, and other English major stuff I don't really want to think about (it makes my brain hurt).

So what did the class teach you Mr. Disappearo? 

Well it taught me just how great symbolism is. I read short story upon short story that had all different kinds of symbolism. Like how betrayal can be beautifully portrayed in the blooming of a flowering Judas tree. Or how love could bloom like spring flowers but die just as fast as the summer sun dries them up. And then there was how a really great short story uses the singular effect. If by any chance you don't know what the "Singular effect" is, it is a concept made up by Mr. Poe in which he stated that everything within a short story should point to the particular point that you are trying to make. That means the writer uses every element at his disposal. The way the character carries himself/herself, The locations, the weather, the way others interact with the main character, everything. Since in a short story you don't have the time, or space, to fully flush out all the details you would like, the author is forced to use everything to help point people in the point he is trying to make. 

(In all honestly you've all probably already known about this. But hey I'm not as bookish as the rest of you.) So while I was in that class I though to myself how to apply this to writing a novel. I mean we all what our novels to be engaging right? To really pull in our readers and keep them until they finish it, while at the same time leaving them with the feeling of wanting more. 

There are two areas I found in which this is most useful in the novel writing is (That is besides the character himself)
1) Locations. How does the environment reflect the character mentally or emotionally?
2) Weather. How can you use the weather to reflect your intent for the scene that will drive home your point?

Now I'm sure that I'm not telling you anything new, you probably all already know this. But hey this post is about what I've learned, or relearned, so you shouldn't be expecting much. It is me after all.

The second class was titled "The Graphic Novel" which was basically a class about comics and writing our own comic (which I had to do for the class). But the biggest take away from that class for me was that a great story can pretty much come from anything. It doesn't have to be this holy idea that came down from the clouds. A story can grow from even the most ridiculous ideas. After all Superman was though of as a ridiculous idea before he was created, why? Because it had never been done before. 

So what does that mean for a writer? 

It means to not be afraid to try something new. Think outside the box, break the mold, throw out those cookie cutter shapes. Writing is an artistic expression of the author and just like every person is different every expression of that art is different. Of course there are wrong ways to go about it, just like there are wrong ways to paint. But once you've got the fundamentals down, once you know how to hold the brush, go for it! 

Everyone is different and everyone's story telling skills are different. But that's the beauty in it. No two paintings done by different painters are exact copies, and the same should go for stories. Just have fun and tell the story you want to!

Okay I'm gonna end this post here. Sorry it's short but I haven't written a post in a while so I'm getting those gears moving again. I'll be back again with something next week, 
Until then, Stay true to the King!