Self-reflection on the Creative Process

Reflections on the Creative Process  

Before discussing some of the technical aspects of my experience with creative writing, I just wanted to mention the three things that stand out the most to me about the process. I know now that successful writing requires an incredible amount of discipline. All the writers I’ve ever heard discuss the act of writing never fail to talk about a setting a regular schedule and sticking to it. But I didn’t realize how important this was until I tried to write myself. And secondly and related to this is the realization that writing occurs in the writing not in the thinking process that proceeds it. You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to find it in the act of writing which you can’t do, ironically, unless you are disciplined enough to write on a regular schedule. Finally, the feedback I received from my classmates and teacher was invaluable and essential to the whole process. I want to return to idea of feedback later in the final section but in the following sections I’d like to discuss the editing and redrafting of my story “Two Legs” in terms of Plot, Point of View, Character, the use of technology and some implications for using creative writing in the second language classroom.

Plot

“Two Legs” is about a character called Mark who has cut a semester of university to work for an extended summer job travelling with the circus. He is the low man on the corporate totem pole, so to speak. He has romantic notions about the circus experience which are slowly eroded over the season, largely because he is hounded by an abusive nitpicking producer, whose sole concern is money. In the end, Mark stands up for himself and has a confrontation which I leave for the reader to ponder. I came up with the present ending, in part, after reading Jauss article “Returning Characters to Life”. I liked the idea of leaving the final confrontation to be in the mind of the reader, “in the blank space that follows the story” (Jauss, 2010). In terms of the opening, I changed it several times but decided after the feedback I received that my original opening was effective in capturing the reader’s attention and establishing the setting. I think short stories should hit the ground running and throw the reader into a specific moment of life and conclude with several questions in the reader’s mind. In terms of Friedman’s plot categories it falls under both a Maturing story and a sort of revenge plot. During the redrafting process, it occurred to me that “Two Legs” is a sort of retelling of Hamlet, with the producer being Claudius and Mark as Hamlet. One of the themes that emerged in the writing is the conflict between imagination and compassion vs the pursuit of money and the practicality that implies.

Point of View and Distance

I told the story in 3^rd person limited POV with the narrator able to relate Marks thoughts only. I tried different POVs but felt this to be the most suitable in the end because it allowed me to try and create more distance around the main character.  I have always liked very elaborate syntax that has a strong impact but there are several problems with this style of writing. It can sound very pompous and it also can distract the reader from the basic action of the story, which is one of the comments I heard in the feedback session. To overcome this, I had to keep asking myself who is saying this and whose eyes are the readers going to be seeing the story through. As Jauss stated in his essay on Distance “a film in which the camera stays the same distance from the characters, never moving back or in” would be a boring experience”. As a result, I tried to see the entire story as if I were the director of a film, manipulating the distance between the narrator and the characters but also the reader and the main character. As a result, I attempted to embed some of the ideas originally spoken by the narrator into the mind of the character in the form of a letter to describe the producer and then by zooming into the imagination of the character. I hope that the reader will see it from his point of view and establish a deeper understanding of what is motivating the character.

The Character

During the feedback sessions there were several questions about what my character really wanted and what motivated him. What did he look like? Why would a college kid work at circus? What is his actual job? What journey is he on? I tried to address these questions in my second draft and provide a background for Mark by using a flashback to a dialogue to both show the kind of world he came from and what his parents were like and create more conflict about his choice to run away with the circus. I feel my character has more depth than in the initial draft but I’m still not fully satisfied with by depiction of his character. In a nutshell, he has just reached a breaking point with his abusive employer who represents everything he dislikes about people who see the world just as a place to make money and this leads to the final conflict.  

On the Use of Technology

I realized after the first feedback session that I couldn’t let the technology sabotage good story telling techniques by putting my clip of the circus site and revealing the setting before the words so I moved it to after the 2 paragraph. I really wanted to use the technology to work in opposition to the setting of the story rather than as a way to just embellish it which in turn is supposed to enhance the coming of age plot. The clip of the circus tent being constructed has a very melancholy soundtrack and suggests a sense of loss in a place most readers would expect to be festive. I attempted to use the Powtoon clip in a similar way by juxtaposing childlike images with the serious adult crimes and situations described in each slide. I don’t know how successful this was but it was rewarding to try and combine digital content with the text.

The Classroom

I don’t know how much short story writing my students would be able to engage in but I think there is a wonderful potential for imaginative creative use of language that would greatly impact students success as second language learners. The act of creative something from yourself is difficult but very rewarding and leads to more confidence, agency, and ownership. Moreover, I think Paul Freire’s statement, “to speak a true word is to transform the world” (1993, p 68) is equally so for writing.  Secondly being aware of point of view was the most difficult concept for me and I think my students would find it difficult as well but it has the potential to develop strong critical thinking skills in learners by forcing them to ask a lot of important questions. Thirdly, understanding the mechanics and use of imagination is a very valuable from of knowledge that is often overlooked not only in language learning but in education in general. I’ve always felt imagination is like the invisible silent glue that holds most conceptions we live by together. However, we tend to operate in the realm of facts and assumptions too frequently. By doing close readings and attempting to engage in creative writing students ultimately become exposed to the tools of imagination which in turn could enhance their ability to interpret the world around them (and their place in it) in a more rounded and compassionate fashion. Fourthly, this leads to the idea of feedback and the creative process. The story I tried to write and the way it was interpreted in the feedback sessions was fascinating to me.  Negotiating meaning and sharing ideas in this way holds a great opportunity for language learning and I think students need to learn how to engage in this process more than ever in the new paradigm of connectivism. We were provided with a great set of questions and guidelines but we still often found ourselves in awkward silence. My students would too undoubtedly. But it’s definitely a place that should be cultivated. Finally, I think the use of imagination and narrative techniques could be used in basic teaching methodology as well, such as when giving instructions or explicating grammar.  

Overall, it was a very valuable experience, both surprising and frustrating, and I have a new found respect for writing and writers in general. I would like to be better at writing and be able to transfer what I have learned into the classroom with my students however I don’t know how successful I can be at it. But I have a good toolbox now and new set of questions to ask about the writing process.

 

Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. London, Penguin.

 

Friedman, N. (1955). Forms of the Plot. Journal of General Education.

 

Jauss, D. (March/April 2010), The Writer’s Chronicle, Vol. 42, No. 5 24-35