Short Story Exercises

In revising my short story I found some good criticism from my fellow classmates and instructor. I think that their perspective helped me to view the story in a new light. When I looked at the exercises assigned for Week Six I choose to focus on 89 Opening Up Your Story and 93 Magnifying the Conflict. To open up the story I chose to add a statement of "Five years from now I'll be...." I altered it a little to fit my story for the 10 year reunion and the dreams of 4 highschool students. To magnify the conflict I added some more details about the time in jail and about some of the pranks the 4 guys were known for in high school.

I think these exercises did offer a new perspective to my story. They made me think of all the different possibilities this story has and the many different options the plot, conflict, and characters could have taken. When I start something I have a hard time changing the vision I had, but I think these exercises helped me to at least think about the different options even though for most of the story I chose to leave it how it was.

TaskSheet 3: 2nd Story Idea

My second story idea includes two main characters, Michael and Matthew. These two teenage boys have been friends since 4th grade. Now as 9th graders they begin to get themselves in trouble. Michael's family situation is not the greatest and he begins to act out for attention. Because Michael and Matthew go everywhere and do anything together, after a unplanned robbery at a small town convenience store the two boys find themselves split apart, fighting with their parents, the law, and each other.

An idea that needs a lot of development and characterization.

TasktSheet 3: Character Development Scene

At 3:45a.m. on Monday morning, Ethan woke from a terrible night sweat. He charged into his mom and dad's bedroom just down the hall and demanded that they listen to his account of the terrible nightmare he had just had. "I now have proof that starting Kindergarten today is a very bad idea!" he screamed. Anxiously, Ethan started describing the new Kindergarten teacher he had seen in his dream. "My teacher was as old as Mrs. McCloskey that lives next door and she smelled like the baby powder mom uses when she changes Brady's diaper," explained Ethan. His mom and dad glanced at each other with a slight smile, trying to make light of the early morning awakening. "We all sat together in a circle and sang a song about animals and letters and I had to sit by a girl!" Ethan started to get very upset and panic. He crawled in bed up next to his mom and began to cry. "Mom, I don't want to start school today."

Tasksheet 2: Story Idea 1

In reflecting on the short story assignment I had a few different ideas, but this one has continued to stick with me. The main character for this story idea is a young boy about to enter Kindergarten. I do not have a name for this character or description yet. The conflict of this character is his fear of starting school. Growing up his mom worked a part time job and when she was gone the family had a sitter come to the house. He has never really had a day care/preschool experience to help ease his fears. Throughout the story the boy will be reassured and supported by his family and will visit the school prior to the first day of Kindergarten. As he is facing the struggling of leaving his parents all day, being in an unusual environment, and worried about what the other kids will think of him he is terrified. However, as the story unfolds and the young boy goes to his first day of school he overcomes his fears step by step and at the end of the day goes home to share his fun and exciting stories with his parents and siblings. The young boy will go through many different experiences and be constantly reassured and comforted throughout his struggle to feel comfortable in order to resolve the conflict.

TaskSheet 2: From Situation to Plot

Situation: the driver of a hit and run accident.

The accident happened on a dreary Friday evening outside a local restaurant of a small town. Two women in their sixties were exiting the restaurant after sharing a delicious meal with their sister who was having surgery in a couple of days. A man in a hurry to make it to his son's music concert sped through a red light, and hit one of the women. Because of the conditions outside and his carelessness in paying attention to the road, he had not even seen the women crossing the street. In shock and because of his strong desire to still make it to his son's music concert the man fled the accident without even stopping. As the elderly lady lay in the middle of the road, uncouncious her sister franticly ran around screaming for help. The woman was taken to the hospital and was being treated for serious injuries to her body and head. She was stable, but in very critical condtion.

That night after the man returned from his son's music concert he was distraught and very upset. He sat on his couch watching the evening news with a reporter telling of the horrific accident. This man was now facing a moral dilema, a fight with his conscience. Should he turn himself in and risk being put in jail, separated from his children, or would he bear the emotional strain this was putting on his mind? In the days that followed the accident the man became very withdrawn. He missed work, let his responsibilities around the hosue slip, and was even yelling at his children. Could he live like this forever? What could he do to make this awful situation go away?

Other Character Situations:
1. an overweight kindergartener teased by his classmates
2. a mentally challenged man living alone
3. a mechanic whose wife is battling cancer
4. a man contemplating enrollment in the armed forces
5. a women whose fiance just broke off their engagement
6. a couple starting a new life in a different state
7. a father working two jobs to support his family
8. a daugther whose father is fighting the affects of alzheimer's disease
9. a full-time college student juggling a part time job and family obligations
10. a man obsessed with his appearence

Tasksheet 1: Exercise 14 and 27

In thinking about past childhood memories of someone who can invoke strong feelings in me, one person inparticular came to mind. I went to school with this person from preschool till grade 6. He was a class loud mouth, almost like a trouble maker. He liked to instigate problems and talk out in class. On the playground he would bully us, trying to make out playtime unpleasant. I vividly remember this one time when he sat at the end of a "tube" slide on the playset and blocked it so no one else could go down. This person was overweight for a child his age and tried to do things to gross people out.

This person still attends the church I go to and his mom was a teacher at the school my mom worked at so I still had some connection with him as I grew older. Now he is a computer whiz, building his own computers and fixing them for others. He enjoys working with the latest and greatest technology. If I look back at my elementary school days with this person in my class I can now see that he may have possibly acted out in class due to boredom.

If I had to imagine what I would find in this person's refridgerator I would guess lunch meat, pop, ice cream, steak, hambergers, and much more. In his car trunk I would envision computer parts, tools, and computer manuals. In his closet you may find much of the same plus legos, video game equipment, video camcorders, digital cameras, etc.

In doing these exercises I have learned that my perspective on this character has changed over time. I also found that I really do not know alot about this person and his interests or hobbies. In elementary school I made a lot of assumptions about him based on his personality and outbursts in class. I was surprised at some of the vivid details that I remember during the encounters that I did have with this person.