Zoe Strepek

Storycraft

Bryan Furuness

30 November 2020

Final Reflection

For my final story, it was a revised and edited version of my midterm story, but the final

draft is significantly different, and better, than my original midterm story. One thing I included a

lot more of, per my professor’s advice, was incorporating more internal dialogue for my main

character. Throughout the final story, you constantly get to hear her thoughts, feelings, and

hopes, compared to the original midterm story where none of that was included. Something else

that improved my final story was the flow. I had good flow in my original midterm story, but

there were quite a few parts that just kind of jumped ahead without a transition or thought. In my

final revision, I focused a lot more on the details in between the big events, to make it flow much

better and to make sure there were smooth transitions into the next aspect of the story. Dialogue

is still something I struggled with a little bit, but it did improve and I included a lot more of it.

My final story also built a much stronger background on the story itself, but also on the main

character. You go into the full story having a full grasp of the situation that our main character is

in, what is going on in the world during that time and how it affects her interactions. Finally, the

last improvement over the course of this class was more incorporation of detail. I had a good

concept of that in my midterm story, but sometimes it felt forced and unnecessary. Coming to my

final story, I feel that I incorporated vivid details more, but also where they best fit and are

needed, not just every chance I get. I could go on talking about my improvements and what has

changed, but those are the most notable.

 My current self-concept as a writer is that I am a good writer, much better than I was, but

I am still constantly improving. Despite all the progress I feel I have made this semester, I think

there is always room for improvement and room to grow. Besides, I can’t become an expert

writer over a couple of months. It takes a lot of time and dedication. At the beginning of the

semester, the only writing I ever did for academics was essays and the occasional discussion

posts. All of the writing I had done up to this point in my career was under very strict guidelines.

Every essay had a prompt and ideas to be discussed, compared to this class where there were

little to no guidelines and we have complete freedom about what we write about. That also made

it a lot more enjoyable, because you could let your mind wander wherever it wanted to. Also, at

the beginning of the semester writing was a chore, and it wasn’t something I enjoyed doing in the

slightest. It was a hassle, and I always dreaded it. Compared to now, writing 120 pages was still a

lot, but I have learned to enjoy writing and use it to relax, instead of stressing over it. I’ve

learned to just let everything flow on the paper, no matter how good or bad it is. Instead of trying

to get a good essay or story the first time, I’ve learned to just word vomit on the paper and then

focus on revisions later.

My writing process has changed significantly throughout the semester. I’ve done a lot of

trial and error to see what works best and what doesn’t work. I started off doing my writing

whenever I had done all of my other homework and needed something else to do. I would also

only write once a day, so whenever my hand was hurting, I was done. As we reached the halfway

point of the semester I realized I did not have nearly enough pages filled in my 120 page

notebook. So I had to strategize a new plan on how I was going to do this successfully. After

doing some math, I realized I needed to write roughly three pages a day in order to reach thee

120 by the end of the semester. I also decided, instead of writing all at one point during the day, I
would spread it out. My new goal was to write once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and

once at night. Writing at least one page per session, if not more. While that plan kicked in, I

realized I still needed a better place to get my work done without any distractions. One time I

just happened to go to the library and do work, including some writing, and I realized that it was

a very quiet and relaxing environment. I now try to do most of my writing there when the

situation allows it. So, my ideal process is spending a good chunk of my day at the library. I

write a little bit when I first arrive. Then I take a break and switch to a different assignment.

Then after that I write again. Different assignments, then back to writing. That is my current

process, there is no longer a set number of pages, I do as many times as I feel I need or want to.

The biggest thing I am going to take away from this class for my future, is the creativity

and revision process of writing. As a psychology and criminology major, I am not going to be

doing a lot of creative writing, but I will be doing a lot of writing in terms of research and results.

I will take away a lot of the writing strategies, most importantly the shitty first draft. The other

very important thing will be the revision regimen as a whole. Learning that revising writing, any

writing, is a broad process, not just small minor fixes. I’ve learned how to revise writings, no

matter what kind, and that will be extremely beneficial in my essays and potential research

writing. What’s next for me you ask? Incorporating more casual reading and writing into my life,

and taking everything I’ve learned from this class and applying it to any and all writing I have in

the future.