3 - Setting and description - week 4

 I would like you to set a story in your primal landscape – meaning, the place in which you were raised. If, like me, you moved around as a child, pick the place in which you spent the longest period of time, one you can remember – which for me would be the post-industrial Pennsylvania city in which I went to high school.

There are so many different kinds of primal landscapes on this planet. We live in dry and wet climates, we live on wind-swept hillsides or in the middle of traffic-choked cities. Small town life is unique, but so is urban, suburban, and rural life. All primal landscapes are interesting to the writer who lived there because the landscape is part of who he or she is.

Your childhood landscape is in your DNA. You grew up listening to the accent, attending the gatherings, playing in the weather, being nurtured or alienated by cultural practices.

The list of writers who mine their primal landscape over and over again is long. Here is just a brief list of some of the great American writers who kept (and some of them still keep) returning to their most personal landscape, even if they also wrote about many other places.

• William Faulkner, American South

• John Steinbeck, Central California

• Annie Proulx, Wyoming

• Raymond Chandler, Los Angeles

• Sherwood Anderson, the Midwest

• Garrison Keillor, the Midwest

• H.P Lovecraft, New England

• Edith Wharton, New York City

• Flannery O’Connor, American South

• 
  

One of my favorite writers of his primal landscape, and of place in general, is great stylist John Updike. Updike passed away in 2009, but left numerous novels and short story collections, as well as hundreds of poems and works of criticism behind. He wrote movingly of his primal landscape – Shillington, Pennsylvania – in an essay called “The Dogwood Tree.” Watch this clip to hear one writer explain how his primal landscape felt to him, and why he kept returning to it.

John Updike discusses “A Dogwood Tree: A Boyhood” (minute 3.44 to 8:52 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RApWC3Mn3UA. Note I DO NOT want learners to watch the entire program, which is old and rambling.)

Now, for your last assignment, I would like you to set the beginning of a story in your primal landscape. This is not a memoir, but rather a story set in a place you know deeply and even unconsciously. If it helps you to convert this story into fiction, be sure to write in the third person – he or she. You could call yourself “the boy” or “the girl.” If you write as “I,” it might be tempting to write autobiography.

You may use your 500-750 words to simply describe this landscape, no characters needed. Or, you may populate the landscape with characters. If you have already taken the course on character, use what you learned there to pick a character who is typical of your primal landscape. Either way, I firmly believe we are all highly influenced by the place of our youth. For better or for worse, our hometown is always our hometown.

Write 500-750 words. Let yourself go through the intense experience of remembering this landscape, its weather, people, its joys and sorrows.

Write hard, have fun.

---------

The afternoon arrived, and the sky was cloudy. The night before, the storm had started to hit the state, making it a peculiar summer for everyone. The summer of 2010 was a real cloudy and rainy summer. The school was already over, and kids were transitioning into teenagers, and the teenagers were experiencing broken hearts.

The graduation ceremony for the secondary kids had just concluded, and everyone hurried ran toward their respective families. We had all types of families. The one with elderly, old brothers and even baby sisters.

Our boy was talking with their friends and taking some pictures using his digital camera. Then he saw her and quickly realized that it might be the last time he would see her. Life was pulling them apart, and things would never be the same. He has always lived a city away of school and now will study at a more far away high school, and when you are fourteen years old love is one of the saddest yet strongest emotions in life.

The graduation was inside the school walls in the main hall because it was roofed. The school leased hundreds of chairs for the families of students. After the graduation ceremony the school leave some party music for students to dance and to enjoy among their families. After the graduation was done and all the party music stopped. She was still there taking some pictures with friends near the school exit. He was near her, just in wait for a moment alone the two of them. She started to saying goodbye to her friends and start to walk away of school.

As she walked out of the school, about to cross the street in search of her mom, the boy, eager for at least a farewell, flew behind her and shout her name.

—Jenny!

With her back in front of him, she spined herself and responded.

—You sure took your time, —her tone consistently angry as used to be.

—I just wanted to say goodbye.

—This is our last goodbye. Am I right?

—Yes.

She ran to him and embraced him. The boy reciprocated, realizing in that moment how skinny she was. He loved that of her. It was a special day for him. He was wearing a new white shirt. She had chosen her favorite perfume, waking up early to straighten her hair and put a pretty bow hair tie. The both were dressed for a special occasion. A last hug.

While they were hugging it appear world stopped. No sounds from parents waiting for their children, no teachers or school staff, neither their peers. Everybody had already went away with their families. Nothing existed beyond that magical hug.

She began to cry against his chest, and the boy felt a sense of relief—he knew she loved him. Overwhelmed, she couldn't contain her emotions any longer. She was always proud of herself, but today was inevitable. She conveyed her feelings through tears, expressing what he longed to hear and see.

"My mom will be here soon. I wanted you to talk with her."

"For you, whatever you want."

She was simultaneously happy and nostalgic. Aware that this would likely be their last meeting. A few exchanged smiles and a final goodbye hug—that would be it.

 

3 - Setting and description - week 3

 I would like you to set a story in one of the three following settings:

1. a hospital

2. a foreign country

3. a blackout

Write the BEGINNING of a story. The first 500-750 words.

We want to smell, hear, and see your setting. We also want to hear it written about with credibility. So you’ll have to do a little research – both functional and imaginative – in order to write this one convincingly. Don’t rush! Start by shutting your eyes and scanning the story world, just like you did during the meditation exercises. Then, try looking at photographs, or finding basic facts or terms that will lend your writing credibility. Believe me, with these two things combined, we will feel that you as the writer have experienced these “strange lands,” whether you have or not!

Remember how I said that a setting is also a situation? As soon as you place a character in a setting, you have a situation – a story. That character must interact – live or die – in that place and time. We all have the same needs to survive – food and water, shelter, a sense of safety – so how does your character secure those things? For this assignment, I’ve picked three settings that have inherent dramatic possibility. A blackout is not a place, per se, but it is a situation with physical parameters.

For the foreign country, if you like, you may write from the point of view of a tourist or visitor. You might want to pick a place you’ve visited in the past, but you don’t have to. Anyone going to a foreign location steps immediately into a dramatic situation. Use functional and imaginative research to create your setting.

We all realize that the traveller cannot know a land like a native. However, avoid out-and-out erroneous information, as well as clichés and assumptions about people and culture. Don’t write about a place in the way you’ve heard someone ELSE write about it. Imagine and research the place yourself.

----------

The respiratory machine was working perfectly. The squish and the splash were consistent, like a well-functioning watch. The warm light in room 507 created a peaceful evening atmosphere. The private room featured a large window with a view of the city, revealing a clear sky. Wooden floors adorned the room, and a small living room connected to the main bedroom. The bathroom was shiny and spacious, providing ample space for two individuals.

He lay unconscious in bed while the machine monitored his breathing. She moved a recliner next to the bed and to the right of her husband. She wore the outfit he loved: a brown skirt and a black turtleneck blouse. She applied makeup to be with him. In her left hand, she held rosary beads, counting with her right hand.

—Maria. Madre de Dios. Ruega por nosotros los pecadores.

The night had just started when Ada arrived to relieve her mother-in-law, so she can have some rest. Ada started praying the moment she gets inside the room. She prayed for almost three hours when suddenly, the praying stopped. It was almost 10 o'clock. Ada started laughing, then sobbing, then crying; the memories of a life with him were too painful to bear. Tears fell from her face and landed on her big chest.

She became angry when she saw tears landing on her enormous breast. The fight they had about her desire for breast augmentation came to mind. Something he was absolutely against to.

—You are mine, Ada. I don't want other men looking at you.

—Your macho hombre attitude, I hated it. If you love me, you will do it for me.

She was angry because all the wives in the neighborhood and Alfredo's work buddies had undergone breast augmentation or nose jobs. Now, in the hospital, guilt made Ada feel foolish and superficial.

—I only want you to wake up. I hate the hearing of that STUPID MACHINE every time I enter this room! Alfredo, you are mine. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve this stupid bitch.

Ada sobbed, taking her hands to her face as she leaned forward.

She was in a rush of flashbacks inside her head—love, sex, passion, laughter, joints, weed, parties, trips, and adventure. Ada and Alfredo's life seemed like something from a magazine. Constantly traveling, shopping, he provided her with time and money. They already had two small children, Sofia, 5, and Amanda, 2. During the day, she managed the businesses while lying to the girls about their father being on a business trip.

Caroline the mother-in-law, spends all mornings with her son while Ada works. They switched roles in the evening. Caroline taking care of the girls at night and Ada arriving to the hospital. At 6 pm after work Grandpa Martin goes to his son house and sends the nanny home. He manages the girls until granny Caro arrives. Ada oversees night shift. She needs to support his man and needs to cry alone, away of the kids. The hurt on his chest is overwhelming. She cannot long stand this neither one to.

By 11 pm, the nurse would come to change the urinal disposal bag. Seeing him in this state was worse than torture. The hurt in her chest was overwhelming. Just a week a go they were bouncing in the bed as rabbits.

The nurse at night is the same two days ago. Miss Frida a chubby but highly experienced nurse. She is constantly dress in all pink. She arrived for the pee bag.

 

 

3 - Setting and description - Week 2

 Read the stories “Forever Overhead” by David Foster Wallace and “How to Be a Writer” by Lorrie Moore. Both stories use the second person voice. This means that the main character is referred to not as “I” or “he” or “she” but “you.”

“Happy Birthday,” begins the narrator of “Forever Overhead,” “Your thirteenth is important. Maybe your first really public day. Your thirteenth is the chance for people to recognize that important things are happening to you.” Although the “you” here is very specifically a thirteen-year-old boy, somehow the story moves through the portal of the specific to touch a universal memory of adolescence. This “you” has a “rich scratchy voice” that moves between octaves “without any warning.” However, even the female reader is familiar with this scratchy voice – she heard it in the voice of boys growing up around her. A well written “you” is, in the end, all of us. The second person is specific and general at the same time. This lends the second person a feeling of intimacy, as if the narrator is whispering in your ear. As with Wallace’s beautiful story, the second person adds an allegorical quality to whatever commonplace rituals it describes. The boy in “Forever Overhead” is only jumping off a diving board. However, he is also jumping into the future, jumping into adulthood, and he appropriately frightened. Remember to read this story first.

Next, I would like you to write about a HABITUAL RITUAL in second person. Using the “you” voice, describe a holiday, ritual, or routine in specific and significant detail. Let the details accumulate. Let them be funny, sad, and honest. I am not concerned if your “you” character is non-fictional, or based on your personal experience. A lot of fiction is. However, we will discuss this exercise as fiction.

Here are some examples of possible rituals to describe. Feel free to steal one of these!

• Piano recitals

• Visits to a non-custodial parent

• Thanksgivings

• Valentine's Days

• Going to church

• Visits to the grandma in a retirement home

• Your chemotherapy treatments

• Your child’s birthday parties

Write 500-750 words. Work hard, have fun.

The 7-alarm clock starts. You think is another fucking day. Well, it is, but it is Friday. It is another fucking Friday. You know it will be a long day and you will be back home by this time if you are lucky. You go to the mirror. You see the baggy eyes. You hated but you just bought the last Lancôme cream. This thing is a miracle in a bottle. You take away your pajamas and open the hot water. You go back to the mirror. You see your breast. You think. I hope they can stay this firm. You love the work the doctor gave to you. You go to the shower. By 830 you are ready. You have put your make up. You are going to wear your brand-new boots. It is already 9 am. All the parents have delivered their kids to the kinder garden. You are waiting for the kids inside the classroom. You are tired. You normally are outside the classroom and say hi to the distance to all the parents outside the school. You are tired but you see all these happy faces. Georgina has a new haircut. You love her. She is your favorite because her mom is the best. Philip it is sleepy as always. He is already sleep seated at the end of the class. You are going to help yourself out. You are going to do some stretch exercises inside the classroom. They will wake up a little bit. At least 10 minutes. Maybe 20. You did not prepare material for today. You and they sing for 30 minutes. A new song that they will love. By 10 am you start drawing with them. It is 1030 of Friday. Kids will read out loud the characters of the play. It is 11 and they go for a small break at the yard. You always think the same. If I could only have the lifestyle, I deserve by working as a teacher. You also hate yourself. You think that you might have opened the bakery your sister told you or maybe learn to sell used vehicles like your brother. They still tell you to go with them in the afternoon at their own business. You know that you already like to much the alcohol. The 12 pm have arrived. The children will go back with their parents. The parents are already waiting for them. You see them going with their moms and a few dads. Dads always want to talk with you. You love to see how they try to impress you. There is one you really liked but he is broke. You know that a wealthy dad won’t have their kids at a public school. You go back to home to rest as much as you can. You have work to do, and the moustache guy promises are always to be delivered. Your boss wakes you at 5 pm. You are tired. You have sleep more than 10 hours today but sleep at separated times sucks. You prepared your bag. All your cute outfits. The lingerie that you bough from Amazon. It is an amazing outfit the nurse and Viking warrior. The warrior might be complicated to take out, but clients will love it. It is that the love children gave you today needs to be washed out before the love of adults arrive. The shower is hot, and you are actually relax that on Sunday will be the day off. The taxi has arrived. Taking the car is not an option. It is to risky. The last time you were way to hammer to properly see. At the arrival the Sr of the mustache was there. A little to early. Today will be a long day. He calls you by your fake name. Come Nina. He has rejected other dances waiting for you. You knew he was going to deliver. He has a big smile and asks you to seat on his lap. He is not strong yet. He will be drinking with you from 8 to 11. Then will pay the fee and take you to the same place. Being a hooker and teacher is hard.

3 - Setting and description - Week 1

 I would like you to write what I call a slow motion moment. Write 300-700 words describing an action that takes ten seconds of real time. You may write it from either the first person (I) or the third person (he/she/it/they). No interior monologue is allowed. That means we don’t get to hear what a character is thinking (if a character is indeed present). We can only see what he or she is doing or seeing. It’s important that you stick to only about ten seconds of real time. Jump right into the description with your first line. Do not provide context or describe other events that happened before or after these ten seconds. Remember, you may not allow the character to remember past events, to wonder what is happening elsewhere, or to ruminate in any way. Basically, you are describing only the concrete, material details of the event.

Here’s a snippet of a slow motion moment, from Ian McEwan’s A Child in Time. This is a description of an awful encounter on the road with a truck:

“… He was preparing to overtake when something happened – he did not quite see what – in the region of the lorry’s wheels, a hiatus, a cloud of dust, and then something black and long snaked through a hundred feet toward him. It slapped the windscreen, clung there a moment and was whisked away before he had time to understand what it was. And then… the rear of the lorry made a complicated set of movements, a bouncing and swaying, and slewed in a wide spray of spark, bright even in sunshine. So far Stephen had had time to move his foot towards the brake, time to notice a padlock swinging on a loose flange, and ‘Wash Me Please’ scrawled in grime.’”

Some events – like car accidents – do seem to occur in slow motion. Often they are momentous. But they do not have to be as dramatic as a car crash – take for example, the first glimpse of the person you would someday marry. Here are some examples of other interesting events that take less than 10 seconds, which you could describe. Feel free to steal one of these, or make up your own!

• Getting slapped

• Hitting a deer with a car

• Going downhill on a rollercoaster

• A kiss

• Pulling a trigger

She walks on the sidewalk of the first street, a few meters behind the intersection with the second street. The afternoon provides a warm orange light in the sky, with numerous clouds above the people. A gust of autumn wind moves her blue dress from behind. The dress crosses between her legs and sticks to them for a split second; her kitten heels give her a secure but slow pace.

A man approaches her, running to her right side. A typical Texan boy in blue jeans and a white interior t-shirt. She holds her phone in her right hand, next to her ear. Her long, black hair obscures her view, and the distraction of the call leaves her unaware of her surroundings.

The man stops running when he is 50 centimeters from her. He carries a large red portable fuel tank of gasoline. He raises his arms and starts throwing gasoline at the head of the black woman, making circles around her, moving his legs to her front and then to her back. As a taller person, he can easily and quickly soak her in gasoline while yelling and laughing like a maniac.

— HAHAHA DIE!

She can only reply by yelling.

—NOOO! NOOO!

All her long and beautiful hair is now covered in gasoline, as well as her dress. The ambient liquid makes her feel cold quickly for the last time. The man is in front of her, throws the red tank to his left, and using his left hand takes out a lighter from his left pocket. A gray metal Zippo lighter is ignited, producing a big flare. He takes a step back with his right foot and, using his left hand, throws the Zippo to her. The left hand is wide open, and she curls into herself while crying and screaming, watching the flare approaching. She puts her hand between her legs, making herself small. The phone is still in her right hand. A man is screaming and can be heard through the speaker of the phone. —LACIE! LACIE!

The Zippo touches Lacie's right shoulder, and the fire starts, first on the dress from the top to the bottom. The fire then spreads to her hair, and she stretches herself, looking at the sky to find a place to run.

2 - Character building - week 4

 Write an active scene (a dinner, a romance, an adventure) from the first person POV of no more than 500 words. Now take the exact same scene and write it again from the omniscient POV, entirely from scratch and without looking at the first version. Submit both scenes, and further, please comment on what changes you discover as you shift from one POV (I am telling the story...) to the other (the all-seeing creator tells the story...).

I saw him arrive. I was at my porch playing Pokemon Go on my cellphone. I knew what he was coming. He parked his car in front of my house and from the back seat take a bag. I imagined that he was going to buy my out. All dress in black and with the face sad as can be.

—How are you Eliphas?

He only said my complete name when he needs something or want something. I decided to stand up and go to the front of the house.

—I am not going to do it Ruben and you know it.

—My friend Please at least let me speak out my mind, before you take a decision.

—My decision is final, and you need to know it.

I knew he was going to bride me or warning me.

—She died last night.

—We all know this was going to happen. She has been in bed for the past two weeks.

—Bring her!

—I do not know what you are suggesting.

—You know

—You will lose something that you carry and once is out of you. You are never going to be the same.

—I wanted to say goodbye.

—Just a goodbye will be. Please bring me something that smells like her, a record of her voice and an image. The rest I will be manage it.

I knew this was a terrible decision, but I was in a position where I could not say no to a friend.

—Arrive after the sun goes down. I want to have the sky full of stars. I am going to explain something to you. The lines between this and the other are fragile but strong. They work between weights and exchanges. I am going to offer something of yours and they will let you see her one more time.

------------

He was a young adult 23, I think. From a long dynasty of shaman people. He was a normal guy; he had a desk job and like to take care of plants at his porch and back garden. If you go on a Wednesday to his house, most surely, he will be just starting at the grass growing.

He decided that calling death people and all type of things related are not something so fun at the end. A friend of his arrive on a Sunday morning at his house. The look on the friend’s face was just that of sadness after losing a loved one. He came to ask our young Shaman Eliphas to bring her mother back.

Our dear shaman did want to help his old friend Ruben but knew the consequences of his actions. See when a Shaman bring a people back from a second or days. You need to give something to the universe. I like to call it a proof of love. You are going to forget something that you love from your loved one. It is like a tactic from universe in case someone wants to constantly be calling their loved ones back.

Eliphas neglected the request from Ruben, but Ruben was able to convince him at the end.

2 - Character Building - week 3

 Create a scene (700-1000 words) with at least three characters. Two of these characters should have different viewpoints on the world; one should be an “insider” in the world you’re creating, and one should be an outsider. For example, you could set the scene in your country and have one person be native and one be a foreign visitor. The third character should be an eavesdropper on a conversation between the first two. Construct the story using no more than three speech tags (a speech tag is something that identifies a speaker, like "she said" and "Kevin replied"); instead, use the setting, descriptions, and idiosyncrasies to make the speakers identifiable. Be careful, however, to avoid caricature.

***Respond to the following question and include your response in your assignment submission. Additionally, take into consideration your peers' response to the following question while completing peer reviews of their work.

What is one aspect of your writing that you would like feedback on?

Welcome back and as all of you know Team Alligator has just loose against team Bravos. I am David your host and we have two master’s on the field. One is a world champion Josue Torres and the other one is my very good friend and an incredible analyst Ian Cooper.

—Thank you, David. I have played against bravos many times while I was a young boy and even at the end of my career and the philosophy and qualities of the team had always been an aggressive approach.

—This is not a Bravos Win, this is an alligator loose.

—Gentleman, we need to focus. What Bravos did right?

—In my experience Bravos at the first time, did not loose the breath. They defend and second time they risk everything. This strategy maintains the breath of the offenders. The bad part was that the first half the goal keepers and defenders were very tired.

—As an analyst I can tell you that while the strategy of the technician of Bravos was risky. At beginning the team was losing 1-0. The big mistake made by Alligator is that they went back. They got the 1-0 at the end of the first time and decided to pass to defend. The technician plays a strategy that only two men in the front and searching for the goal. Which by this time is what not a priority. While the Bravos decided for a strategy in which they have three men in the front line.

—Josue and Ian. Please let me stop you because we have a sponsor announcement to tell. If you are tired of bad loses when you put money on a game. We recommend the twitter account “Mastering the game”. Mastering the game is an AI startup that provides intel regarding soccer, American football, and NBA. Now back to you Josue.

—As I was explaining the strategy proposed by the coach of Bravos was great. By gaining this game they are now in the second position of the general table and unfortunately the leader who was Crocodile go down to the third place.

—Like all soccer players you missed the great win by the Leon heart team. That gave them enough points to go from second to the first position. The reality is that this season is going to be of Leon team.

—Gentleman, gentleman please. We need to explain the audience how does the win of Leon team affect. Please dear friend, you have always been a big fan of Leon team.

—The Leon team this season have a great team.. —I could defeat them with a bunch of kids. — Do you want a fight pretty boy? —I am not scared of you, piece of trash —Gentleman, gentleman. Please. We need to mediate our differences. I am sick and tired that all the commentators and TV host are always the same. They fight among themselves. —So, we are going to do the next. Please each one of you will talk about how their own inside world is and sees the other world of the other from outside. —Being a soccer player is complicated and is a mess. The fans, the coach, the teammates, everybody is looking for different contracts. Then social media arrive, and good players have bad social media and bad players were great at social media. This generates that budget of rehiring or sales affected. Because if you were a decent player but a great social media. It was easier to recover the money invested. In case if you were a bad player and a bad social media, you do not have achieve, but there were terrible players that were undisciplined, but the fans and social media loves them. The directive will think twice to sale. I was one the MVP of the season and achieve a champion for my team back at Spain and I explained to the team. I do not want to go, I want to retire in this team.

Then a Chinese team arrive and through brides and suitcase full of cash I suddenly was playing in the Chinese tournament. When you are a kid or teenage, everybody dreams to become a great sports icon, but after you achieve it. The sensation is the worse. There is money, but if the team does not have a proper strategy, you cannot make a strategy of your own. I understand what happened with our friends at Bravos. There is not a proper line to follow their coach is terrified that several of their starts are criticized for a bad game and affect his stay at the team. He pulled off the match.

Then we have these terrible people that are the sport analyst which inflate normal players because someone told them. I have seen better players than what this idiots “experts” on “soccer” can actually think of.

—Unfortunately that is all time we have for today. I am David he was Josue and next to me Ian. See you tomorrow.