Good writing/Cool Writing

I want to try and go back to Barnes and Noble and pick this journal up instead. The writing (as i was scanning) seems very interesting and each piece is reinterpreted by famous photographers, which is even cooler considering I love photography.

I didn't have the money last night when I saw it so I need to go back!!!!

http://www.canteenmag.com/

Literary Mag!

I haven't purchased mine yet, but this one's a non profit Literary Magazine and it looks very interesting!

http://www.newpages.com/literary-magazines/palooka.htm

It's called Palooka!

Spooky tales!

It seems as though some of you posted scary stories for halloween? I wasn't in class on Monday so I'm not too sure. But it made me think of a night that I was sitting by a fire with some friends and for amusement somebody searched for spooky stories on their phone and came up with this one:

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/the_hairy_toe.html

You'll get a good laugh (it's actually awful). BUT it's about a hairy toe. Haha!!

The Management of Grief

This story was incredibly depressing. I felt that the beginning was very hard to keep up with but it seems that the narrator's lost her husband and two sons. She and her friends are immigrants living in Canada (indian-immigrants) and trying to figure out the best way to deal with their losses. There is a contemplation between using culture or not as a vice. The narrator gives good examples and images of low-point instances for the characters. They spend a lot of time convincing themselves that their relatives are still alive and they even contemplate life. But they make it through with each other. I thought that although this was written very nicely, it was entirely too sad for me! The whole story was very gray.

Writing Process

When we were little we used to have to make outlines, then work on an introduction, work on a rough draft, revise, then final product, etc. It was always such a drawn out process. However, now, a lot of my writing comes from what goes on around me, or things that I dream about at night. I tend to first think about something that's happened in my life or something that I dreamt about and use that as a base to create a story. I like to just write. Whatever goes onto the paper, goes. But once I've created the plot and dialogue I usually go back and take out the things that are cheesy or unnecessary. I like to let other people read it that aren't writing majors as well as feed back from students in my class because I enjoy getting feedback from both sides.

I prefer being in the library while writing because I have a very difficult time focusing and the library is where I can hide in a little cubby and zone in on what I need to get done.

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bio.html

This is a biography about Stephanie Meyer. I chose this link because "Twilight," was inspired by her dreams, too!

Caviar! -- Beginnings

I've just read the first page of the story, and because this entry is focusing on beginnings, I'd like to write my thoughts before the rest of the story alters my initial reaction.

"I ought to tell you right off I didn't go to college."

And for the simple fact that I am a college student, this alone gets me curious as to why he didn't go to college. What could his story be? He then gives us the low down of his family background and what he wound up doing for a living-- working for his father's company and all. We find out that he enjoys reading and then immediately after his nice little family/job summary, we're given a sentence that basically sums up what we're about to read about.

"You see, I'm the first one around here-- I mean, me and Marie are the first ones-- to have a baby this new way, where you can't have it on your own. Dr. Ziss said not to worry about it, a little experiment, think of it as a gift from heaven."

Right here we grasp the fact that we're going to learn more about how they came to having a baby. There isn't enough info though, that prevents us from wanting to continue. In fact once he sarcastically says, "Some gift." I automatically thought to myself, "Ohhh boy, lets hear it."

So, In my opinion, the beginning was crafty enough to spark my attention and on that note, I'm going to continue reading!

A few lines of dialogue :)

Jordan said, "Hey did you hear who's playing in Jersey next month?"
"Who's that?" asked Shawna.
"Your favorite," he said, "we should go."

He always clung to every opportunity to spend time with her and she knew it. She indeed had no idea that her favorite band would be in town, but she hated his persistence.

"Oh! Yea...my sister actually bought me a ticket already. I'm going with her," she said.
"Could she bring me too?" he asked.
"I don't know. I'll have to see. Her boyfriend might be driving and I think two of his friends are going," she said plainly.