My snapshots are all about loss. Whether it’s losing a loved
one, or losing something I tried to gain, or even losing the trust I had in
someone. It wasn’t really a hard topic to write about, I didn’t even know that’s
what I was writing about until I read it over. I just sat down and started
typing and whatever came out, came out. After writing for an hour, my first
three were done and I realized that’s what it was about, everything I felt
slipping away and everything or everyone I’ve ever lost. I figured that these
experiences would be good for the paper because I think it tells a lot about
who I am, what I’ve conquered and what still hurts. That’s what this paper was
all about, giving someone a chunk of who you are. I think I managed to do that.
There were some ideas that I had that I couldn’t really use, for instance I was
going to write about losing my sister, not physically but emotionally, we were
best friends and she knew more about me than anyone and when I told her some
stuff that she didn’t know about me she judged me silently and she was mad at
me and it hasn’t really felt the same since. I was going to write about it but
I couldn’t really find the words to describe the moment that I lost her.
Figuring out what worked and what didn’t was the hard part.
I had to have enough detail to make the person feel the pain of my losses as
strongly as I did, but I didn’t want to go too far over the 500 word limit. I
added and took away and changed sentences and formats so much my third draft
and my first draft are practically two completely different essays. I also
thought about the originality that my paper needed so I used the basic story
format but I also used formats like letters and poems and just chunks of
dialogue with no actions in it at all. In the end the paper’s one-hundred
percent me.
I also tried writing to a particular topic in the first drafts of my snapshot assignment,
ReplyDeletealthough you did yours not-so-intentionally at the beginning, mine was rather planned. I found that when I was trying to write towards a certain topic, a lot of my ideas were eliminated, and my mind narrowed and I lost a lot of creativity. I think though the topic of loss is a lot more powerful to write about than fear-which was my failed attempted of a topic- so I feel like this probably created a greater catharsis for your reader than I could've. Overall, I really like your thought process and the depth to which it seems like your passages reach.
I found myself writing about all of the positive experiences and snapshots in my life as opposed to the more negative ones like you have. I think in writing about something so different I took on a different process. I tried to carefully comb my way through my paper as I wrote whereas you said you just wrote and wrote. I had an idea of my what my paper was about because I took it so slow. I have written entire papers and thoughts in one sitting though and I do enjoy it and would like to try it out more often. I think that maybe one way to challenge yourself would be to find something positive in each of your snapshots. It sounds cliche but it would be great either way it turns out. If it takes you a while, you know you've put in a lot of thought and if it is easy to find something positive than you could start to find more positive thing in your experiences. Those are just some of my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteLoss is a very good way to show the reader who you are. There is nothing like loss that shapes one more as a person. It really draws the reader in by adding variety to your piece, such as letters and dialogue. Doing this helps the reader see the story more from your eyes and perspective. As a challenge, maybe try writing about ‘losing’ your sister. Since you can’t find the words for the exact moment, I think trying to actually write how you felt or even a specific story where she judged you would give the reader more perspective on what you went through with her. Since it is harder for you to write, the emotion will be deeper and more personal. Maybe you’ll even surprise yourself and it’ll end up being your best snapshot. For my final draft, I think I’m going to add a story on loss. I wrote a lot about how and what people influenced me in my life but loss is such a meaningful topic when it comes to what shaped someone as who they are today.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast to you, I found myself going for more positive geared snapshots. I admire the fact that you can so openly talk about loss in your writing. For me, talking about loss, or anything sad is hard for me so I decided to write about happier moments in my life. I like how you chose a specific prose of writing and made your paper flow that way. While my snapshots were all happy memories or moments, they did all relate to different topics.
ReplyDeleteI also chose to write about more positive snap stories rather then sentimental things that were easily explained. I bet that when you were writing your snap stories you had a ton of feelings to describe. The fact that you had a common theme for all of your snap stories is good as well. I didn't have a common theme for mine. My stories were more of things I just thought would be easy to describe and write about. I guess if you read mine you can gather a little bit about me, but for the most part my snap stories don't really show the kind of person I am. I am sure that your snap stories are full of vivid detail and that they are written exactly how they were asked. Maybe I should have went about my snap stories in a different way.
ReplyDeleteI read that you chose to write about loss in your snaps. To me this would be very difficult to write about since it's so personal. I can respect you for being able to write out your feelings for everyone else to read. I tend to make up stories while writing just because it's so much easier to make a story go whichever way you want to take it. Also it requires absolutely no personal experience of the subject. Writing about personal things can bring back memories of that time especially but at the same time it lets your reader get to know you.
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