Having always wanted to write the characters
and stories for video games, I decided to take on this module in order to
improve my skills and learn new techniques. Although I selected this module I
was reluctant to do so at first as I was concerned that my work would be overly
criticised and therefore put a damper on my confidence and put me off writing
altogether. However, I am glad I chose the module in the end as I learnt a
number of useful things which I include below.
What I enjoyed:
Being able to write in a whole range
of styles was great as, although I prefer to write pieces that include characters
talking to one another, probably as a result of my drama background, I found
the other methods to be valuable exercises. For example, writing whilst only
being able to use a few given words or an object was difficult, but it also
allowed my imagination to expand.
I have already explained (see ‘Process
of my Story’) that I have always wanted to write my final story and thanks to
this module was able to. Therefore being able to bring to life other stories
already in my head with a range of skills was satisfying.
If I plan to take another writing module
next term I will be sure to use what I have learnt in order to further advance
stories I have in my head.
During the course, I also learnt how
to structure my writing better and to leave gaps between paragraphs in order to
make it both easier for the reader to read it and also to show time passing.
When it comes to conversations I used to constantly write how the characters spoke
after each line of dialogue. Now I know that sometimes it is best to leave it
as just what they say and allow the writing and their personalities to tell the
reader how they actually speak.
It helped that the entire group was friendly
and approachable particularly during the sharing of writing as they gave both positive
and constructive feedback. This is something that some writers may not enjoy however,
without feedback of any sort writers can never learn how to improve their work
or how their readers interpret it.
What didn’t go well:
Although I feel very confident in my
writing and love to write, sadly I feel that I still have issues with spelling
and sentence structure. Granted I check these before placing them on my blogs,
but the fact that I know my original pieces have issues makes me hesitant to read
some of them aloud. This was a shame since I enjoy sharing my work. Of course
when I did read pieces aloud I would often stutter or fluff a line when I realised
I needed to correct some of the sentence structure. Clearly I need to keep
working on improving these aspects of my writing and build up my confidence for
reading aloud. Hopefully the more I write and begin to develop a style of
writing I am fully confident with I will feel more inclined to read each piece aloud.
Conclusion:
Overall I am pleased with myself and
glad I choose to do this course as not only has it proved to be an interesting
one, but also informative. This has lead to me learning a variety of new tricks
in order to improve my own writing which I hope to continue to do over the
holidays, thus not running out of steam and taking full advantage of my spare
time as Hugh Janes advised.
I now feel as if I can write
characters and a variety of genres more effectively and that thanks to the advice
from both my lecturer and Hugh Janes I will be able to create even more realistic
characters. I would perhaps like to try however to create a bunch of characters
that I can use in numerous stories in advance as I was advised that creating
characters is the first thing you should do when writing a story whist drawing
from real life influences in order to write their characteristics perfectly. After
all, a lot of the time it is the characters and their actions who write the
story and not necessarily the author!
What I found very interesting however
was my new found ability to ‘write to order’ as every week I was able to at
least write something even when I got writers block. This surprised me as I often
prefer to work alone and therefore to write stories I am pleased with whilst in
the company of others is satisfying as this shows I have learnt a new skill. In
addition the course has motivated me to do more writing at home and even on the
train, partly due to the task in which we were asked to write on location.
I have also for better or worse
started to criticise the writing styles, presentation, structure and introductions
in books, films and video games I have recently read or watched.
No comments:
Post a Comment