Telling Myself a Different Story: A Memoir Counterfactual
Hey! I’m back once again with another post, you guys bored of me yet? Anyways, for today's blog post we had to listen to a Hidden Brain episode that will help with our narrative project we are working on. The episode was about a woman who loved to ski with her friends and husband. They didn’t just ski on regular mountains with a ski lift, they went out and hiked up their own mountains where there was no safety patrol or anyone really, just themselves. The Women is telling a story about how her husband died in an avalanche, and how her thoughts about the accident haunt her. The woman thinks about what could have happened if they were to do something differently that day, or how her husband is not actually dead… She's Counterfactual Thinking which is, a concept in psychology that involves the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened. For my memoir I will be writing about the time me and some friends got caught by the cops before even getting to this abandoned place we were going to explore… Narrative project If I were to know this cop pulling us over was going to save our asses, I wouldn't have been so worried in the moment. See now its funny...Because if that cop didn't pull us over, we could have been in big trouble... Which is the opposite of what you would think, right? If she let us keep walking down that old vacant road, we could have been taken to the local police station for all I know. Like what if she just drove by with out a care for what we were doing... That cop honestly saved us... She was at the right place, at the right time. I'm very thankful for that. Exploring abandoned places can be fun, but you have to be willing to face risk. To this day I think of the "what if's..." The things that could have happened that day if something else were to happen, or if things were to go about differently... The "What If's..."
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Composing an Emotional Scene with Dialogue and Symbolism Hey what's up, I'm back again with another blog post! For this blog post we had to read a short story called, Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. We also had to read To You, I Belong (Becky Thompson), What is Creative Nonfiction? (Lee Gutkind), What is Memoir?, The Fundamental Differences between Memoir and Autobiography , Making Scenes in Memoir (Lee Martin), My Name is Margaret (Maya Angelou). Some themes I noticed in the reading were worry and tension. My scene has those themes as well. Before you begin reading I'm going to set the scene for you. It's 2016... Summer is about to end and school is about to start back up again. It’s my freshman year of high school and my parents convinced me to join the field hockey team. I've been playing field hockey for a few years, and have even played ice hockey, but I was really nervous about high school field hockey. Me and my mom were sitting in her black flex, I was staring down at everyone on the field not wanting to get out of the car as my mom was telling me to just go down to the field, and that everything will be okay… Field Hockey Think, think, think… If only I could stop thinking! I can feel my body start to tense up and my head getting dizzy. My mom just pulled into the school parking lot and I’m soon going to have to get out of the car and make my way down to the field… “Were here” says my mom, “are you ready for your first practice?” I freeze up and don't speak. I’m thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong… My mind is on think, think ,think mode and it won't stop. I can feel my mom's eyes staring at me waiting for my response, but I just don't want to say anything, I just want to go home. “Erin are you okay?” she asks. “Yes I’m fine” I’m not actually fine, I’m screaming in my head... “Well then are you ready for your first practice!” says my mom energetically. “Yeah I guess…” “You were so excited to start playing again… why are you acting this way?” Well you see... I’m acting this way because now that I see the whole team down there and see a bunch of upperclassmen, I am now scared shitless to go down and meet them all! Is what I wanted to say… “Oh.. I’m just a little nervous” is what I actually said lol... “This is how everyone gets before they do something new, you will be fine” says my mom, erging me to get out of the car. I sit there in silence waiting for my mom to say something else. I don't want to say anything back because I don't want to talk about why I’m nervous. I don’t like talking about my problems, and just want to figure this out on my own… I can't stop Think, think, thinking... “Erin… you're gonna have to get out of the car whether you want to or not...” My mom wasn't going to drive me home anyway, I know that for a fact… I know she wants me to get out of the car… And I know she knows If I don't do this it will bother me forever. “I’m going to get out,” I say... “Just give me a moment” We both sit there in silence for about a minute until my mom finally says, “You know you're going to regret not getting out of this car and joining the team… It may seem scary, but you will get comfortable eventually, and you even have your friend Karli playing as well!” I do agree with what my mom is saying, and I am happy that I have a friend by my side… So I finally built up the courage and got out of the car… I’m standing on the concrete with my green field hockey bag over my shoulder and a water bottle in my hand. I’m nervously waving by to my mom instantly regretting getting out of the car, but there's no turning back now... As I’m walking down to the field I stare down at the ground too nervous to look up… Once I get down there I meet with the coach and then sit on the bench waiting for their instructions. I’m sitting with my friend Karli and some other girls in our grade… My nervousness is calming down and I’m enjoying my time with everyone! We ended up doing a timed lap around the field and I had the fastest time… I started to feel confident and was happy I got out of the car! Joining this team changed my life, I’m so glad I got out of that car… I don’t think I would have made it though my four years of high school without them. We all had such a strong bond, especially my junior year, that was one of the best seasons. I was known as the goofball on the team, I loved making everyone laugh. I also had lots of breakaways and scored a hat trick against our rival team… I was a pretty good player If I do say so myself! Anyways… Even if you are too nervous to do something, or don’t think you can do it… Just do it! You don't want to miss out on great opportunities and fun things life can give to you... Don't let your Think, think, thinking get to you... Writing Process Round Table
Hello there, back again with blog post number four… For this week's post I had to read four articles that discussed the writing process. With these four articles I have to create a scene where I talk about writing with writers Don Murray, Anne Lammontt, and Mary Karr. I also have to use three quotes from each of the articles, and figure out a scene for where this conversation will take place. I actually have a great idea for that too, so put on your imagination cap, I want you to really picture this scene… Using all six of your senses, yes there's a sixth scene, look it up if you don't believe me. Anyways, picture this… you're in a house that's in the middle of the forest, it's the only house out there and it's made of all glass. There are a bunch of tall pine trees surrounding the house, as well as a giant lake that has an old wooden dock. The pine trees are all damp from the rain that's been coming down since the morning, and if you were to go outside you would feel a cool mist and smell the scent of wet wood. The writers and I are all cozy in the house sitting in some lounge chairs that are put in a circle around a small wooden table. There's a fire lit as well, while we talk about the writing process, sipping our hot drinks, staring out at the beautiful forest… Yeah so this was where I would picture myself having a conversation with these authors. It’s a whole vibe honestly and I wish I was there right now. I'm always daydreaming… In one of my daydreams Don Murray, Ann Lammontt, and Mary Karr came to chat. They wanted to discuss the writing process with me. I was very confused as to why they were in my daydream, but I decided to just go with it… Don Murray was talking about how “..he has no patience with those who claimed to be struggling with writer's block.” As I sit there and listen to what Don’s saying I can't help but want to argue against him. Once Don finishes what he’s saying I chime in and ask him why he has no patience for people who are struggling to think of something to write. I mean.. it's not their fault they're having a brain fart? Don proceeds to say that, “ The job of the writer is to embrace a standard that allows writing to happen; It requires self-acceptance and willingness to suspend judgment, to see where the process is leading.” Ann Lammontt added to what Don said by talking about her father and how he would, “wake up at 5:30, go to his study, write for a couple hours, then make breakfast.” Ann says that there is always something to write down, you just have to put your mind to work. I thought about what they said for a minute or two, and I mean… they are kind of right. There is always something to write down, but when you're given an assignment that has a specific topic or concept, you can't really just write whatever please, and that can cause you to have an author's block. As I sip my Hot drink, which is hot apple cider… What a great drink. Mary Karr decides to chime in and speak her opinion about writing. She turns her chair from looking out the window and starts to talk about how, “Every writer she knows, who’s worth a damn, spends way more time losing then winning.” Before I even think about what Mary means when she says that, I go right ahead and say “well why do you think that?” Mary says that, “success doesn't just happen after typing one draft and publishing it, the best work is always revised multiple times.” I began to think of the multiple drafts that I went back and had to revise because of multiple errors with my writing. If I were not to go back and revise them, the writing wouldn't be as good as it could be. Mary states a few examples of good writers' works that could have been horrible,“ Look at Yeats’s chopped-up fixes in facsimile form, or Ezra Pound’s swashbuckling edits of Eliot's Waste Land. Without radical overhaul, those works might have sunk like stones.” Yeah your right about that says Ann, It’s always good to go back and edit your work because it’s easy to skip over a mistake. “I love being a writer though.” “You wanna know why Erin?” “Yeah, why do you love being a writer?” I love being a writer because, “It gives you the excuse to do things, go places, and explore!” “Writing motivates you to look closely at life, at life as it lurches by and tramps around.” Writing truly is an amazing thing. Yeah, writings kind of like photography. Photography gives me the excuse to get out there and explore the world and find great photo opportunities. Exactly, “Writing taught my father to pay attention; my father in turn taught other people to pay attention and then to write down their thoughts and observations.” says Ann. So writing can also teach you a lot of things. According to what my father thinks, I agree with him. “I've asked so many authors for advice and heard three truths from every mouth.” Says Mary. Ann your father seems to be speaking some truth about writing. I like the way he thinks. While you guys are talking about inspirational stuff, I’m thinking about, “ My fascination with the tools writers use, the right pen, the right-size notebook, and the right word processing program.” I find all this stuff quite interesting, what about you Erin. Yeah, I guess it can be interesting… I mean It’s not something I would think about all the time, but if it interests you, stick with it! Alright guys… That was a fun get together. Now why don't we pour ourselves some wine and call it a night. |
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