Writing the personal narrative wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Granted, I've written stories about study abroad multiple times for other classes, but it was still easier than I expected. I knew the second I read what our first assignment would be that I'd be writing about Germany, so I didn't have to go through the decision process of picking a topic.
When I sat down to write it, I read through the essays and emails I wrote while I was abroad to remind myself of how I told people I felt at the time. I noted dozens of little things that were meaningful to me about Germany, but very few ended up in the piece.
As I wrote, I kept track of the word count, and ended up not going over at all. Another big surprise. Maybe because I've written through this so many times I didn't feel the need to put a lot of excess information in there.
I'm not sure if there is enough personal feeling in it. I don't think I ever got around to making a pitch to the reader so they could truly understand how I felt/feel. Let me know what you think. I also feel like I need to take a refresher course in English vocabulary. I haven't done a creative writing piece in English since I took Journalism 1, which was over two years ago.
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2 comments:
I am with you on the word count thing. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't go over, but was right on target. I'm also with you on the idea of 'personal feeling'. By thinking too much about what I was doing technically in the piece, I think I left out some of the personality. So, I'm really looking forward to workshopping with my group so I can get some good insight into how to reinject some personal feeling back into the piece. Some good thoughts!
What's important is not necessarily conveying "personal feeling" but inspiring that very emotional reaction in the reader. Don't describe how you felt; make the reader feel what you felt. You make that happen with the "show, don't tell" principle. Easier said than done, I know. But so worth the effort in the end. . . .
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