Writing

Hello Bloggie friends,


I am exploring nonfiction right now due to my nonfiction class. I have written two short stories (woot) so far. We are going to be writing at least one more, but it will be a long one 10-25 pages, its our big assignment that we will revise through out the semester. But I wanted to share the experience of writing in the genre, since it is something I have not done much of in my writing endeavors. So here are two beginnings to the exact same story. 
  
 This first one is in 3rd person omniscient: it is an imitation of Truman Capote's style from the book of In Cold Blood (If you have not read the book, I'd recommend it).

 My first paragraph:From -A Few Drinks More-

“A few Drinks”

The city of Casper booms in the windy depths of Wyoming, a far west area that other Wyomingites call “windy city.” The vast open space stretches for miles with oil rigs jutting out sporadically like metal teeter-totters, except on the South side where Casper Mountain takes its rocky blue shape. Coming into the city buildings are constructed with the robust enthusiasm of 1964 and awaiting the arrival of newcomers. Along the streets snow races to the ground, many of the white flakes taking detours with traffic or have been pinned one on top of the other over homes, cars, bikes, and fences. 

In this next one I had to take the same nonfiction piece and write it as if I were a character in it, from first person point of view:

 My first paragraph from- Lessons-

Lessons

My grandmother, Leona, always has fascinating stories from her life. I tucked myself into a chair beside her oval kitchen table set securely in the corner beside a blazing fireplace like an egg snug in its carton. She made us some hot tea to fight the chill from the wind.

“I’m going to tell you about our night with Santa Claus,” Leona snuggled into a chair in front of the fire. Excitement rose in my chest when I realized this was not going to be a piece of her past I’ve heard before. It was like I was ten years old waiting for her to tell me about her life. I took a sip of my tea, placed the recorder between us, and she began.

Its very interesting to see the way this same story took on different meanings depending on the way I wrote it. If you have not tried this before, I'd suggest doing it to play with it.

 Take a short story you have written in 3rd person and rewrite it like an interview

 Or take a first person story and rewrite it in 3rd person.