There were two main points that stood out to me for this week’s reading:
(1) I enjoyed reading Red Sky in the Morning where the crisis occurs early. (I believe the “crisis” moment is where the narrator sees the older woman and younger man kissing each other.) Personally, I can’t exactly put my finger on what I liked about this short piece but the story resonates within me and it’s something that I’ll remember in the future. However, I felt like the part where she states, “Because everyone…” and ends with “remember, remember,” was very confusing. I even went back to read just to make sure Burroway wasn’t inserting some technique on writing without me noticing. The author seemed to be engaging in the idea writing through this memory of the older woman. She focuses on the specific phrase “I could tell you stories.” Perhaps she felt like her life was so boring compared to this old woman who was loved by such a gorgeous young man.
(2) What does it mean to develop and revise something? I knew about revising but never heard much about development. This is exactly what I needed to read because I’ve been apprehensive about developing my writing. I’ve always thought that once I write something, there’s just revision. This is what I’ve known for a very long time. However, Burroway has suggested something to me that I want to begin practicing which is developing previous writing. I have just started to realize that things do not just come to writers, they insert words here and embellish there to come up with spectacular writing. This definitely encourages me in my efforts of creative writing.
Abby, the question about development is a great one. You know, part of it is that sometimes, you start with a small piece -- let's say, one of the weekly writing assignments. Then, you decide you want to keep working on it, and you take it from a two-page story to a five-page story. Then, let's say, you think there's still more you can do -- so you take it to a 10-page story. That is development, the fleshing out, the explaining. And oftentimes, you will want to develop things more and NEED to develop things more for them to be significant and relevant and understandable. I also like the Hampl story -- it's actually the beginning of a book of essays in which she does tell stories, so in a way, the "I could tell you stories" is a beginning and not an ending (although you wouldn't know that!).
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