Skip to main content

Writing a short story

So, recently I started looking into Jack the Ripper. (Don't ask me why, it's a weird story.) I found out potential suspects and the one I think did it is named Joseph Barnet. Barnet was "active" during the late 1800's, and targeted prostitutes in London because he disagreed with "their choice of life". So you know--he killed them. (Allegedly!) He was roommates with the last Jack the Ripper victim; Mary Kelly. Rumor has it that Barnet was in love with Kelly, and wanted her off the streets. He earned money so that should wouldn't have to do the dirty, but he lost the job after a while so she was forced to go back to being a prostitute. They had fights over money, and ten days before Kelly was killed, Barnet left her. Coincidence? I think not!

Now, as I questioned my life while researching this, I thought maybe I could write a historical fiction short story about Jack the Ripper! I could have someone kill him! So I made up a story in which Kelly's friend, our unknown narrator, witnessed her murder and was too shocked to try and stop it. She decided to go after Barnet herself after she told the police what she saw but they didn't listen. She followed his movements, figured out where she could kill him and got him to follow her at an abandoned flat complex where she planned to kill him!

You're on the edge of your seat, I can tell.

Now, as exciting as this sounds, I didn't know how to put all this into words. I felt like Dwight Schrute from The Office while writing the story because it seemed so far-fetched to me. But it was for a grade so I couldn't stop. After two weeks of working on this short story, I came up with something kind of OK. But my god--writing stories is hard! I've always respected good authors but now my respect has grown! I think this was a good experience for me because a lot of my future students will want to write short stories in my class if I give them the option (which I will) and having this experience can help me help them! I can try to help them out of writer's block, or help them scatter the clues of their story. Though my experience is limited, I can help! Woo! Let's hope I get more experience in writing short stories in the future because quite honestly it was kind of fun.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My (really awful) Poem About Advocating For Students

I'm really bad at writing poems, especially if they are supposed to convey a deeper meaning. What I want to bring across is how I want to be a positive role model in kid's lives and get them excited to come to class. I want to make my class fun, and have really fun discussions about texts as well as learn how to write your own texts! (Essays, poems, short stories, etc.) I remember sitting in class, dreading every minute of it. Why am I supposed to be interested in a subject that bores me to tears? "You'll use this in real life" my math teachers always said. I think they forgot that calculators exist. But with literature class, I always looked forward to it. I liked discussing opinions and having fun, Our teacher knew how to make the class enjoyable. Our class environment was really friendly and supportive, Which is something I hope to bring in my future classroom. Like I said, my poetry skills are not the best. This is the best I could come up with in ...
2 comments
Read more

Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down

A place where I struggle with writing is putting my research into words. Sometimes, I get stuck on how I should phrase things so that they flow with the rest of the essay and it's not so choppy. But it takes some time for me to get there. After a few people have edited my work, I can figure out where those mistakes are, but I would like to know how to fix those mistakes myself. I also have a hard time with introductions and conclusions in essays. How do I introduce a topic, and how do I conclude it without making it sound all awkward? In terms of creative writing; I don't know how to engage a reader in a story I'm writing. I've always been really bad a writing short stories because I don't really know how to keep my readers interested. You'd think I would know by now--I read books all the time! I can see how the author is keeping me interested, but I can't do that in my own stories. But maybe I got this opinion a long time ago, and haven't tried to wri...
1 comment
Read more

What Is The Use Of Poetry

I have never been good at poetry. Never. I can appreciate poetry because it's something deep and layered and has hidden meanings in it, but I can never write it. I guess I gave up trying after a few times. But then I went to Get Lit and I have to say, it was really great! To see so many poets sharing their poetry and in a way sharing a part of themselves was so inspiring to see! I got to see my friends share their poetry, I got to see the people listening to the poetry respond to it in a way that was inclusive and accepting. The whole environment of Get Lit was so great, I want to experience that again. That being said, I think poetry exists to let readers see a tiny part of a story. May that story be a person or an event. Poems have layers in them in which you get to make up your own rules. I love Emily Dickenson's poetry because of that--she doesn't conform to any rules, she makes her own rules! This shows the rebellious side of Dickenson that I have fallen in love with...
2 comments
Read more