Story Lab week 15: Six Word Stories/ Microfiction

     

Henry Mills, The New Author

Henry Mills sat in his room thinking over how he had just become the Author, keeper, and teller of all stories. He couldn't believe it. Of course, he came from a fairy-tale family, but he never thought he would have any magical abilities or anything. He trembled a bit as he felt the weight of the responsibility. He then wondered how he could use his newfound power for good. He thought and then was reminded of all the reformed fairy tale villains. Henry smiled softly to himself. He picked up his magic quill and ink and got to work writing.  

 

Henry's story book. (Source: Fandom Wiki )

  Once Upon a Time: Beginning and Ending

It begins and ends with hope. 

A/N: So this is my last post of the semester! I've been wanting to do a microfiction and six-word story post since I did the story lab option for it and I thought it would be a good way to wrap everything up. Also, since I am a fan of Once Upon a Time and twisted tales, I thought I would base it off of that. I don't know if I am technically allowed to do this, but I am hoping it's allowed. If you haven't seen the show you should totally go watch it! I really liked doing this activity because it made me really think about what I wanted to write. It really made me dig deep and think about it. I've always been one to use a lot of words, so this post has helped me see I can be more concise about my writing and still come across with lots of meaning. 

 

Week 12 Lab: Six-Word Memoirs

 Six-Word Memoirs

Blank card, ready for a new story. (Pixabay)

So, for this week's story lab, I read up on NPR's website about six-word memoirs. I really liked this concept. I have seen it on social media a lot, but have never tried it myself. I think it makes story-telling even more meaningful. You only have six words, to sum up everything you are feeling or thinking. This makes the six words you string together much more valuable than the normal-sized novel or story you would write to explain a whole scenario or concept. The most intriguing ones for me were ones that tried to sum up their whole life's experience. I think it really resonated with me and how I want to be in my writing. I want it to be valuable and mean something. I think I would like to do a microfiction of my favorite fictional characters and do a six-word story or memoir for each of them. I think it would be very entertaining and will definitely be something I will be looking forward to doing for this class. This activity will help me to become a better, more creative, and concise writer in my opinion. I am looking forward to the challenge of starting to write microfictions like the six-word story.  

Crash Course Mythology Videos Thoughts

     

Crash Course Mythology Notes

    This week instead of writing a story, I chose to do the story lab option of watching the Crash Course mythology videos and writing about my thoughts. I enjoyed looking at the different schools of thought and the focus on Joseph Campbell's hero monomyth. When studying the background of mythology it's interesting to see how all of the stories have so much in common. I like how the guy in the video used the Australian version of the Pleiades to show how even though all the hero myths may not follow each step of the monomyth, they do follow the general pattern. It also interests me how mythology can be connected in many different ways to other topics. I like how they call mythology a "Slurpee of Knowledge" because of how so many things are addressed in it. The way the guy in the video brings the roots of psychology into it is good too. Looking and studying myths and folklore this way can give a whole new perspective on what these stories do for the cultures they are apart of. 

    The video on the hero monomyth has definitely given me ideas on how to start my storybook and how to make it flow better. Since I'm doing a King Arthur story, he is perfect for the monomyth. I also like the school of thought from Carl Jung and collectiveness. I think that since I am pulling in other knights to fight alongside Arthur, that the idea of collectiveness will fit in very well and help bring the story cohesiveness. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the three videos. I will definitely be watching more of them in my own free time. 

A picture of Wonder Woman, because why not? (source: Pixabay )

Sources for videos: Crash Course Mythology