Intro to fiction covered my aesthetic expression pillar. I mostly took it since I’ve never been able to take a class that only focused on my own stories and writing before, and it sounded fun. It was even better when I found out how the class was going to operate. I had never taken a workshop class before, but it was a really fulfilling and fun time.
We started out reading and analyzing some short stories, but that was over quickly and we got into the writing portion of the class. Everyone would write their own short stories with individual due dates, and then we’d hand them out to the class. The class would then discuss it in a workshop and everyone would give you a feedback letter analyzing your story. It was perhaps the most casual and laid back class I’ve ever taken.
Not only was it fun writing whatever stories I wanted with few limitations, but it was also very insightful getting to read so many stories by so many other authors. You got to see their techniques and see how much you differed or corresponded, what ideas others had that you may have never even considered, and obtain a great understanding of all the others in the class. The feedback I got was invaluable and i ended up taking the advanced fiction class in the spring, and I feel my writing skills have improved drastically since then.
Below is linked the short story I am most proud of, titled “Assembling Our Pieces.” It was the first one I wrote in this class, and it was the one I chose for the final revision. I’ve written many stories throughout my time in these fiction classes, however this is the one that resonates with me the most.