Week 8 Reflections

As I read through my Reading Notes again as well as reviewing the instructions, I think my note-taking posts could use some work. I often get caught up in trying to remember the plot of the story and some of my notes simply seem like synopses, rather than ideas to write my own story. I always include pieces that I could see myself writing about and having fun changing, but I think I need to shift my focus so that those are the primary pieces of my notes. I can tell that I am trying to read like a writer by noticing small details and honing in on characters that I like, but I could definitely do it more. I have also found that I enjoy reading stories with many short tales and fables the most because I have an easier time adapting the story somehow when I don't have to trim length off as well. For future readings (that I will hopefully take better notes with), I am excited to read about specific Native American tribes, Celtic Tales, and Fairy Tales told by specific countries such as Italy or Russia. I am looking forward to these readings and hopefully unique stories to tell!

Looking back over my stories from the past semester, I am mostly satisfied with the works I have written. I can, of course, tell which stories I was less inspired by and which ones I had the most fun writing, though I am not certain what the readers can tell. I have had the most fun though when I try new styles such as the diary format or the script style, which are ways of writing that I do not usually use. Another challenge has been letting people read my writing- something I do not normally do- because I am usually embarrassed and shy about what I write. This class has allowed me to open up and be less fearful of people reading my pieces, which I appreciate. I am happy with my Storybook choice so far and I am excited for it to come to life when I write the stories to follow. I enjoy writing in the script format so I am glad I chose that, as well as a humorous topic, for my project. I have read through and outline which adventure I want each story to follow so I have a fairly good idea of how it will turn out and I am excited for my classmates to follow Don Quixote's journeys, especially since many are unfamiliar with him and some comments after reading wanted more details about him. The only part I am truly worried about is including images because I do not know how to create what I envision, but I am hoping it will be easier than I am anticipating.

I have enjoyed reading my classmate's stories so far this semester and I am often inspired by their creativity and unique approaches to stories that I never would have thought of! Sometimes, I am intimidated by reading them because I feel like my stories are far inferior, but it it still enjoyable and inspiring for me. The habits and tendencies I have noticed are primarily grammatical and spelling errors that make the story difficult to follow or even confusing. I think that is a result of hurrying and not taking the time to spellcheck and proofread, which is something I always try to do. I am never sure if I should give critiques about those elements in my feedback, so I have been giving substantial comments about the material and ideas itself as well as the presentation of the page. Perhaps I should talk about grammar errors, though.

Overall, as I am reflecting on the past two months in this class, I am pleased with the progress I have made as well as the stories and pieces I have written. I am really looking forward to my Storybook coming together and I can't wait until my blog is completely full of fun stories and posts!

(Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza)