Rache Writes

For this week's storylab, I watched two Ted Talk videos about creative life. First, I watched A New Theory of Human Intelligence by Scott Barry Kaufman . He covered twice-exceptional children, which are students have exemplary strengths while dealing with considerable challenges. He particularly focuses on students diagnosed with learning disorders and what they're actually capable of versus their perceived capabilities. He says we need to leave more room for children to surprise us. He also points out the problems with putting academic success first, especially as a prerequisite to determine whether or not a student is allowed to pursue other interests. His definition of intelligence is the dynamic interplay of engagement and ability in pursuit of personal goals. He wants to change how we value potential versus achievement, especially when it comes to IQ and SAT scores. He tells his personal story about how he was rejected from gifted programs and schools based on these ...

For this week's Story Lab, I read chapter two from EmpoWord. Here are some loose notes I took over it: Rather than telling a story purely linearly, including each detail, you should limit your scope to make sure you keep your reader engaged Make sure the details all reflect the bigger picture and that you keep in mind what you're representing You can start your story in medias , or in the middle of the action, rather than spending time on exposition I don't have any notes on the POV portion except that I'm very excited to see Dear White People used as an example The one note I do have is that stream-of-consciousness is listed as a POV, which I think is interesting and it'd be fun to write a story from that perspective. Covered some good points about dialogue and how mediums change the limits of the story you can tell ( A Netflix poster for Dear White People )

For this week's StoryLab, I decided to explore Jon Winokur's Advice to Writers site. Below is a list of some of the advice that stuck out to me: "I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are at their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?" - Toni Morrison "A character should explore the world and herself. And I'm only following her. I ask a lot of questions. A character gets up in the morning and looks at herself in the mirror. What does she see? Herself or someone else? When you put characters into these moments that are extremely private, they will show you something." - Yiyun Li "I had a teacher who would say, 'Keep it on the body.' For him that meant every sensation should stay tied to the corporeal experience, ...

For this week's StoryLab, I decided to explore the TVTropes website. It had a lot of interesting plot and character tropes that I liked, and below I've listed a few that I could see myself incorporating into either my storybook or into the weekly story retellings. Favorite tropes: -From beyond the fourth wall: help comes from outside the work that affects the plot in a very definite way -Pyrrhic villainy: when the villain wins, but suffers as a result of that win -Divine race lift: showing a deity with a standard appearance in a form people don't expect to see it in -While Rome burns: When everyone is panicking about a major crisis except for one person, who is going about their business as usual (Nero playing his lyre and singing as Rome burned, which is where the "while Rome burns" trope comes from. Source .)

I decided to watch the Crash Course videos on Mythology for this week's StoryLab. I really like how the first video starts by defining myths as story rather than truth, even though they may also be true. I also like thinking about what makes a story significant and have lasting power, whether it be about the story's moral lesson or the story's explanatory power. It's interesting to know that the correlation between myths and lying began all the way back with Plato, for some reason I figured that interpretation would've happened later. I was also surprised that mythology lived in practice wasn't studied until anthropology gained prominence in the 20th century. The monomyth was also really helpful to dissect. Seeing how most hero myths have so much structural similarity will help organize my own thoughts when I'm writing. (Crash course logo. Source .)