Friday, September 11, 2015

Bus Assignment



One of the "problems" I encountered was showcasing the diversity the passengers on the bus. I could not figure out how to show the reader the diversity aspect of the story then I realized that the lack of diversity on this bus would be the subtle theme in the story. Certain buses/neighborhoods are home to specific demographics in the city and that is what I tried to portray in my story.
What worked for me, surprisingly, was not writing in the first person narrative even though I had the option to. I have not written a story that was not written in first person in a long time and when the story started to come naturally, I was surprised at myself. What also worked for me was breaking down the process of writing the story into specific parts. For example, for the entire duration of the bus ride I would constantly type notes on my phone of my observations. I tried to get as specific as possible or write key words that I knew I would remember later on when I would piece the story together. Later when I sent my notes to my email, I began to elaborate on the original notes that I had written on the bus. Once these notes were individual paragraphs of observations and descriptions, I attempted to write transitions for them or weave together the story so that it read like it was supposed to.