I meant to be on time. I really did! But I got the newspaper just as I was leaving and the suicide of that prison guard looked so interesting! I just had to read it, and I lost my way to Seaverns as I was lost in thought. How did he end up with a gun? I ended up in Roberts. That place looks like a jail. It’s better than CT, though. The building is progressive and modern, but it houses the math and science classes. Why can’t it be for English? I hate how people say poetry and writing are things of the past, or that print journalism is going out of style. It’s not fair to make people feel invalidated based on their area of interest. What about people who can't do math? This whole place is just like Buddy. They race ahead in their shiny buildings with math and science but leave poor old literature in the dust like some pathetic grandmother!
When I did get to the planning meeting, My editor did get mad at me, but it wasn’t as bad as when I didn’t meet the deadline for my article last week. I hate having writer’s block - it makes me want to die. The problem is that I’m writing about other people! I need to feel something - to experience it in order to write about it. If I ever want to become an adventure writer (I can see it now - the Adventures of Elaine), I need to go to the edge and back - escape from the clutches of death. My editor is talking at me now, so I’m going to smile and nod, pretend I understand whats going on. I really think I should quit journalism… I started as a way to improve my shorthand but clearly that’s not happening. I think I’m going to switch over to creative writing… The problem with that is that I really do want to get my work published and as both a fictional writer and journalist. Seeing my name on a byline is incredible enough, how amazing would it be for the name Esther Greenwood to be plastered across 24 million books all over the United States? And it wouldn't just be the United States, because I would translate my work into different languages so everyone can read it.
When I did get to the planning meeting, My editor did get mad at me, but it wasn’t as bad as when I didn’t meet the deadline for my article last week. I hate having writer’s block - it makes me want to die. The problem is that I’m writing about other people! I need to feel something - to experience it in order to write about it. If I ever want to become an adventure writer (I can see it now - the Adventures of Elaine), I need to go to the edge and back - escape from the clutches of death. My editor is talking at me now, so I’m going to smile and nod, pretend I understand whats going on. I really think I should quit journalism… I started as a way to improve my shorthand but clearly that’s not happening. I think I’m going to switch over to creative writing… The problem with that is that I really do want to get my work published and as both a fictional writer and journalist. Seeing my name on a byline is incredible enough, how amazing would it be for the name Esther Greenwood to be plastered across 24 million books all over the United States? And it wouldn't just be the United States, because I would translate my work into different languages so everyone can read it.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the way you highlighted Esther's morbid curiosity at the very beginning of your blog, as that as quite fitting for the character. The inquisitive nature within itself is a very fitting characteristic for Esther, which you brought out by acknowledging her questions about life, or narrower topics, such as people's interests. I like that you added the internal conflict between her and the editor, as well as which writing style she wishes to choose, since Esther doesn't always know what she really wants. The final direction, in which you took this blog post, was ultimately a softer situation, acknowledging her aspirations. Unlike you, I chose to make Esther more of a nagging character, but I believe we both managed to highlight her internal conflict.
ReplyDeleteHi Apara,
ReplyDeleteAlong with Rob, I like your opening lines as Esther is fascinated by the suicide in the news. You make plenty of great allusions to details from the novel (Buddy, her fear of writer's block, her beliefs about reading and writing). You really depict her character well. What more can you show about KO, though? Would Esther fit in during a KO News meeting? What would she be interested in writing a story about for the issue?