Ali Driggers Capstone

    My capstone is a collection of stories that I have created. There are many types of stories in here, a lot of them are very action packed. Some of them don’t have those action themes though. These are stories that I have written both recently and in the past. The process for writing these stories was very deep. I would think for a very long time about the perfect characters and the perfect stories to write. I would sit down brainstorming, and then I would try to come up with something entertaining. After coming up with the story, I would look it over, and then I’d get it peer edited. When it came to my old stories, I had to do some really careful thinking when it came to which old ones I would add to the collecting. This capstone made me a better writer, and taught me how to really make my stories better crafted. So I made sure that I put my all into every story, and made sure that my collection would be one of value. And the final product is the story being posted on an online website.

Excerpt from one of the stories

    Today is the day that I fight a man known as The Destroyer. He is known to break bones and spill blood. I think he’s pussy even though he seems tough. I want to beat the shit out of this little fucker. When I arrive to the parking lot in that Range Rover, there is a crowd in a circle. The Destroyer is there ready to fight. I walk over to him, and give him the death stare.

     “I will crush you and eat you for breakfast. Do you know who you're facing?”, said The Destroyer.

     “I see a wet pussy waiting to get fucked”, is what I said back to him. The crowed cheered. That’s when he punched me.

      “How about now? Am I still a pussy?”, said The Destroyer. Someone in the crowd throws a steel pipe into the circle. I pick it up and start hitting him in the head as hard as I can. His face is super bloody. I then pick him to the ground, and stomp on his throat. He starts spraying blood out of his mouth like a goddamn water hose. I drag this little cocksucker to the wall, and bash his fucking brains in. After that, I hear a ton of cheers. I won the fight, and my name was being chanted. I smile, and then I go backstage. It is a hall where people are celebrating. They are drinking, smoking weed and popping pills, and some of them are getting blowjobs. This is the environment I’m around since I hang around the savages. But, I gave up drugs for my kid. I used to do all sorts of drugs, and I cheated on my wife constantly, but my son changed that. So when some woman offers to smash, I ask her to go fuck one of my friends instead. I decide to drink a beer, but only one beer. Venbro, one of my close friends, decided to come over. He’s dressed like a pimp.

      “Hey Broko, you was really whoopin ass out there bro!”, is what he said after taking a hit of his blunt

      “Yeah, I put it all out there. There pussies ain’t got shit on me.”, is what I said.

      “They don’t, but do you ever think it will be time to retire?”, is what Broko asked. That question took me back a little.

        “What the fuck do you ask? I love this shit bro!”, is what I said

        “Yeah, but does your son know what you do? Does he know you hang around criminals and drugs users, and does he know that you could die any moment in this job?”, is what Broko said to me. He did have a point. My son does not know about the shit I do daily, or how I have all this money. He doesn't know that I’ve killed people, that my friends are psychopaths.

        “I want him to be able to look up to his dad. I don’t want his teachers to look at me in disgust, but I love fighting. I just love to throw hands”. We continued to discuss this, and I am considering retirement soon.

Bibliography

Popova, Maria. "The Psychology of What Makes a Great Story." Brain Pickings. N.p., 06 June 2016. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/01/20/jerome-bruner-actual-minds-possible-worlds-storytelling/>.

    This source is reliable due to the insight it gives on storytelling. It gives a bunch of detail about what it takes to make a good story. I really feel that it can help me with story telling, because I’m not doing something that requires actual research, but advice on how to write is very good. The give some keys to writing good stories. It takes advice from actual authors, and it puts them in the article. It is very legitimate for what it’s purpose is, and that is how to write a story and make it good. I think that this source will increase the quality of my stories.

"What makes a good story?" American Press Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/makes-good-story/>.

   This one is about journalism, and not fiction. I thought that it would be useless at first, but then I saw things that could potentially help me. It has a section about interesting topics. They describe the value of topics, which is very good for me. Interesting topics are needed for a good piece of fiction, so it still has things that I can learn about. Journalists still have to write interesting things, even though they may be nonfiction. They still have to catch the reader’s interest and put out quality material. This source can also help me for if I want to right a realistic story, so this will heavily aid me.

Jerz. "Short Story Tips: 10 Ways to Improve Your Creative Writing." Jerzs Literacy Weblog. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017. <http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/shortstory/>.

     I love how this one has strong writing strategies. It gives advice that a writer should use, like how it tells you to keep a notebook. You can tell that it is legitimate because of the edu at the end. It is very professional, and it gives knowledge to the writer. I can use them to help create stronger characters. It gives 9 story elements to consider so that you can have a good plot. It is very descriptive and helpful, and it has so much knowledge from a writer’s standpoint. It also has 9 entire sections full of advice for how to write.

"What is Plot - How to Write a Story from Beginning to End." Creative Writing Courses and Ideas: An Online Resource for Writers. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <http://www.creative-writing-now.com/what-is-plot.html>.

     This may not be as reliable as the ones with edu, but it still has some jewels. It talks about cliches to avoid and how to be interesting. It’s clear that this author has experience with what he is doing, as he tries to really break everything down. He gets into what a plot specifically is an how to make one, which is very helpful. The concept of conflict is touched upon, which is something that all good stories need. To have that touches upon will help me come up with juicy situations for the stories. I never knew that happiness can be overrated for stories, and this source taught me that. That’s why it will be useful.

Kitley, Brian. "Fiction and creative writing exercises by Brian Kiteley, how to write fiction, finding fiction." Mysite.du.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017. <http://mysite.du.edu/~bkiteley/exercises.html>.

       This website is made by an educated professional who knows what she is doing, and she has came up with some exercises that can really help me put out a good product. They do things that are known to be good. She lays it all put, and really puts out some good exercises about what you can do to make a good story. This will give me some really good help that will really make the project go so much better. I can really use this so that my stories actually have a nice natural improvement to them, and a great quality.

"Character Development." Ohio.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.ohio.edu/people/hartleyg/ref/fiction/character2.html>

  It has a really nice section about how to create characters, as many other sources do. You can never get enough advice when it comes to that. This is for how to right a play, but many of the same rules probably apply for short stories as well. Many plays and movies are based off of novels, so I really think having that voice will be very helpful for me to make a great product. They also talk about ways to let the audience know how a character is. The section is called Direct vs Indirect characterization, which was very insightful.

Bradbury, Ray. Zen in the art of writing. Santa Barbara, CA: Joshua Odell Editions, 1990. Print.

This is a book about being a writer and it gives advice about writing and what specifically inspires this particular. I like how the author describes his favorite authors, and talked about the fact that writing made both them, and himself, happy. This author seems to have quite a lot of knowledge to give about the topic of writing. He also described how real life events and emotions can really help out the process of making a story. I like how he advises to come up with a character similar to one’s self. The advice and jewels in the book are fascinating, and I think that they would be very helpful.

Lamott, Anne. Bird by bird: some instructions on writing and life. New York: Anchor , 1995. Print.

    This is a very popular book from a very famous author. This book will let me know what it really is like to be an author. Not only that, they talk about first drafts and their importance, and that is good for me as an author. I want to make my stories perfect, and knowing how to make a first draft and improve it is very important for me to understand as a a writer. They also have a whole section about letting somebody read that draft. I like the advice that is in this book, and I think it can help me grow as a writer.

Strunk, William, and E. B. White. The elements of style. New York: Macmillan, 1979. Print.

    This book has quite a lot of advice for a writer. This book talks about how to use language and make sentences. It is very specific and really focuses on wanting one to make very good sentences. I recognize that as a writer, I need good sentence structure and dialogue. This is why I feel that this will be a very helpful source for me. They give advice such as not splitting sentences into 2. I feel that this book will be very helpful to me when I write my storybook collection. Because of the multiple sections and the detail and information given, I think that this would be a wonderful source.

Zinsser, William. On writing well: an informal guide to writing nonfiction. New York: Harper and Row, 1980. Print.

  This is a very popular book about being a writer and an author, and it is very long. By looking at the titles of the chapters, you can tell hat you are in for a lot of knowledge. It talks about how even though a lot of story is very driven by the author’s emotions, the author still has to sit down and reflect on how to make a good piece of literature. There is a lot that goes into writing, and the book tries to show that. There is also advice in the book on how simple you should keep the story and sentences, which will also be helpful. This source will most likely enhance my writing skills.