Research

The most recent thing i’ve read is Hazel Smith’s ‘Creative Writing and New Media’. Although it’s not a story or novel, I believe it still has elements from Aristotle’s list. I’d say this piece of text has thought, it has a theme of creative writing and the new media combined. I believe it also has elements of diction as it portrays the expression of meaning.

Exercise 1

Toy Story is one of my favourite childhood movies that used to watch over and over so I have chosen this to apply The Hero’s Journey to it.

We are introduced to the ordinary world where Woody and the other toys come alive when Andy isn’t around. Woody is Andy’s favourite toy and the “leader” to the others. The toys then receives a call to adventure when Buzz Lightyear is brought into the picture and Woody gets jealous as he thinks Buzz will become the new favourite. Woody’s refusal of the call is he feels replaced and “accidentally” pushes Buzz out the window. There is no meeting with the mentor however, Little Bo Peep tells him to not let Buzz get to him. Woody has to face crossing the first threshold when him and Buzz have to work together to get back to Andy.

They are faced with tests, allies and enemies when they lose Andy, come across alien toys then are captured by Sid and Scud, the dog. Their approach to the inmost cave is when Sid takes Woody and Buzz to his bedroom. The ordeal is Sid torturing Woody and Buzz but in order to escape Sid and his dog, they had to gain each others trust to get the reward of escaping.

Woody and Buzz chase after the removal lorry on the road back to Andy’s house. They soon realise their resurrection is they have a true friendship and return with the elixir back home safe as new friends.

Exercise 2

Character archetypes:

• Hero – J in Men in Black
• Mentor – Hagrid in Harry Potter
• Ally – Robin in Batman
• Herald – R2D2 from Star Wars
• Trickster – Dobby from Harry Potter
• Shapeshifter – Gollum from Lord of the Rings
• Guardian – The Doorknob in Alice in Wonderland
• Shadow – Voldemort from Harry Potter

If language as a sign system is based on arbitrariness of this kind then it follows that language isn’t a reflection of the world and of experience but a system that stands quite separate from it.

Barry, 1995, p.42

Textual Revolution

It all began with oral storytelling around 10,000 years ago. The arrival of the written word meant that a story could now continue to exist even if there was no one left to tell it. The first textual revolt happened in the fifteenth century with the invention of the printing press. The tradition of shared oral storytelling began to decline as private reading became more accessible.

Exercise 1

What happens to a story when you take it from its source, make it permanent in print and disseminate it to a wider audience?

There are positives and negatives when you do this with a story. It could become more accessible to a wide variety of people and the story becomes well known. However, it could have negatives such as once the story has been published, it’s out of their hands and anyone could use and abuse it. It’s no longer just the artists piece of work, it’s everyone to read and enjoy.

Write a list of implications arising from the printing press. For example, think about who has control/authority over the text, the meaning of the text and the relationship between the source of the text and its recipient.

• copyright issues – who owns the work once its been made permanent
• educations resources – the printing press can distribute learning resources for educational purposes

I’ve struggled with this section as i’m very new to the creative writing side of things.

Research

Consider the implications of the digital revolution for creative writing.

• it can be productive to mediate between page and screen pg.103
• the screen replaces the page which makes creative writing more visually exciting
• algorithmic constraints
• D.Howe and J.Cayley’s “the Readers Project” – algorithmically selecting words from prior text to generate new text, its evolving itself.

Exercise 2

Last 24 hours:

I was asked to write a list of everything i’ve heard, seen, written or read and when it comes down to it, you don’t realise how many things you pick up in a day and its very hard to note down everything.

• ‘cant walk around fire and expect not to sweat’ from a song i heard
• written in my gratitude journal
• been told my little sister in law nearly strangled my pup by accident
• listened to radio 1
• read emails and text messages

Information is soaked up into our brains every minute of the day when we look at our phones or the tv or listen to the radio. It’s how you decide to take and use this information. Personally, I feel that something only sticks in my head when I’m really interested in it.

I would only consider certain things to be art such as the lyrics to a song or writing in my journal. I wouldn’t say the other things could be considered as art because these are things you do everyday.