For our final project I have teamed up with two other girls in our class to develop a short story using a different approach the authors we have read haven’t used. Our idea is to create a short story using the snowball effect. First, I will write two paragraphs starting off our short story of cli-fi. Next I will send those two paragraphs to the next girl and she will continue to write off of what I have started to plot out. We will continue this snowball affect in hopes of creating a strong cli-fi short story that has many different elements to it. The strong characteristic we have on our side is the element of surprise. It’s challenging enough writing a story, but to write one based off of someone’s previous plot is more challenging. The reason I want to blog about this is because I’m too excited to not share this idea with other people. It’s important that I can get feedback on my idea but also share it to excite others on how creative you can be with this opportunity Stephen has given us for our final project.
When crafting my first part of the short story I have been plotting out my characters and whom I want to introduce given the first opportunity to develop the main character. My idea was to start off with an accident, which leads to a young girl ending up in a coma. Then after 10 years of being in a coma her once present now past has changed and she wakes up in a new world. One where climate change has changed people and the gap between rich and poor has been opened wide. My thought process through this opening idea was for you as a reader to be able to experience alongside the main character what this new world looks like. So yourself and the main character are learning and understanding for the first time what this new world has become.
The best part about being able to write the opening paragraphs is that I get to set the mood, pick which tone I want the story to be written in, and decide what kind of main character I want to have. The problems with writing the first paragraph is also doing all those things because what I think might be a strong idea could be the next person brain fart on what to write next. I want to leave things open ended so my fellow partners have a lot of room to create and be creative themselves.
I believe this story will end up becoming a great success for our class to enjoy and read. It’s empowering being able to create your own story but even more empowering when you are letting other people create it alongside you.
I am so excited to see what perspectives we each come up with (since I am one of the two girls that are in this final project with Matti)! Our main goal is to show how unpredictable the future is and how different each of our ideas of the future are. Last week, our class split into small groups to discuss what we wrote in our journals for the topic, “What will 2075 look like?” I was taken aback when my group shared and we all had painted completely different pictures of what the next 60 years will look like. This project is going to piece together three different futures that each of us imagine.
This sounds like a really cool project. I wonder though how much “tone setting” the opening paragraphs will genuinely have for the story. While its true some short stories keep the same main character or tone throughout, a lot of “twist” stories come quickly to mind (even “the Tamarisk Hunter” is a bit twisty at the end!). Whose to say your collaborators won’t kill off the character(s), or introduce some new plot element that will alter the cli-fi’s tone? I think what is particularly interesting part of doing this kind of project for all of you will be to track your own desire to “pick up” or “disrupt” the parts of the story that come before your own contributions. To some degree, I’d think you’ll all naturally want to be a bit distinct, and besides, being distinct in style or voice might be a part of the point when it comes to multi-authored works (why bother if all the contributors sound the same?), but on the other hand there may come a time when too much disruption and difference in the story will make the narrative come unravelled for your readers. Good luck!
Wow! I’m actually really excited to see how your final project turns out! I really like how you guys are going to use the method of a snowball effect for writing your story, and I think it’ll be fun to see how everyone’s individual imaginations come together as one in the end. I think your idea to start the story off with the girl waking up from being in a coma is genius! Being able to have the reader experience this “new world” at the same time as the character will ultimately give your story a whole other level of entertainment. I’m actually kind of jealous because I wish I would’ve thought of this idea for myself! Great job 🙂
This is a really unique and interesting way to write about climate change. It is different from everything we have read in class and could create some new perspectives. I like how the character will start off not knowing what happened and I am looking forward to hearing the final story!