Metacognition: Short Stories

We finally finished our first full draft of our short stories. I'm pleasantly surprised with my ending. At first, I was completely dreading having to end my story. Similarly to my poem, I liked my beginning best and felt that it grew weaker and weaker as it continued. To my pleasant surprise, I think I found a good ending for my story! When Mr. Allen was talking about how our brain had been brewing our ending for a while; even if we were unaware of it, I must admit, I was pretty skeptical. I thought there was no way an ending would just come to me. I had about two or three predictable endings in mind, but as I was writing I hit an entirely new one!

Although I'm sure my story is far from perfect, it was exciting feeling like I succeeded, especially because I had been doubting myself for so long. I thought that, because everyone was stressing over endings, mine would be mediocre and dull. Even if it turns out to be pretty subpar, I personally like what I've done. However, I'm still happy to change it, continue the process, and see where things go.

Not only was my ending a surprise, but so was the middle, action-filled part of my story. For me, the easiest and most enjoyable part of writing is vivid descriptions. I found establishing my character at the beginning was a ton of fun for me and I got to play around with her personality and surroundings. However, I became frustrated with the section in which I needed to put pressure on my character. I didn't know how to make the situation sound genuine without losing the attention of the reader.

The middle, pressure point in my story has served as the most difficult obstacle. I don't think it's anywhere near done, but it is improving. When I read my story aloud I actually begin to feel the tension--which I think is a good sign.

I've always prided myself on being the type of person who thinks for themselves and doesn't follow the crowd. However, when it came to writing this short story, that's not how it happened. The negativity and anxiety of some of my peers towards writing an ending rubbed off on me and made me feel unsure of myself. This process has once again shown me that I'm not like everyone else and shouldn't let the views and perceptions of other people change me. If I didn't listen to my classmates complaints I likely would have had less trouble writing an ending and would have therefore been capable of contributing more time to working on my middle.

However, there is no benefit in speculation now. I have learned from this process and hopefully will carry these ideas forward and improve for the next experience like this whether it be through writing or any other process I undergo with my peers.