Metacognition: Short Story - The Nothing Fellow (Short Story)

Since I could create little books with paper and crayons I have been experimenting with stories and the ways they come together. When writing a story longer than a page, no matter how planned the story become, there are still unexpected aspects... usually important ones. When I finished the Nothing Fellow, I was surprised (as always) at the differences wrought by my pen (or keyboard). The things not planned made the story better (I think). While I was writing my thoughts were not linear, I composed paragraphs for the end while I was writing the beginning, thoughts came about different parts while I was in the shower or sitting in class. When sitting down to write, I was all over the place. I am not sure if it was a good or bad thing, but it eventually all came together. It probably would have been easier to write the whole thing in a linear fashion, but that is not how my brain works, and I have to come to accept that. Writing is easiest when I am tired or distracted by a few other things, and now I think I know why. When I am writing, and am dedicating my brain fully to the task there are too many thoughts and tangents that fight for space, and its hard to keep up. If I am tired the action is slower and easier to follow, if I am distracted, there is just enough space left to let me work in peace. Its strange that I need to do these things to calm my thoughts, but I have found it works, and is necessary for my sanity. Too many thoughts on the same subject can be very painful. In the end, I hope I turned out a good story, and learned to manage any skills I may possess a little bit better. I hope to at least avoid future headaches.

Metacognition: Jane Eyre Assignment

During the past week Dylan and I had been writing and thinking about the Jane Eyre assignment almost every day. Working with a like-minded person on a thought-driven project is very enjoyable because you can build off each others ideas. Going into the project I was worried that making a dialogue would be difficult keeping all the other requirements in mind. I was surprised when we started writing that it was relatively easy. The conversation flowed, the ideas came quickly, and we even created characters (or applied their existing personality). The thoughts were very linear, one built off the previous ones. At the end there was very little to add because everything had fallen together during the process of writing it, straight through. It was a very effective use of time. Working through the whole thing only took a couple hours, and it was not a boring use of time because Dylan and I had an interesting discussion. Mostly we agreed, and I think we were both surprised at how easy the writing was. It was fun to try to make each character have a different voice, or a different role in the conversation, and to keep their separate beliefs in mind throughout the whole discussion. When we reached the end, there was still so much we felt we could continue with, which I think is a hallmark of an effective discussion. Our thoughts worked well together separately and working in tandem, no thinking strategies need to be devised... we used the most effective way of thinking for both of us.