Creative Writing Commons^™

Call And Response : Experiments In Storytelling, Deanne Fernandes

Masters Theses

Being part of RISD's inaugural Masters of Illustration cohort has been an immense honor. This journey has been nothing short of transformative and healing, as it has allowed me to unearth layers of self-discovery through my creative practice.

In my thesis, I introduce a fresh research methodology rooted in the principles of call and response, with adaptability, creativity, and storytelling as its foundational pillars. Through the lenses of visual storytelling, experimental animation, graphic journalism, and fictional world-building, I demonstrate how these techniques can effectively bridge the gap between theory and practice. This dynamic approach fosters meaningful connections among diverse perspectives …

Friends In Fiction: Bonding With Fictional Characters Introduced Through Fictional Narrative Positively Affects And Interplays With The Psychology And Social Behaviors Of Adults To Influence Engagement, Vishnupriya Alavala

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

Just as people can form relationships with each other, they can befriend and interact with characters. As broadening media outlets continue to introduce fictional characters, it is vital to understand the effects relationships with characters, referred to as parasocial phenomena, have on individuals. In turn, this will offer a new perspective on the effects of engaging with fiction. Bonding with fictional characters introduced through television or print narratives affects and interplays with the psychology and social behaviors of adults. Most studies support the positive effects of parasocial phenomena in terms of personality, mindset, and social skills. Other studies state that …

The Healing Power Of Creative Storytelling: Utilizing Fiction As A Means Of Therapy In The Writer/Reader Relationship, Alicia Rose Klepper

Masters Theses

What if we wrote the challenging portions of our lives as comedies or the boring parts as grand adventures? What if we recast painful experiences into creative stories that allow us to live in proximity to our circumstances and not be overwhelmed? Storytelling is how we bridge our lives with creativity as a way to heal from the past, process the present, and hope for the future. This thesis explores how the tradition of creative storytelling has evolved to enable writers and readers to uncover and connect elements of life that would otherwise be too painful to process. By bridging …

Woman Flytrap, Brianna Jo Hobson

Student Theses and Dissertations

Woman FlyTrap is a short story zine collection that explores the topic of sexual violence through the perpetrator and victim relationship with an explicit lens. Replete with cultural and entomological themes and motifs, Woman Flytrap seeks to remind survivors that we are not alone. In our bodies or in our lives. Neither in the world. There are over a million insects to every human, proving that there is strength in numbers. All five stories in the collection present different abstracts: revenge, transformation, justice, healing, body image, self-harm, mourning, etc. There is also a playlist and a section about the author. …

Coup De Grâce, Violet Rea Mass

Senior Projects Spring 2023

This project, composed of an introduction and a fiction piece, explores the complex power dynamics at play on the university stage put into perspective of the Human Rights study. The fiction follows young Olive as arrives for her first term at a university in a secluded valley where she must come to terms with a darkness greater than she had ever imagined.

Invisible Ailments: A Collection, Jane L. Godiner

Honors Projects

"Invisible Ailments" is a collection of short stories that trace the depth, breath, and sweeping range of lived experiences of people struggling with mental illness. While it is a work of fiction, the people in these stories might feel eerily familiar — to your friends, your family members, your loved ones, or, if you're brave enough to admit it, yourself.

Hal : A Romance, Janna Urschel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Hal: A Romance is a multimodal work composed of short stories, meditations, poetry, photography, and essays that together explore the great love affair of Sodium and Chloride that gives us salt. This is an ethical project concerned with expanding the voice and representation of actantcies beyond the human in the craft of writing and in the public imagination. The project intends to be a praxis that plays through a flat ontological orientation, including various strains of New Materialism and Object-Oriented-Ontology, some of the ideas from which are addressed directly in the section “Loving: A Primer.” Individually and collectively, the pieces …

A Mile And More: A Novella And A Reflection On Body-Swapping, De'avion Reid

Undergraduate Theses

The story takes place in a quiet town and follows two high school juniors, Jerome-Tyler Hodges and McKenna McKinley. Having no prior affiliation with one another, Jerome and McKenna find themselves caught in the predicament of having switched bodies after an unforeseen comet crashes on the roof of their high school. Not wanting to attract the wrong kind of attention, the two decide to weather the storm and spend some time in each other’s shoes, in hopes of the issue resolving itself. Despite living in the same town and going to the same school, Jerome and McKenna have lived different …

The Secret History: The Statistics And Sociology Behind Fiction, Sam Wick

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Advised by Dr. Sara Vega, Sam used Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' as an entry point for exploration into the statistical accuracy of fiction. Using NHANES data from the 2017-18 survey cycle, Sam sought to investigate the real-world health outcomes of individuals from the same demographic as the protagonist, and analyze the trends that emerged.

The Inevitability Of Collision: Creating Empathy Through Fiction, Danielle Beckman

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

While the stigma for mental illnesses has greatly declined in the last decade, there is still a disconnect between individuals without neurological illnesses and those with neurological illnesses, especially those that cause individuals to lose contact with reality. The goal of this interdisciplinary paper is to create empathy for these individuals, specifically people with schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, and post-traumatic amnesia. Through a collection of four stories told from the perspective of these unreliable narrators, I used fiction writing techniques from the field of cognitive literary studies such as gapping and defamiliarization to create more empathy in the reader. In reading …

Children Of The Corn, Quetzali Lopez

First-Gen Voices: Creative and Critical Narratives on the First-Generation College Experience

“Child of the Corn” was a short script inspired by my family’s taqueria in Chicago. The story is intended to be a light comedy, but still addresses the issues of gentrification happening in cultural communities. Xiomara and her little brother, Abel, are working at their family’s restaurant when they discover a new yuppie taco joint has opened up across the street. While Abel is excited to scope out the competition, Xiomara is concerned about how can affect her family’s work.

Many Miles Away: A Cautionary Tale, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Reporter Kerry Phillips is in for the surprise of her life: her television station has been contacted on a matter so important that 'scarcely anything could be of greater interest,' and she has been asked to follow up on the story. Little does she know just how interesting her job is about to get!

Social Justice: A Catholic Autistic Perspective, Rebecca Schneider

Honors Projects

This is a collection of short stories about social injustices impacting the autistic community and how Catholic Social Teaching supports a more just approach. It is written from an autistic perspective and informed by the stories of people who are actually autistic. Each story is followed by an analysis that explains the choices made, which are backed by both research and the experiences of the autistic writer and the autistic community. This collection also includes information on how justice can be attained on the individual level by allies and on the institutional level by organizations.

Dark Magic Part 1, Rachel Quaid

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Dark Magic is a novel that mixes old folklore with fantasy and a splash of modern day. This first part of the novel readies the readers to enter the world of the old Irish Aos Sì. Ophelia is a witch, living in the land of the fae. She signs up to help with a research study to better her chances at succeeding as a healer. Rhea is a member of the Tuatha de Danann, the fae folk who rule the land from their courts of old. She is sent by her caretaker to observe this study. Everyone knows witches and …

A Troop, A Raft, A Bed, Hanna Jane Guendel

Senior Projects Spring 2020

A Troop, a Raft, a Bed tells the interwoven fictional stories of three major animals (the mountain gorilla, the Adélie penguin, and the American eel) and four transitional animals (the white stork, the humpback whale, the common octopus, and the great white shark). The stories are told from the animals' perspectives, and are written with language that considers each animal's unique intelligence, mind, and behavior. These stories seek to communicate how animals around the world may be experiencing the various effects of climate change and global warming.

The Veilmakers, Emily Nicole Giangiulio

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Joint Senior Project submitted to The Division of Languages and Literature and The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Bent Nose Row, Joe Maslanka

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A young man joins a boxing club and learns some hard lessons about the world.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Peep Show, Joe Maslanka

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

An Army veteran reaches out to protect the younger generation when a teen wanders into an adult video shop.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

"The Tyrant Father": Leslie Stephen And Masculine Influences On Virginia Woolf And Her Novel, To The Lighthouse, Anya Graubard

Honors Theses

This paper examines the volatile yet nurturing relationship between Virginia Woolf and her father, Leslie Stephen. It specifically considers the effects of three male “tyrants” in Woolf’s childhood, including not only her father but also her two half-brothers, who abused her sexually. Analysis of the dynamics of these relationships provides insight into Woolf’s lifelong battle with mental illness and helps us to understand the complicated relationships she had as an adult with men and women.

In her letters, diaries, and memoir essays, Woolf reveals how she drew from her own experiences of childhood to write her most famous novel, To …

Hurricane Training, Jerry Howard

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

A young university cadet faces a grueling training day and learns what he’s made of.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

For Wintonbury: An Expansion Of Narrative And Painting, Cassaundra Kayla Sanderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In March 2017, I began planning the narratives of what would become my Thesis Exhibition. One year later marked my installation of the exhibit: For Wintonbury, located at the Fine Art Center Gallery at the University of Arkansas.

A merging of the visual arts and literary fiction, For Wintonbury offers a more immersive experience in storytelling. The painted scenes, drawings, three-dimensional compositions, and short stories each serve their own purposes in presenting partial glimpses into the longer narratives of Wintonbury. Through multiple media and entry points, the viewer is given the choice in which sequence and manner to take in …

The Wolf Is Back By Robert Priest, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Review of Robert Priest's The Wolf is Back.

The Keepers: A Collaborative Constructive Narrative Podcast, Shay Carroll

Honors Projects

This is a fictional podcast series that presents a story that is completed through roleplaying. The structure follows that of a video game, with the main characters, or "players," interacting with a set plot while deciding their own course of action. I act as the narrator for the story, controlling the plot and setting as well as non-player characters, or "NPCs." For the purposes of consistency and making sure the characters do not do anything that would be considered too over-powered or unrealistic, I have chosen to use the rule guide and statistics modifier system presented by Wizards of the …

Packers, Beth Liechti

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

An army officer reminisces about her past love, her military career, and a great pair of cowboy boots.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

The Orpheus Of Incest, Book Review Of Nickels And Interview With The Author Christine Stark, Carolyn Gage

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Growing Pains: An Honors Thesis Of Creative Writing, Angelica L. Santiago Gonzalez

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Most of the creative writing included in this thesis are nonfiction pieces; there are only a few that can be classified as fiction. They all connect to my own growth and development as a writer, and also as an individual struggling to find and establish my own identity. In the last four years I tried to make sense of my life and my struggles, especially my personal history of trauma. I can confidently say that I am in a much better place than I was when I first started my adventure at LC. Writing has been an important part of …

Wait Until I'M Dead! A Novel Of Family Secrets By Elda Dawber, Cordelia Anderson

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

2016-The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of Spinifex Press, Kathleen Barry

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Ouachita To Host Andy Davidson In Fiction Reading Sept. 29, Brooke Zimny, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University’s Department of Language and Literature will host author Andy Davidson in a reading of his debut novel, In the Valley of the Sun, on Thursday, Sept. 29. The reading, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. in Hickingbotham Hall’s Young Auditorium on Ouachita’s campus.

Madison Vanguard: A Novel, Berni Moestafa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project takes the form of a popular fiction novel that introduces parts of the academic discussion on capitalism to a wider audience through storytelling. Using a fictional fiscal crisis in New York as its setting, the novel discusses the relationship between capitalism and democracy. It therefore aims to address the underrepresentation of the debate on capitalism in popular entertainment and raise awareness about some of the debate’s key issues.

Popular culture be that music, film, books, media, videogames or advertisement surround our lives and expose us to a plethora of messages that help shape our understanding of the …