Fiction Commons^™

From The Shadows: Setting As An Expression Of Character Development In The Epic Fantasy Genre, Leah Henson

Senior Honors Theses

Epic fantasy is a genre defined by its setting. It offers writers the opportunity to be incredibly specific with the way setting contributes to the overall story, specifically as an aid character development. In order to successfully use setting to support character development, the writer must understand what preconceptions with which the reader enters the epic fantasy genre and what purpose setting plays in the overarching story world. The writer must determine what setting elements to include and, just as importantly, which to leave out. Finally, because setting is such an abstract component of writing, it is useful not only …

Introductory Workshops In Creative Writing: Writing Prompt Phase 2 - Relearning The Craft, Noelle M. Nagales

Open Educational Resources

For this assignment, you will be required to do two things. One: visit a specific place of your choice. It can be anywhere, on own your free time (either on the train, at a museum, a restaurant, at the movies with your friends, or even at your local cafe). There, you will jot down on a sheet of paper (NOT on your phone) a bullet point list of all the things you hear or see (conversations and observations). The point is to not have your phone in hand and to be completely observant of your surroundings. Two: then …

Introductory Workshops In Creative Writing: Writing Prompt Phase 1 - Understanding The Self, Noelle Marie Nagales

Open Educational Resources

What is this idea of “self?” How do we define it or more specifically how do we represent ourselves (as the writer) on page and to what extent can we make our own voice visible? Anyone can write a story, but where do you as the author exist within your own work?

For this assignment, you will be required to write a memoir (a personal narrative) or a short piece of fiction that depicts some aspect of yourself or an attribute of it, present within your own life. You can either focus on a specific moment of time, place, person, …

Become What You Are: The Student Handbook To Fighting Nihilism, Jules Shinkle 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

The Work Of The World, Mark C. Joslin

The Hilltop Review

No abstract provided.

The Perfect Bubble, Elizabeth Orwig

The Hilltop Review

No abstract provided.

The Cast Of A Giant's Shadow, Angela Kay Steineman

Masters Theses

Adapting fairy tales and folklore has been an ongoing endeavor by storytellers and artists since the very first story was repeated. The evidence can be seen in the many versions of fairy tales like those of the sleeping beauty, from Giambattista Basile’s “Sun, Moon, and Talia” to Walt Disney’s Maleficent. However, unlike their European counterparts, adaptations of American tales outside of children’s literature are not as ubiquitous. My writing rectifies this by adding to the resurging interest as seen in recent retellings like Matt Bell’s Appleseed: The Monstrous Birth (2019).

In an effort to reframe the American tall tale …

Mistaken Murder And Written Womanhood: The Evolution Of Evelina Edwards In Late Eighteenth-Century And Early Nineteenth-Century Bath, England, Amanda Mell

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the major themes and literary influences of Jane Austen’s novels through the voice of Evelina Edwards, a fictional girl born in Bath, England in 1784. Over the course of nine years, Evelina reconstructs her social world in a series of diary entries and letters, mirroring the anxieties and concerns of real women during the Regency era. Her writing juxtaposes the novel of manners with mystery, both satirizing trivial concerns and confronting emotional trauma in response to death and social isolation. Class hierarchy and gender roles placed heavy restrictions on women’s freedom, forcing them to carefully calibrate the …

We Will Plant Birds Of Paradise, Genevieve A. Rheams

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Dungeons And Drafting, Talitha Greaver, Paige Doland

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Nicole Sumida And Alex Yu Interview, Laraib Malik

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Nicole Sumida is a co-founder and co-publisher of Riksha Magazine, an online magazine featuring creative work by and about Asian Americans. Alex Yu is a co-publisher of Riksha and both have been involved in community arts organizing since the 1990s in Chicago.

“Riksha provides a space for capturing the Asian American experience through compelling writing, commentary, and artistic expression. We curate an online magazine that presents poetry, fiction, non-fiction, fine arts, and video and audio pieces. We also comment on and curate the bric-a-brac and ephemera of Asian American life.”

Mary Grace Bertulfo Interview, Serena Offord

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: Mary Grace Bertulfo lives and writes at the intersection of nature, culture, and spirituality. She has written professionally for television and children’s education in such venues as CBS, Pearson Education Asia, and Schlessinger and for conservation magazines such as Sierra and Chicago Wilderness. Her award-winning fiction has appeared in Growing Up Filipino II, Our Own Voice, and The Oak Parker and her essays have appeared in various anthologies. She is a co-owner of Calypso Moon Studio, a working arts studio, in the Oak Park Arts District. Mary Grace is a member of the international N.V.M. and Narita …

The First Rule Of Improv, John M. Gilder

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The First Rule of Improv is a collection of fictional short stories concerned with loss, life’s unfairness, the weight of the past, and how people succeed or fail in coping. Each story explores these notions through its characters, who vary wildly in terms of both dramatic severity and success in the face of adversity, with the first rule of improv—to accept and build—being suggested by the author as the healthiest manner of approach, if not necessarily the easiest.

Things That Happened, Christian Chase

Senior Theses

This creative writing thesis contains a collection of short stories by Christian Chase.

• A Whole Lot of Nothing
• Grand Artistic Vision
• Architecture
• Hanging Around
• Silent Life
• A Special Dread
• Snowbound

Painting A Biblical Worldview In Children, Brook Blackwell

Senior Honors Theses

Children are impressionable beings shaped by the changing world around them; this has become increasingly more true as the years progress and the impact and prevalence of media rises. Television shows, movies, music and books, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can play a tremendous part in the growth of children’s worldviews. It is important for authors and artists to delve deep into the impact of media on the growth and development of children in today’s media-rich world. In doing so, they should hope to find the best way to implement a Christian worldview into the media a child …

The Molloy Student Literary Magazine Volume 16, Damian Hey Ph.D., Meghan Bevan, Kathryn O'Brien, Kelly Farragher, Erica Brienza, Natalie Pecoraro, Kristina Scheid, Mary Corbett, James Branker

The Molloy Student Literary Magazine

The Molloy Student Literary Magazine, sponsored by Molloy College’s Office of Student Affairs, is devoted to publishing the best previously unpublished works of prose, poetry, drama, literary review, criticism, and other literary genres, that the Molloy student community has to offer. The journal welcomes submissions, for possible publication, from currently enrolled Molloy students at all levels. All submitted work will undergo a review process initiated by the Managing Editor prior to a decision being made regarding publication of said work. Given sufficient content, The Molloy Student Literary Magazine is published twice annually in Spring and Fall.

Dandelion Wishes: Short Stories, Lucy E. Marcus

English & Creative Writing Students Scholarship and Creative Work

Lucy Marcus was Roanoke's Writer by Bus in 2019. This is a collection of short stories inspired by her bus rides.

Gone To Ground, Brian Blair

Theses

Gone to Ground is a collection of short stories that explores the possibilities beyond the edge of the everyday. They are an attempt to peek beyond the imaginary boundaries we erect for ourselves in the name of danger or the unknown. Each story is an opportunity to see our own familiar humanity in others, no matter the accidents of fortune that separate us. Though the stories in Gone to Ground often touch the surreal or the magical, they are firmly rooted in what could be out there, on the other side of our walls, whether real or imagined. These are …

Blazing Worlds, Bethany Kinney

Master's Theses

Blazing Worlds is a collection of short stories exploring themes of understanding, isolation, the world of work, and identity. These stories follow characters who are searching for connections to others, to their environments, to their work, and to themselves. The protagonists of these stories inhabit worlds that are slightly adjacent to reality, worlds cast into a near future, and worlds that operate by the logic of the campy and the fantastic. Through heightened technology, body horror, or blurred metaphysical boundaries, the residents of these blazing worlds pursue knowledge of their place in life and fight to establish and maintain their …

Editor’S Note, Trent Hergenrader

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

One of the primary goals of the field of creative writing studies is to examine creative writing lore. Lore is anecdotal knowledge, often passed down through generations as informal advice and traditional knowledge that is often framed as appealing to our common sense. Lore is not necessarily wrong or bad; indeed, it usually has more than a grain of truth to it, which is why it survives and continues to be shared, like a folk remedy for the common cold.

Thirteen Unlikely Stories, Joseph Gray

Dissertations

Thirteen Unlikely Stories is a collection of fiction composed and revised at the

University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers.

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 …

Faculty Book Launch Celebrates Works Of Plath, Theune, Vi Kakaras, '20

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Et Cetera, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

The Damsel Can Rescue Herself: Subverting Common Literary Tropes Of The Fantasy Genre, Melissa N. Hurlburt

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis consists of a fantasy novella. A character-driven work, it focuses on internal conflicts rather than the external conflicts and grand, sweeping plotlines that are typical of fantasy novels. Taye is an aerial performer with the king’s circus troupe, Corracha. She is also the vigilante Saorsa, a figure who fights against the injustices the king of Monadh inflicts upon the kingdom’s immigrants. A young woman haunted by her past and struggling to make something of herself in a male-dominated society, she must confront her inner demons when she is injured during a performance. She relies on her best friend …

Life Sucks: Classifying Transgressive Fiction, Jena Christianson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the genre of transgressive fiction and locates my own creative work within this genre. Los Angeles Times writer Michael Silverblatt popularized the term transgressive fiction in 1993 and associates authors such as Dennis Cooper, Kathy Acker, Roland Barthes, Bret Easton Ellis, Michel Foucault, William Gass, Jean Genet, and William Burroughs with the genre; however, the definition of transgressive fiction remains elusive. Therefore, in my first chapter, I analyze three transgressive novels—Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, and Tony Tullamuthe’s Private Citizens. My second chapter consists of selections from my creative work, a transgressive novel …

Loose Light, Logan Lane

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My honors project is a 9,600-word collection of two short stories. The first story, Loose Light, is a character-driven narrative about an astronomer who has spent his life chasing an outer space phenomenon he saw as a graduate student and what he does when he rediscovers the phenomenon. The second story, Lost Light, is another character-driven narrative about a young man who, after an automobile accident, begins losing his memories. Both stories examine the perspective of the lost, the obsessed, the isolated, and the angry. In the accompanying self-analysis, I explore how my time as a reporter for The University …

Commonthought (2017), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Sentinel, Bailey Merlin

Graduate Thesis Collection

Devastated by the mysterious death of her guardians, Elizabeth Davenport finds herself thrust into a new world that proves to be scintillating and dangerous. Can she trust those who claim to be her friends? Or will her trust lead her into trouble? When a mysterious letter presents itself and proves that her guardians might have been more than they ever let on, Elizabeth must gather her courage and pursue the truth, whatever the cost.

Arizhio: Tales Of Glorious Manifest Destiny, Clinton Craig

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a book of short stories with a critical introduction. In theme, the stories seek to find the border between the Midwest and the Southwest of America by focusing on Ohio and Arizona. Some of the stories seek to exemplify “experimental” fiction, while the critical introduction seeks to define “experimental.” In addition, the introduction theorizes about the role of setting in linking collections and characterization.