When Tim asked us to talk about what we wanted to do with our capstones, I just about fell out of my chair. Capstone?! I'm trying to survive four months in Dublin, damnit! But, turns out, I have some ideas. So here they are, my friends, let me know what you think.
1) Character
There are people you meet in your life that you will never forget. You may speak to them for twenty minutes, run into them on the bus, or spend years of your life with them. I’m talking about the people that you talk about and say, “That person is a fuckin’ character.”
I have a list of names of “characters.” What I want to do it dedicate a semester to writing a collection of pieces about these people and what makes them a “character”. This book would not only display my own talent in writing, but also illustrate how to develop character in writing.
2) Two Schools—One Project
I have always wanted to be a teacher. But, I don’t want to teach 9th grade English classes. I don’t even want to teach now that I think about it. I want to inspire. I want to intrigue young people to write.
I have learned at Champlain College that work-shopping pieces with a class and having a bunch of editing eyes is the best thing for ones writing. I want to make this happen for high school students.
My plan is this: Pair creative writing classes from separate high schools to do a semester long work-shopping extravaganza. I want my high school, Burr and Burton, and a high school in Burlington to become a team and help each other edit.
If this were to be a success, it could spread across the country. I can only imagine how the editing eyes of a California student would see the work of a Vermont student. They would be able to identify what needs more description to the extreme.
Jim and Tim have both been telling us, you will find your best editors rarely and in the weirdest places. This could be a perfect opportunity for high school students to find editors before they even get to college.
3) My Dream Boat
I love the school project, but I would love to do something with my own writing.
So, here it goes. My Dad died when I was seven. I spent my whole life without a male figure to take care of me, to tell me I was beautiful when I went to prom for the first time, to tell me, “You’re boyfriend was a piece of shit, anyways. You will find a real man, someday.”
I had to tell myself all that.
But, I found the man my life has been missing. For three years, my admiration developed from a friend point of view to a lover point of view. I have written about this man constantly since I met him. I have developed a sense of “the man in my life” in our relationship and it has been a huge turning point for me.
I never had a man in my life; I now have a man in my life.
This collection of work (poetry, short stories, articles from the paper) would display my work as a writer as well as who I have become as a person.
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I like all of your ideas and as much as I would love to read all about your dream boat, I've got to shout: Character! Character! Character! I want to hear about all these characters that you've met. That's your Capstone, I think. I know you, Emma Devine, and I can only imagine what sorts of crazy folks you've met in your lifetime. The only question I have is: why haven't you done this earlier?
ReplyDeleteI am so ridiculously in favor of your first idea. I read that and almost didn't want to read the rest of your ideas, because it's so perfect. I'm sitting here asking myself why I never thought to write those stories! I think this could be phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteEmma <3
ReplyDeleteGO FOR NUMBER THREE!
As long as I've known you this has been something you have been interested in. It's been boiling over and it's ready time to serve it to the world! You have this amazing passion and I really believe it would be an inspiration and a beautiful piece of work.
Do it!
<3
Emily
I miss you so much!! Especially your smile. :)
I'm going to put my hand up for the school-to-school idea. Like everyone else, I love the other ideas, and it's hard to choose just one, but I've been hearing about this idea for a long time now. I've always thought it was brilliant. I would love to read about all the characters you've met along the way (and no matter which one you choose, I feel like you might end up writing these stories anyway, just by nature of being a writer), and you've put together some beautiful writing about your Love. But when it comes down to it, you could really make something with Capstone Choice Two. You could really affect a lot of kids, maybe even teach some of them that writing isn't as bad as they've come to believe it is. And I LOVE the idea of it going cross-country.
ReplyDeleteEmma, well, love, I think you write beautifully in all areas. I especially love your poetry because you read with such passion, and even when I am reading silently, I can hear your voice. It's wonderful. I am in favor of the last, because I know how you feel about "piece of shit" boyfriends and finding that man in your life. You've found yours and I've found mine. I would very much enjoy reading about him.
ReplyDeleteI am also going to tell you to go for number one. I am eager to see how you develop these characters because I know they would be a joy to read about.
Hey Miss Devine! How's-a-Dublin treatin-a-you? I felt like Super Mario at the moment...
ReplyDeleteI really like the first idea. While you may have met some fascinating characters/people in Dublin, the first person to come in my mind was Professor Zale here at Champlain. If you've had him, you might understand...if not, that's OK too. I would love to read the pieces you have because for myself personally, I feel some characters I create a defined and quite strong while others are bland and...well bland says a lot.
I also enjoy the third idea because of the personal level. This idea has caused me to reflect on my life a bit, and that's why I like this idea. Things that are personal and performed at the personal level really reach out and touch others.
I would go with the first and third ideas. The second idea is nice, but I feel that there are too many work shopping sessions. The first two are creative in their own right. Well...the first and third almost intertwine together because they're both based on character.
I'm not sure you have to deny yourself any of these. You could easily do #2 as your internship project, for example, and then do #1 or #3 as your capstone project. As for the workability of #1 and #3, I'd say you certainly have the interest and the desire to do either, but at the moment I'm having difficulty seeing the outcome. Either of them might end up feeling a little fragmentary and unsatisfying. I'm not saying they're bad ideas, I'm suggesting you take your thinking one step farther and ask yourself, "Now what exactly do I want to do with those pieces of writing? What do I want to make?"
ReplyDeleteLove,
ReplyDeleteA book you may want to consider reading is "The Book of Voices" by Patricia Smith. It's a book of slam poetry, and since I know you dig the poetry scene, as I do, so I think it'd be a good book for you to look at. Or visit the website http://www.witsendpoetry.com/, because after writing such things, what are you going to do with them?