Sabriel is another text which was influential to my story writing. Garth Nix entranced me with his storytelling and showed me exactly what an engaging fantasy story is made of. This was an immense stimulus in my writing style for Who was she? with both genres being fantasy, and a mutual target audience of young adult. The monsters within Garth Nix’s work have a very unusual style; he utilises the undead without creating zombies and describes them in a way I had not seen before and have not seen since. “It took shape as it moved, becoming a large, disgustingly elongated sort of rat,” is a strong example of Garth Nix’s style of monsters. “Its black snout had been split, and its mouth had been torn away, exposing its vile, gnashing teeth”, from my short story Who was she?, engineers a convincing illustration of a creature within a fantasy setting, thus showing the influence Garth Nix’s monsters has had on the creation of my own monsters.
My work within the English Extension 1 course has influenced my writing and helped me to shape my short story into the piece you read today. In particular the Common Module: Literary Worlds was of a great service in the creation of Who was she?. During my time immersed in Literary Worlds, I read a variety of texts that enlightened me in terms of the complexity of characters. I also saw through reading the opening of Moby Dick and Brave New World, for example, that context is essential as it is a filter through which we understand a text. Hence our ways of thinking are shaped by the personal, social, historical and cultural contexts and I was aware of this when developing the foundations of my own narrative. Jess’s personal story came about by writing down my mission and turning this vague hope into language. Through reading exerts from other canonical texts, I was able to evaluate the way in which others used identity, voice and point of view to shape their world in which they invite the reader into. Jess’s world and identity came about through reflecting on the fantasy world that I wanted to create and found a place as I began to experiment with a range of techniques that I observed from other people’s writing. “It felt… untrained, like a dog pulling at its leash, desperately trying to break loose,” is an example of this from Who was she?. Jess’s voice unfolds through the five-part structure that I developed in order to let the audience experience her fantastical world.
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After feeling out the vague setting of my story and establishing the specific subgenre of low fantasy, I was able to begin creating a well rounded, yet complex, lead character. The characters in stories embody our writing. Sometimes they even speak for us, carrying much of the burden of plot, theme, mood, idea, and emotion. But they do not exist until we describe them on the page. Until we anchor them with words, they drift, bodiless and ethereal. Therefore, it was important that I began by filling out a character sheet that allowed me to question explicit details revolving around Jess, such as her internal voice and how she might react to a crisis. “What was it the figure had said? Breathe?” is an exemplar instance when both of these details came into effect. Although some of her characteristics did not end up unfolding through my narrative, it did allow me, as a writer, to completely understand Jess’s attributes, her strengths and weaknesses and as such helped in the creation of the plot as I knew precisely what Jess was thinking and feeling throughout all stages of my drafting process.
emonstrates this conflict. Furthermore, Jess learns to control her powers and becomes increasingly aware of how they worked. This thematic element that is interwoven in my story, is a reflection on how young adults become aware of their own body and mind, and how they come to control their emotions. For many young adults, the teenage years are filled with uncontrollable emotions and burdens, much like Jess’s power at the beginning of her journey, and they must learn how best to find their individual strengths. Jess is an extremely relatable character for the target audience of Who was she? due to her struggle to understand who she is as a young person and thus I have made a protagonist who many of my readers will be able to relate to. This, incidentally, was why I chose the title Who was she?. The title metaphorically refers to two questions on Jess’s mind; who is her mother and who she is herself; what makes her unique.
Ultimately throughout this writing process, I have come to understand exactly what Kate Grenville said in her text, The Writing Book, that “it doesn’t matter where you start: the only thing that matters is where you finish.” I have immersed myself in many fantasy novels, becoming a reader to be a writer, and experimented with my writing in many avenues as part of this project and, as such, I feel pleased with the final product. I have invited the reader into my literary world that is shaped with magic and fraught with struggles and obstacles to overcome. I have taken Jess into an impossible world and encouraged the reader because the fantasy genre enables us to explore new worlds, create new species and follow rules that do not exist in this universe. And it is for these reasons, that Who was she? is successful.
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