Introduction
The goal for my second experiment to write a fictional short story about a teenage girl who finds herself at odds with the strict religious values of her family. Specifically, the story will include her experience trying to hide her first boyfriend, a young man called Teddy, from her father, who does not want her to date until much later in life. I am hoping to put a more modern spin on the “but Daddy, I love him!” type of story.
The song from my playlist that inspired this piece is the song “RANT” by Bo Burnham. In the song, Bo’s analyzes his experiences in church and looks at them from a satirical perspective. However, I do not want this piece to be a criticism of Catholicism itself or to isolate those of a particular religion. Rather, I want this piece to be an honest portrayal of the way religious institutions exist in modern society, and how the influence of popular culture can sometimes outweigh traditional values we want to hold in high regard.
I drew inspiration for this idea from my experience playing sports for a Catholic school as a preteen. Although I did not attend the school during the day, I had many teammates who attended, and what I found is that many, but not all, students were either not Catholic. Likewise, possibly because we were young, these students at the school treated congregational events unseriously, and more like social gatherings than opportunities for worship. My plan is to have a character who relates to the world in a similar way. In a time where the influence of religious institutions seem to be waning, I want to show how the meaning of faith has changed over time.
Genre Research
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The conventions of the short story are genre involve narrowing the lens in terms of plot, and the author should zero in on a specific moment or small conflict, rather than jump into full-fledged worldbuilding Specifically, the short story should have a limited number of characters, and especially a limited description of settings, even though the setting itself is essential to the story’s meaning (“Analysing the Short Story”). Moreover, short stories should provide concrete details of the events, rather than abstractions or big points. There are additional genre conventions that are common for the short story, such as beginning “in media res”, or in the middle of things (“Analysing the Short Story”). Short stories are most often between 1,000 and 20,000 words (Chopin).
I also found sub-genres within the short story genre, such as “Fables and animal tales,” “Folktales and fairy tales,” “Ghost stories,” “Horror stories,” and so on (“Short Story Genres”). The subgenre that I think would fit my piece best is the Modern “slice of life” story, which is defined by its focus on characterization and a “snapshot of a character in conflict” (“Short Story Genres”). Some examples of this subgenre include ‘The Horse Dealer’s Daughter’ by D.H. Lawrence, and ‘The Garden Party’ by Katherine Mansfield (“Short Story Genres”).
Works Cited
“Analysing the Short Story.” Quia, https://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/ewattsvp/Short_Story_Conventions
Chopin, Kate. “All About the Short Story.” All About The Short Story, americanliterature.com/all-about-the-short-story.
“Short Story Genres.” Education Bureau. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, https://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/resource-support/net/handout%201.9-%20short%20story%20genres.pdf. PDF Download.
Sample - Exposition
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My father always told me boys were up to no good, but hearing Teddy talk about Orion’s belt and Capricorns and Leos and Virgos for hours on end, I knew that wasn’t true. Actually, my father would probably put some negative spin on something as innocent as talking about the stars--he would call it “cursed augury” or something like that.
When the two of us were little, we used to play Red Butt together on the blacktop at school. I was ruthless in Red Butt, because I liked to win, and whenever someone ran forward to touch the wall, you could bet I chucked that tennis ball as hard as I could. But whenever it was my turn to run, and Teddy had the tennis ball, he never chucked it at me. He would pretend to be clumsy and drop it, or pretend he had terrible aim and throw it near the garbage cans. It’s sweet in retrospect, although I’ve never seen anyone get hurt from a tennis ball. You just don’t fear someone like Teddy.
Eight years later, and my father believes that having boys over will turn me wicked. I suppose that’s fair--after all, I used to get pretty mad at my girl friends when they got goo-goo eyes over some boy, because they got ridiculous and snappy. And I believe my father is a very good man. He serves his community. He goes to church. He reads the Bible before bed, pays his taxes, and helps people who needs help. He has this wonderful way of turning tragic things into beautiful things. But he also has a way of seeing making every beautiful thing into something evil. Teddy and I never do anything much besides hold hands and talk, and neither of us are really keen to do much more. But it wouldn’t matter. But we were already, as my father puts it, “playing cards with the devil”.
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Reflection
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I truly enjoyed working on this experiment, because I am foremost a huge fan of fiction, and on top of that, I have had this idea in my mind for a couple of months. However, the main obstacle I found in trying to write a short story is narrowing the storytelling lens; in other words, I struggled to figure out how to make a story through just one scene. I was surprised at how much more difficult writing a holistic short story was, compared to writing a chapter in a novel (although I have not written a novel, it feels easier to think of just one “scene” in my mind if I know that there will be many other scenes to help expand on it).
Likewise, many of my favorite short stories, such as “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, often take place in just one setting. I tried many times to make the sketch and sample include a story that happened in just one location, such as a church or a family dinner. However, I eventually scrapped both my sketch and sample, because the story didn’t feel finished enough. I eventually decided that I would jump between locations in the story, as well as including less concrete details and more stream-of-consciousness storytelling. However, I believe this change may require that my short story be on the longer side.