Frankenstein

Got through the nearly 3-hour Frankenstein Rocketbook.  Whew.  But drawing up the outline for the pedagogy test was a snap.  I hope the story is on my list!

I managed to find two major literary characteristics without touching on either Gothic or Science Fiction literature.  I opted for Romanticism and Metanarration (narration that draws attention to itself, particularly Robert relaying Victor’s telling of the monster’s story) and the questions of reliability this brings about.

Anyway, next up is Beowulf.  Only an hour again this time, thank goodness.  I’ve got good assignments for this one, particularly the write-you-own-epic-poem assignment, one I actually did in high school.  Our string of limericks for Frosty versus the Sun was memorable.  (Frosty lost.)

In other writerly news (which is what this blog is supposed to be about, right?), my novel outline moved along well until recently.  I haven’t tried it much of late.  It has deliberate attempts to sit back and let the story progress instead of the short story technique of pushing the plot along as fast as the narrative can support.  It shouldn’t take more than an hour to finish the outline.

After that, I’ll move on to character sketching.  I have an urge to start writing again, but it’s still too soon.  Maybe I’ll write a few little backstory scenes to help get the feel for the characters, scenes that won’t go in the novel.  (I’ll sell them in the future when the novel is a huge commercial success.)  Prewriting is important.  I am still resisting the urge to skip it.  But I need to get moving if it’s going to be ready by mid-August.