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Apr 3, 2024
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Brady 1
Nadia L Brady ENG 329
Prof. Matthew Masucci
10 March 2024
1-2 Journal: Genre vs. Literary Writing
I.
ORIGINAL: He awoke one night with a jerk: the stars were angrily bright in the hospital and someone in the room was breathing. There was a weight on his chest, and when he looked down,
he found the girl’s sleeping head. For a moment, he didn’t know who she was. By the time he identified her the feeling of unknowing had burrowed in. He would never know her, knowledge of another person was ungraspable, a cloud. He would never begin to hold another in his mind like an equation, pure and entire. He focused at the part of her thin hair, which in the darkness and closeness looked like inept black stitches in white wax. He stared at the part until the horror faded, until her smell, the bitterness of un-washed hair, the lavender soap she used on her face, rose to him and he put his nose against her warmth and inhaled her. At dawn, she woke. Her cheek was creased from the folds in his gown. She looked at him wildly and he laughed, and she rubbed the drool from the corner of her mouth and turned away as if disappointed. He married her because, during the night, to not marry her had ceased to be an option.
ROMANCE: Beside the moon, headlights weaved like serpents through the hospital window on the wall. His breath caught and he found himself disoriented, strangled by the weight of a head on his chest. For a moment, he had lost who she was. Panic rose in him- how could he know her,
truly? She lifted her head, and his gaze met hers parabolically. In that moment of silent understanding, he recognized a pattern emerging, the pieces filling in his patchwork equation. As
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the dawn painted the sky with hues of pink and gold, Jude welcomed her presence, her sharpness, resonating through the still space between them. He was enveloped in her eyes, taken by the beauty of asymmetry. And so, as the sun began to cast a golden glow over their intertwined hands, Jude knew with unwavering conviction that marrying her was the only solution that made sense. His missing variable had finally been found. II.
In focusing on Jude's connection to math within the context of his relationships, my choices are a deliberate move towards infusing elements of romance genre fiction style into the narrative.
By leaning into the correlation between Jude's mathematical mindset and his emotional journey, I
believe this emphasizes the author's original pursuit of creating a unique blend of intellectual depth and complexity of relationships that resonates with readers of the romance genre and the original Southern Gothic. Through Grossman's article, this approach can be justified by the notion that plot plays a crucial role in genre fiction, particularly in engaging readers and driving the narrative forward. Grossman highlights the plot's power in evoking readers' emotions and ideas, emphasizing that it can be a tool for creating both dramatic and nuanced storytelling experiences. By intertwining Jude's mathematical inclinations with the complexities of his relationships, the power of the plot in my rendition is leveraged to draw readers into the story, developing the narrative's appeal by creating a sense of depth and intrigue that aligns with the immersive qualities often found in romance genre fiction.
Grossman's argument regarding the potential for a plot in genre fiction to surpass the complexity and intricacy of narratives found in literary novels supports the idea and application of thoughtful integration of thematic elements, such as mathematics and romance, elevating the storytelling experience. By integrating Jude's mathematical mindset with the emotional dynamics
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of his relationships, we find a balance between intellectual engagement and heartfelt storytelling,
enriching the narrative with layers of meaning and depth that resonate with readers on multiple levels.
III.
My long-term writing goals involve creating modular projects that feature complex and unpredictable protagonists, with a focus on developing intricate plots at a grand scale while incorporating engaging subplots. Specifically, my aim is to specialize in narrative design for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) or other tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), crafting captivating campaigns, adventures, or sourcebooks that players can immerse themselves in. I aspire to see my work published one day by reputable game publishers like Chaosium Inc., Wizards of the Coast, or Kobold Press.
I do have a desire to continue publishing poetry and honing that particular craft. While I don't anticipate venturing extensively into traditional fiction writing beyond game design, I am confident that this course will equip me with valuable skills and insights that will aid me in my future endeavors. The exposure to different writing styles and techniques in the course will undoubtedly enhance my ability to create compelling narratives in all the mediums I work on, ensuring a well-rounded approach to storytelling across various platforms.
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Works Cited
Dufresne, John. The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction. W. W. Norton & Company, 2004-08-17. VitalBook file.
Grossman, Lev. “Literary Revolution in the Supermarket Aisle: Genre Fiction Is Disruptive Technology.” TIME.com
, 23 May 2012, entertainment.time.com/2012/05/23/genre-
fiction-is-disruptive-technology.
100 Years of the Best American Short Stories. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (ORM), 20151006. VitalBook file.