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OKAY, I don't completely hate this.
The one thing significantly different about this story, compared to my others, is that as I wrote it (in three periods, the first at a reasonable time and the second two in the evening/late at night, the two nights before it was due) I kept in mind that I was not turning this into a writing professor; instead it was for a history professor (I submitted it for our material culture project). I don't know if that's what made all the difference; perhaps.
Anyway, this was challenging. Again with the first person, along with a specific, likely rather pretentious style for the ancient setting. I took a Roman History course this semester (though the project was actually for a different history class, which also made it less stressful) and learned a lot from it (including Suetonius' lively details on emperors' reigns, and this awesome sourcebook for all kinds of nifty miniscule details) which I used in the story. It was actually fairly easy to write, until the end.
Arria's story is not fictional; one of Pliny's letters mentions her, her husband, and the story of how she dealt with her son's death during her father's illnes, and then the circumstances of her own death, along with her last words. The rest I filled in; for instance, we don't know the names of any of her children except her namesake. So emotional scenes are emotional, and the simple facts called for a lot, up to which I know I didn't quite meet. But I don't feel too bad about that, since they obviously were quite challenging. I did my best, hopefully they don't suck completely.
Oh, and it's obviously really long. Longest short story I've written yet.
Comments, feedback, please.
( Arria (A Woman's Duty )
The one thing significantly different about this story, compared to my others, is that as I wrote it (in three periods, the first at a reasonable time and the second two in the evening/late at night, the two nights before it was due) I kept in mind that I was not turning this into a writing professor; instead it was for a history professor (I submitted it for our material culture project). I don't know if that's what made all the difference; perhaps.
Anyway, this was challenging. Again with the first person, along with a specific, likely rather pretentious style for the ancient setting. I took a Roman History course this semester (though the project was actually for a different history class, which also made it less stressful) and learned a lot from it (including Suetonius' lively details on emperors' reigns, and this awesome sourcebook for all kinds of nifty miniscule details) which I used in the story. It was actually fairly easy to write, until the end.
Arria's story is not fictional; one of Pliny's letters mentions her, her husband, and the story of how she dealt with her son's death during her father's illnes, and then the circumstances of her own death, along with her last words. The rest I filled in; for instance, we don't know the names of any of her children except her namesake. So emotional scenes are emotional, and the simple facts called for a lot, up to which I know I didn't quite meet. But I don't feel too bad about that, since they obviously were quite challenging. I did my best, hopefully they don't suck completely.
Oh, and it's obviously really long. Longest short story I've written yet.
Comments, feedback, please.
( Arria (A Woman's Duty )
