Circles, Triangles, and Squares

Recently, I took a six-weeks Loft class in novel writing taught by a young African-American novelist and teacher named Jenee.  There were eight students, all of whom submitted excerpts from the novels they were working on.  The format of the class included a weekly synopsis of each selection, followed by a critique which included things that worked and things that could be improved.  Jenee also offered us some writing tips such as effective plot construction, the use of dialogue, descriptive writing, and character development.

Even though I find writing easier than offering critiques, I did make some neat connections with two of the class members. One was a man named Jeff who shared a heartfelt chapter from the novel he was working on.  It dealt with the coming of age and sexual struggles of a teenage boy who tries to find out what nude women look like.  Of all the selections I read, Jeff’s story moved me the most because I could really relate to it since I had similar experiences while growing up Catholic. The other student was a woman named Jenny who raised two teenage boys. She read my novella and gave me positive feedback.During the class, I was able to connect with two of the students in a special way. One of them was a man named Jeff whose novel excerpt moved me profoundly because he wrote about things I could really relate to. His was a coming of age story about a teenage boy who struggled with his emerging sexuality. I experienced some of the same feelings of guilt and shame while growing up Catholic. The other student was a mother named Jenny who raised two teenage boys, and complimented me on the piece I brought in.

While taking the class, I was able to complete an entire novella entitled CIRCLES, TRIANGLES & SQUARES. My story is based on a love triangle (thus the title) I got involved in while living, working, and studying in my German hometown of Marburg an der Lahn from 1970 to 1973. The protagonist is an American exchange student named Frank who moves into the dorm of a fictional small town in Germany where he enrolls in the university. There he is befriended by a seriously mentally ill German student and poet named Hartmut with whom he gets involved. Frank ends up having an affair with Hartmut's fiancee which turns out badly.

I enjoyed writing my first piece of longer fiction because I could let my imagination roam freely while still basing my story on real-life events. While writing my story, I found myself influenced by many of the pieces I read during the class. For one thing, most of them contained a lot of dialogue. Therefore, I completely revised my first draft story to include more dialogue which I used to propel the action of the novella.