Couple of Shorts

1. I feel as though my story is interesting, which to me means that it is working well.

2. What I believe is not working is the language. I always feel as though I need better choice of words to tell my story. A higher level of language.

3. Some questions id like to have answered about my draft are: Is it engaging? Does it read well? Does it have a strong voice? Does my draft have parts that could be made more economical?

4. My characters internal conflict is honestly something I did not think about. I think it would have added to the story.

5. This draft challenged my writing because I tried to use more imagery and include descriptions of the setting to better immerse the reader. I want to focus on better language.


A. In reading two stories from my author: The Verger and The Lotus Eater. I thought both stories had beautiful imagery and were very entertaining. I could see what each character was doing throughout the stories. In The Verger I do not have anything that I disliked, but with The Lotus Eater I did have some problems with the length. 9 pages isn't long but for a couple of them it felt like it was dragging on with not much to say. In The Verger the voice was of optimism, with Albert Edward, a man that could neither read nor write becoming a wealthy tobacco store owner. The Lotus Eater was pretty much the opposite. The story revolved around a man that was in Italy and saw an old friend named Wilson. Wilson was living there with an annuity that would end in 25 years and afterwards his plan was to kill himself. This however became botched and after living a great life for a quarter of a decade became a sort of vegetable and went on to live the remainder of his life in horrid conditions. W. Somerset Maugham wrote this story in the tone of sadness and sympathy. It reads as though Maugham doesn't really believe in free spirits because they are seemingly doomed to fail, which Wilson did.


B. Maugham believed that writing should get to the point,"if it is not essential to your story cut it" this is how he believed a story should be.

Maugham also had the habit of using his experience at medical school to influence his works. "I do not know of any better training for the writer’s profession than that of spending time in the medical profession." In the two stories that I read, there was no mention of this but apparently he did in many other works.

Maugham's favorite stories were those that didn't include extra fluff. He enjoyed when the writing was direct. Also, he seemed to like those that had originality.

W. Somerset Maugham: A Lesson in the Craft. Startgainingmomentum.com