Element of Writing: "Foreshadowing" Through Dreams

Foreshadowing is an important element in writing because I think it can make the story more realistic, especially if it's through dreams.



Foreshadowing is even in our every day lives. Sometimes it is obvious, or sometimes it is completely invisible until the event blindsides us. When I wrote my romance memoir, a character says, "She's your problem now." My past self replied, "Problem? What problem?" Later, a bunch of problems ensue.

In that story, I had vivid dreams after the end of my relationship. At one point I date a girl who had a similar name and features as the previous girl. In the dream, their faces flash back and forth, foreshadowing that it's the same girl and that the relationship won't work out.

In fact, in many of my stories, I use dreams to enhance them. In Channels of Arsenergia, the protagonist, Connor, is a lonely, misunderstood teenage boy. He has a dream that he is locked in an enclosed space, crying. He cant stop crying, and he realizes his tears is causing the water to build up in the room. He is alone, and there is no way out. The water reaches the ceiling, submerging him underwater. His vision becomes hazy as he loses consciousness, and the last thing he sees is a bright, blue light.



It's a complex dream in regards to the figurative language it refers to, despite seeming simple at the surface, and packs a ton of meaning into the story in a short time. The dream signifies the suffering to come (his crying and being submerged underwater, which symbolizes suffering--different forms of water [which resembles life in itself] represent different symbols throughout the story) and the blue light represents the magical friend who will save him in many ways (identity-wise for instance). Connor needs outside intervention before he can save himself and his new friend, and eventually save others, too. It also foreshadows him being trapped in a body that he will not be in control of. It illustrates the theme of loneliness vs. connectedness, feeling whole vs. empty. So, theme, symbolism, foreshadowing, and more in one short dream that is maybe a paragraph or two long. And it foreshadows that these themes and symbols are going to happen in the future, too, as they are not limited to the dream itself.

As the dream draws the reader in it and out of it, it makes readers even more inside the story and can make them forget they are in the real world reading a book, if done right. The dream needs to seem realistic, like the weird ones we would have. And they usually mean our brain is trying to deal with unresolved problems or issues, or signify something important. Sometimes, we have no idea what our dreams mean, and that's okay, too.


If you're ever writing a story, don't forget the power of dreams. And if you're reading about characters having dreams or if you yourself are experiencing them, don't forget about their significance.

Poem on What I Think Pittsburgh IS

This is a free verse poem I wrote in class a few weeks ago. It's short, and definitely not the best poem, but it's concise and says a lot about Pittsburgh in a short time!



Enjoy.

My Brief Pittsburgh Poem on What It IS

Pittsburgh is big,

Pittsburgh is a place where I explored less than a few blocks of, it seems,

Pittsburgh is small,

Pittsburgh is a place where I’m one of hundreds of thousands of people, it seems,

Pittsburgh is for you and me and for one and all,

Pittsburgh is too obsessed with sports, I guess it would be cool if I was obsessed with sports too,

Pittsburgh is a place where Yinz live,

Pittsburgh is a big city that is overlooked geographically compared to other cities, because the racing game where you can drive the whole United States didn’t have Pittsburgh in it, and because Red Box brought next-gen games to every city except for Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh is cold right now. I don’t like cold. I want it to be summer.

Pittsburgh is is is is.

Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is a place I honestly don’t know too much about (though I do), so Pittsburgh is a place that I researched,

Pittsburgh is a place that has been named the most livable U.S. city by Forbes,

Pittsburgh is ranked as one of the cities that has the highest pollution nation-wide, according to the Post-Gazette,

Pittsburgh is home to UPMC, the best hospital in the state, which is ranked in the top ten nationally for many health-related areas, according to U.S. and News Report,

Pittsburgh is considered one of the smartest cities out of the 100 most populated U.S. cities, according to Movoto.

According to the Huffington post, Pittsburgh  is a place that is “ranked in the top 20 for media outlets, libraries, public schools and museums.”

Pittsburgh is a city that has 14 professional sport championships, based on usnews.com.

Pittsburgh is the fifth best place to retire, based on Livability’s 2013 ranking.

Pittsburgh is a place committed to green space, with the 561-acre Frick park, Highland park, Riverview Park and Schenley Park.

Pittsburgh is the number three spot for “Most secure places to live in the U.S.,” based on a 2013 ranking from Farmers Insurance Group.

Pittsburgh is a place that is ranked in the top ten as most well-read cities, according to Amazon,

Pittsburgh is a place that is ranked among the top five for cities with the happiest workers according to Career Bliss.

Pittsburgh is a nice place to live by, according to me. 

Fresh Figurative Language

      

   When we use figurative language—like simile or metaphor or personification—we are using the English language in a whole new way. Language becomes plain and stale sometimes—that’s where figurative language comes in.

   Instead of saying the snow is in your face, why not say the snow is slapping you in the face? It’s accurate if the wind is actually blowing the snow so hard into your face, that it hurts. Sounds fresh, doesn’t it?

   But figurative language isn’t interesting when it becomes a cliché. A crude example: It’s hot as balls out here. Or, it's cold as ball out here. Also, it’s hot as hell, or it’s hot as fuck (what is even a fuck?). Even in one instance, I heard that it’s cold as hell out. Really? Balls are both hot and cold, and it’s both cold and hot in hell? I didn’t realize this. People who say these things are striving for emphasis, but it’s not as strong as using fresh language.

   Try something that makes people think, and it has to be original, and it could even be funny. If the reader doesn’t have to think about the figurative language, then it’s probably a cliché, and it won’t be fresh in the mind. But if the reader has to think about the figurative language too much, then the reader may not understand it, which may mean that, although it’s original, it doesn’t fully make sense. 

   If it’s hot outside, a guy could say, “Man, it’s hot as that hot girl out here,” or, “Man, it’s hotter out here than all these hot girls out here combined.” The friend, seeing the visual of hotness coupled with feeling hot, may reply, “You’re right, it is hot out here. And damn, they’re hot.” Or the friend might just say, “Dude, she isn’t that hot, which means it’s not that hot out here.” But realize, a phrase like this is original, funny, and makes the person think (are these girls actually hot, and if so, as hot as it is outside?), which is exactly what you want. 

Conversely, one could say the same thing when it’s cold out. When the friend says, “But dude, it’s cold out,” the person will reply, “Exactly,” meaning that the girl isn’t hot at all. If it’s cold out, a guy (albeit possibly bitter) could say, “It’s cold out here as a bitch’s heart.” If the person really is a cold person, and if it is really cold outside, it’s at least accurate, and it’s still fresh and makes the listener think (is that person’s heart cold, and if so, as cold as it is outside?).

   With the clichéd phrase, “It’s cold as hell out” or “It’s hot as hell out,” it doesn’t make the person think because it’s been said already way too much. And with a phrase like, “It’s a sun out here” or “It’s an icicle out here,” may cause the person to think too much and not understand it, consequently asking, “What?”

   Songs use figurative language all the time, but they are usually very clichéd or don’t make sense. One song has the lyric, “Like a drum my heart never stops beating.” But the problem is: Drums stop beating. Who is going to be pounding the same drum for a whole person’s life? Perhaps the writer meant that the heart beats like the sound of a drum. The fact that I’m trying to understand it shows that the analogy doesn’t make sense.

   So, remember, if you are going to use figurative language, make it fresh and possibly funny, and if it makes the person think a bit, all the better.   

Trip to Schramm’s Farm and Orchards

When I arrived at Schramm’s farm and viewed the area before I parked, I had an eerie sense of déjà vu.

   Had I been here before? I wondered. It certainly seemed so. The shop buildings, the inside full of rows and rows of vegetables, the pumpkins lined up in rows and rows of patches, the corn maze.

   Then I saw myself as a little boy sitting in some type of carriage holding a tiny pumpkin and perhaps another memory of me carrying a tiny pumpkin stem with my small hand.

   Yes, I have been here, I thought. I’ve been to this exact farm when I was a little boy. That’s hard to believe, that my father would drive for over an hour to get to this pumpkin patch.

   Once inside the store, I noticed the many different kinds of jalapeño peppers. 

   There were jalapenos for $2.99 a pound: regular Jalapeno Peppers, Serrano Hot Peppers, Hot Cherry Peppers. And there were jalapeno peppers for $2.49 a pound: Poblano Peppers, Hot Romanian Peppers, Sweet Banana Peppers, Sweet Gypsy Peppers, Cubanelle Peppers, and they all looked so delicious and hot. I love spicy food. I can’t resist spicy food, especially a hot pepper. I wanted to try every one, but alas, that would have to wait for another day.

   I toured around and looked at the other foods, also seeing books like Beer Willow Cook Books, and Old Fashioned Apple Recipes.

   I ended up walking outside to where two ladies stood behind a stand that contained tons of ice and dozens of bottles of wine. 

       I found out her name was Barb. She’s 38, and her dad and brothers own the farm, and she’s from the 6^th generation in the family. Her uncle works with Nick M. who is the owner. Arrowhead has shops and they wanted to put one here. Vignoles may be here favorite wine. She also said that growing fruits and vegetables is rewarding, and because they are able to provide healthy food.

   I turned away and was drawn toward the rows of bright orange pumpkins of various sizes, many of them mostly gigantic.

   After walking around, I found a huge area that was a corn maze. 

   As I walked into the maze, I grabbed my Android phone and turned it on to recording, and narrated my way as I journeyed through it. “I’m recording this,” I say, out of breath, “in case I don’t make it out.” Then I notice my phone battery about to die. “And when they find my phone, I hope they charge its battery, and go straight to the recording section so they know what happened to me.” It dies, and so I don’t get to complete my recording.

   But I make it out of the maze after fifteen minutes of aimlessly wandering around. 

I turned to see a sign the reads, “Maze Admission Costs $2 for Children, $5 for Adults.” Wait, I thought, that wasn’t free?

   I went in without paying. Oops. Making that maze wasn’t free, I thought. I guess I didn’t think it was possible for that to be monetized, but it was. Again. Oops.

  As I walked around to find something else to do, I saw a pregnant woman who looked like she had a gigantic pumpkin under the shirt of her stomach.

   I approach a truck where it seems like fryers are connected to it. French Fries, and cheese, I think. Mmm. So I decide to wait in line, which took at least fifteen minutes just to get some french fries.

   Later, I walk into the bakery entrance, where my nose is hit with a wall of sweet smells and spices. My nose has never been so overstimulated in my life, at least from what I can remember.

   As I walked to my car to leave the pumpkin patch, it was interesting to get a new perspective of the place as an adult. The place looked so much bigger—filled me with so much awe—when I was a little boy, my tiny feet barely able to take me around the place. Now, it seems small, easily traversable, with each lift of my gigantic footsteps.  

   Life is so different when comparing how we experience it as a child and how we experience it as an adult.

Favorite Element of Writing: Themes

   
   I love themes. It’s what adds all that unity and synergy to the piece. It’s what gives the audience greater insight into what it means to be human along with an important message, which gives the piece a greater purpose other than just being an entertainment piece.

   When we travel, we can also find themes throughout our journeys. If stories like “Lord of the Rings” has multiple themes from the characters' journey (albeit our journeys aren’t as long or epic as theirs), then surely we, too, can find a theme from destination to destination. 

   During many of my travels to Pittsburgh, for instance, I almost always feel that chaos, that there are too many people, that I just don’t belong there, that I spend my time being too introverted and could also spend time being extroverted, and it seems to represent how much I don’t know about the world coupled with my limited experiences and even my limitations as a human being. It makes me feel small and insignificant. And from seeing all the people, it reminds me of the broad array of human experiences and personalities, how life can be so sharply different by merely being a different person.

   Woah. That was much deeper than I expected. But including my recent travel experiences, my trip to the Strip District’s theme could be finding organization and peace in the midst of the chaos, and garnering enjoyment out of what I think might be a not so enjoyable trip. My trip to Schramm’s Farms and Orchids theme could be about memory, since I suddenly remembered being there when I was a small boy, taking pictures next to the pumpkins. The theme at Carrie Furnace could have been discovering my love for the diversity of plant-life, and learning how art at a place like an old iron-mill could bring it back to life.

   If the traveler is conscientious and notices themes like these, it makes the overall experience amazing for both him and the audience.

    When I write my novels, I pay extra close attention to themes. I don’t force them, but I notice the strings they create throughout the story. For instance, in my memoir, “A True Love Story,” a heavy focus is on technology and social networking. In the prologue chapter, I’m, as a character at that moment in time, tautly connected to the internet and social networking, letting it network me instead of me networking it. At the final chapter of the story, I’m at my grandmothers where there is no internet, and I feel more connected to myself and whole after being away from the internet for just a few days. I felt overall happier. I didn't plan for it to be that way, it just happened, and I thought it was brilliant when I saw the connection from the start of the story being weaved until the very end of the story.

   So, we need to notice the themes that are already there. I’m sure we all will discover more about ourselves and our surroundings, and gain something greater, if we do.  

Favorite Element of Writing: Symbolism and Meaning

   
   Symbolism and meaning enhances and adds layers to a literary work or any kind of writing, and while traveling, it’s important to be aware of and recognize any type of objects that could potentially be viewed as symbols in the environment.

   In many of my past travels, I was able to identify various symbols. For instance, at Carrie Furnace, the gigantic deer head made of materials from the site was a symbol of art, and the beginning of bringing art into the area, welcoming the graffiti artists into the environment. At the Strip District, the church could be a symbol of solitary peace in the midst of the chaotic hustle and bustle in the city. At Schramm’s Farms and Orchids, the corn-maze could represent the search through the maze of the pumpkins for that just-right pumpkin to take home. At the Westmoreland Art Museum, the art could represent confusion depending on the viewer, and perhaps a particular one represents greater understanding.

   Even when experiencing every day life, you could find a symbol if you merely make yourself aware and more conscientious. What symbol could you find in your every day life? What does it mean, and how does it affect you?

   In my writing, I love finding objects that I didn’t realize were symbols before. As mentioned in “On Writing” by Stephen King, it’s best to write the story first and see what kind of artifacts you can dig around to see if they are potential symbols, instead of forcing things to be a symbol. 

   When I wrote one of my memoir’s, “A True Love Story,” I found many symbols throughout the story. For instance, I was playing a video game, “Left 4 Dead 2,” with an old best friend. Since it was a book about cheating, and the chapter heavily focused on cheating, the game title symbolized how a partner can cheat and leave the partner without a moment’s notice, essentially making that partner feel he or she was “left for dead!” And when I recognized that, I found another video game title, “Army of Two,” which I felt symbolized my friendship with my friend, then I thought, What if it was “Army of One?” which would symbolize what it felt like overcoming the relationship problems, and my life overall in general.   

   All writers should keep in mind how symbolism can not only add meaning and value to the audience, but also to the writer, the person experiencing it.  

Carrie Furnace Not Hot, But Thriving with Life and Art

An old, iron-making furnace that would appear to be abandoned and a lifeless place to passersby is still alive with activity.

   Carrie Furnace, which was built in 1884 and operated until it was shut down in 1978, used to produce 1000 to 1250 tons of iron per day at its peak. Now, furnaces six and seven are all that remain, and the surrounding structures and landscape are part of the Steel Heritage Museum, offering tours for interested tourists who want to learn about its history, study the thriving plant-life, and scrutinize the art graffiti on the buildings and view the industrial structures. Tours are on Fridays during the months of June, July, and August, and on Saturdays from May through October.   

   When the site was suddenly abandoned in 1978, it was mostly lifeless. “All the lockers were filled with the worker’s things,” reads one poster with the name Joe Small. “The lunch boxes were still on the desk. It looked like everyone evaporated and vanished.”

   But life—plants, humans, and art—has come back to Carrie Furnace. “There was no effort to reclaim the site,” said Anna Johnson, one of the tour guides who is a Penn State Master Gardener. “It’s been left alone. It’s astonishing that anything is growing here… No fertilization, no watering, no maintenance.” Yet both native and non-native plants are thriving in this environment, where the soil, made of all rock and rail-line, is very compacted. There was no human intervention to help plants grow. “Because we have bad soil,” said Johnson, “everything is evenly distributed. We have lower diversity where there’s greater quality soil.”

   Oriental Bitter Sweet, for instance, spreads easily by birds, and if they are perched in a certain area, it’s possible for them to pass plant seed through excrement, a natural, protective fertilizer. This plant can strangle a tree, and even tear down buildings. Broad leaf plants’ seeds are caught by the wind and spread on open sites.

   Part of this process is the idea of succession, meaning that, over-time, ecosystems develop.

   An addition-by-reduction strategy is used on the art and landscape, meaning that they sculpt what’s there or use materials from the site itself. The art is also meant to be natural. They brought in huge rocks, for example, so that tourists may slow down and sit on them to view the surrounding landscape and plant-life, instead of only staring at the gargantuan furnace buildings. Also, undesirable plant growth has been removed with selective herbicide and pulling them out by hand, so that desirable plants may grow instead. “A lot of our species are from China, because their climate is very similar to ours,” said Johnson.

   Even the bricks are degrading and turning into soil through the process of weathering, and the wind and weather has scattered it around the architecture, resulting in plants growing on the buildings and platforms themselves. But it’s not good soil, and only for certain plants that need little nutrients.

   All of this adds beauty to the place. The area is considered a riparian zone--a habitat along a stream side that’s often hit with floods.

   Over the years, graffiti art has appeared on the walls and buildings. 

This was illegal and unwanted activity, so the owners decided to work with the artists to provide spaces to paint. “They could either work with us or we could chase each other down,” said Ronald Baraff, tour guide and Director of Museums and Archives. As a result, the place has been turned into a colorful and vibrant area full of artwork.

  
   In the past, before the furnaces were shut down, the workers illegally built a gigantic deer head on top of one of the tall buildings using materials found on the site. What’s more? There’s a Christmas tree growing right next to it that was planted long ago. “If they hadn’t done this piece, illegally, it may have been a straight historic site,” said Mr. Baraff. “How can we celebrate this and not other artwork?” Thanks to the past workers, this allowed discussions regarding art to be talked about, and allowed other art to flourish here and help this community thrive.

    “It’s not abandoned,” said Mr. Baraff. “We’re here.”