Hi! My name is Lani Hurlock and I am graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in General Creative Media. I enjoy creative writing and spend a lot of my free time crafting stories. After graduating, I hope to someday write the story for a cartoon series. If I were an artist tool, I’d be a painter’s palette with varying colors and possibilities.
Title: Cry Me a River
Question: What are the impacts of fiction on individuals? How does fictional work increase people’s sense of empathy?
Abstract: Fiction has a specific format that makes it effective in swaying people; it is telling a story in a roundabout yet enticing way that garners interest and captures people’s attention. A lot of nonfiction, on the other hand, does not do this. News articles, for example, get straight to the point of providing a reader with information. While there is certainly a place for such writing and the intention of my project is not to argue the ineffectiveness of such, information provided in such a way is ultimately less likely to stick with someone or leave a long-lasting effect on them. However, it is important to note that nonfiction can sometimes be written out in a “fiction format” – as in, it can be given to people as a complicated narrative rather than a simplistic and straightforward retelling of an event. My project aims to argue to the effectiveness of such a format to highlight the importance of storytelling in conveying information and influencing others.
To learn more about my project here: https://lkh24.weebly.com/
Creative Process:
- 10 people received article #1 and another 10 people received its rewrite.
- 10 people received article #2 and another 10 people received its rewrite.
- The 20 people who received article/rewrite #1 completed one survey, while the 20 people who received article/rewrite #2 completed a different one. This was done to compare the responses directly.
- There were 40 people surveyed in total.