The Plot Sickens: Free-write & Reflection

The article The Plot Sickens by Franny Howe criticizes tendencies of young contemporary writers for multiple habits they possess. She begins by enlightening the audience to the violent attitudes and situations young writers include in their characters, and more importantly their stories. She conducted a study based on her college level class, and found that a few students included non-violent aspects to their writing. Howe stated, "Of the 20 stories generated by this assignment, only 5 had endings that could qualify as "happy"-endings, that is, in which a problem was resolved. All the others concluded with extraordinary violence." Ultimately, 75% of these writers included violence which supports her claim; students included stories that involved harm one way or another to the protagonist. She explains how this theme of violence doesn't enhance the plot in a positive way. She said, "For me it is not the violence per se; it is the fact that violence enters the story without benefit of plot, as if by metaphysical caprice." The predisposition of young contemporary writers is to offer as much mindless, deviant acts to spice up the text. Howe supports that this method is both unnecessary, and inefficient. She then goes on to criticize the structure of the plot of her student's writing, and shows their ineffectiveness to portray their stories. Howe explained, "Thus, in my student's writing, there is no confidence in any relationship between character, act, and outcome. The figures in their fictions are victims of hideous violence by accident; they commit crimes, but only for the hell of it; they hate, not understanding why they hate; they are loved or abused or depressed, and don't know why." Therefore, Franny Howe depicts young contemporary writers as people who include violence in their stories for no reason whatsoever, and it takes a toll on the potential of the writing as a whole.


My free write most certainly substantiates Franny Howe's claim that young writers include violence for almost no reason at all. I wrote about a brutal car crash in which a young boy gets hit by a car and dies. My story wasn't too bad, but could've been far better if I had principles of justice and reason. She was correct in her claim that my story had almost no reasoning behind the madness. I believe she was right in saying that students in our day and age think differently than in past years and decades. Howe stated, "To my mind, the changing role and character of violence in student fiction reflects a change in the way we imagine what will determine our destinies." I believe this is all too true because of the development of teenagers and students worldwide. We are more open to violence and violent acts, like that of my story. Therefore, Howe's claim is substantiated by my story, and I am kind of dumbfounded to say the least.

Free Write (Christmas Eve)

"It was Christmas Eve. Fog stuck to the tarmac at Lindbergh field."



Tommy was dead from the instant that car hit him in his right oblique. It was a tragic, disgusting
incident. Let me give you the story in a least vulgar way possible. It was a foggy, starry night on Christmas Eve. There was no wind, rain, snow, or anything. It was nearly perfect, except for the fog of course. There was a small side street off of Washington Ave, and it was directly parallel to the famous Lindbergh field. Tommy Durant was walking down the street to his mothers home three blocks away. He had just went to the grocery store, and had a bag full of groceries. He was halfway down the street when it happened. There was a black Audi R8 going 75 mph down the 35 mph marked street. The driver did not see Tommy, and struck him at around 55 mph head on. Groceries spilt all over the car, and Tommy. He instantly died from the initial collision, but his brain matter was splattered all over the tar. He hit his head on the pavement too hard to stay in one piece. The driver got out of the car, (a witness said), and looked at the predicament. He supposedly sped off and quickly fled the scene. Luckily the witness got his license plate, and they found the car and its address it was linked to. Ironically, the car was linked to his mother's address. His own mother could not recognize him.

Self Deprecation

Ten. Ten minutes went by since the start of the hike to the ski mountain. A few of my buddies were with me, and we were excited for an outstanding day of shredding. One thing came in the way of this day, and it was this treacherous walk.

The condo was a half hour walk to Attitash, not exactly a bad walk. The inclimate weather that day destroyed our moods, and any hope for an easy walk. The snow piled up after a while, and we had to break out the ski goggles because of high winds and heavy snow.

Halfway to the mountain, my mother and her friends pulled up next to us in her Grand Caravan. She asked; "do you guys need a ride? We finally finished breakfast." I was furious that my mom HAD to come halfway through our excursion. All my friends happily jumped in the van, and I was not about to join them. I responded; "Mom, I'm not going. I'm just gunna walk the whole way." She replied; "suit yourself. You still have like ten minutes. Why not just hop in." I said; "I'll just catch you guys at the mountain."

The walk was tedious, with windey New Hampshire roads. One thing I realized was how much of an idiot I was, and how I was rude to my mother. Walking to the base of the mountain all I could think about was how I needed to apologize and find my mom and friends. Everything went smoothly and we were all good for a day of skiing. As it turns out, I forgot my gloves, and I have the worst luck in the world.