Reflecting on The Kite Runner story

I felt that the chance to attend such an event was a great opportunity and I had an enjoyable time listening to Khaled Hosseini. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a special workshop he held for my Special Topics: Gateway to Cultural and Literary Studies class, in which he spoke at length about all that went into creating his first novel. However, the Open Visions Forum was centered more on the climate of Afghanistan rather than his two successful novels. I saw along with the others in attendance how he spoke with passion and care about what was going on there, what needed to be done, and what is currently being done. I attempted to capture a bit of these themes in my story.

Going in with a plan of attack really helped me out for this story. I was able to plan out what I needed, pay attention for certain quotes that would aid this discussion, and alter my story as I saw fit. Knowing a direction I wanted to take the story before I left the Quick Center helped me out quite a bit and made this story's creation lightyears faster and more efficient than the Tom Baden story. Being exposed to the workshop he gave, hours before the Forums talk, I was able to anticipate what topics he might center the bulk of his talk on and it proved correct. Just to make it clear, I did not use any quotes from him during the workshop that he had for my English class. All the material comes directly from the Forums talk.

The creation of the story, to me, went according to plan for the most part. I think I did a good job and am finally starting to get the hang of recognizing what I need, what I want, and how to get both. The one major negative point that sticks out to me is that I was fortunate enough to get the absolute last question in to him while he was finishing up signing books before he left and although he gave a great answer, I wasn't able to get it down word for word, and it ultimately did not fit in with my story. It was exciting to have been able to have had a dialogue with someone so famous, intelligent, and dedicated to his cause. The interviewing process could have went better as well. I wish that I had better questions prepared for my interviewees, but I was fortunate enough to gather a few good quotes that I ended up using.

I learned to be a little more efficient in the way in which I approach these stories. I also learned the importance of even better preparation and just how much easier it can make my life. I still feel that I need to get better at crafting a solid story idea and knowing exactly what I'm going to write about before I leave the venue. All in all, I enjoyed the experience and felt that the writing process went well.