This is a short story that I wrote in a fiction class. We read and analyzed stories throughout the year, and then wrote our own short story at the end.
“New Number” is a story that follows the growth of a young woman, Zoe, as she works
through a recent loss. She is trying to establish a new life for herself as well as figure
out who she should be now. Her main companion throughout the story is her dog, Sky, but she also goes through growth and healing to open her heart back up to other
relationships as well.
As part of the writing process, we workshopped each story in class. The suggestions that I received from my classmates included:
- the story needed a more set progression and timeline
- it was unclear who Sandy is in relation to Zoe
- the father is almost too likeable (though it is clear we should hate him)
- Julian either needs to go or needs to have more appearances later in the story
I set about incorporating the suggestions, while being careful not to change aspects of the story that I got positive feedback on. You can find the final draft below.
For a pdf version:
thoughtswords 