Part A: You, the Writer

 

Before taking Creative Writing this year I would say that I didn’t really like writing, I always felt that I wasn’t really good at it so I never tried it. Taking this class gave me the opportunity to explore different writing styles and really get out of my comfort zone, which has really helped me to discover what type of writer I am. I can also say that this class has given me more confidence in my writing and I have definitely seen an improvement. As a writer this semester, I have learned to develop better structure in my writing and also how to create stronger details in my writing, which I would say was something that I struggled with before taking this class. One thing that I want to continue working on is G.U.M.PS, and editing my work better. Another big change I saw was in my writing style/voice; I have learned that when I write, I write so it sounds like I’m telling someone a story so a lot of my work sounds like how I would speak to a friend. The biggest piece of advice as a writer would be to really open your eyes to the world, because every little object or moment in time tells a story, and I believe that the greatest stories come from these little things. As for the future, I can really see myself writing more short stories or short poems, and my goal is to start keeping a journal so I can keep practicing.

 

Part B: You, the Blogger

 

At first I found it was really difficult for me to decide what I wanted to post either I had no ideas or I had too many and I couldn’t decide on one, but I found that writing my blog post ahead of time made it way easier for me. My blog still needs a lot of improvement because I feel there isn’t a lot of content, and that I could post more often than I do right now. I don’t see myself working on it for the rest of the year, but I think I will post on it during the summer because I have a lot of free time to read which usually inspires me to write. I will probably continue to follow Poems A Dead Girl Wrote and The Darkness Buried Within since I have found inspiration for some of my own pieces on there. As for if I follow any professional bloggers, I haven’t really explored any professional bloggers so I don’t follow any.

 

Part C: You, the Student

One “Aha” moment I had was during one of our river walks, during this walk I learned that I really enjoy writing outside in nature because I feel that there is just something really calming about it. One thing I developed as a reader was that I made a habit to read every day, which is something I didn’t do before and really got me to read more. Reading has really made an impact on my writing since it has inspired me to use different writing styles in my writing. Reading made me realize the importance of perspective in writing, like in the book Room by Emma Donoghue, which was one of my favorite books that I read during this semester; it was in perspective of a five year old child and this was the main reason why I liked it so much, it added this innocence to the plot line.

One thing I have accomplished as a writer is the amount of writing I do, by taking creative writing it really motivated me to write more, and I plan to write more in the future. One thing I want to write about is the idea of time and how it goes by so fast. Lastly I do plan on taking creative writing next year since it has made a large impact on my writing, and I really want to see where it will take me in the future.

 

Part D: You, the Fan

For my group’s Writer Seminar we chose to discuss Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I’m glad that we chose this author because his work really influenced my writer in the sense that he made me realize important little details like colour, or scenery where for setting an atmosphere for the story. In his book he intensified the dark mood that is set throughout the entire book by adding these details right from the first few pages. Some of the other seminars got me to read books that I normally wouldn’t read like Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur, I wasn’t really interested in reading short poems like the ones she writes. After seeing some of her work I found that I could relate to some of it, and that’s what got me to read her book.

One thing that I learned from exploring all of these different writers was that you, as a writer have to find your own writing style or voice that’s different from everyone else, because you might have a really great story but it all depends on how you decide to tell it. One author I will go back to would be Ransom Riggs, because I want to finish his Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children series.

 

Part E: You, the Critic of your work

 

First Choice: Living With a Sister

The title of piece is suppose to indicate to the reader what it’s about which is what it was like for me when my little sister was born. I write about when my parents first told me I was getting a new little sister, and my reaction to that. I talk about how it was difficult for me to get use to having her apart of my life. My purpose for this piece was just to share my experience about something most people go through, and I feel that’s what made this piece one of my favorites because it related to a lot of people. I wrote this in a very casual voice since I was writing about a personal account, and I feel that, that was what built that connection with the reader. I really liked writing with the voice in this piece, and I can see myself using for more of my other pieces in the future. Overall I liked how this piece turned out because of the different style I experimented with throughout.

 

Second Choice: I Am From

The title to this piece again suggests to the reader what it’s about, the repetition of “I am from” in the piece is also why I decided to give it this title. This piece was mainly a narrative poem, it takes the reader on a journey through my childhood to present day. I wasn’t really going for a specific audience, I feel that anyone can read this and still appreciate it. When I first started to work on this I didn’t really know what I was going to do for it, but when we started to discuss how to add different perspectives into our work I thought I could do that for my I Am From. This stylistic choice that I made was the main thing I focused on because I wanted to do the two different perspectives from my past and present, but I also wanted it flow. I also experimented with trying to make it rhyme, and so I added “ a world where trolls guarded bridges,and fairies hid in the mountain ridges,and girls who went from rags to riches.” to try to make it rhyme. I feel that this also added to the child like aspect that I was going for, for this voice.

 

Third Choice: Black Hood Murderer in Brightwood

Since this was a newsletter I tried to make the title related to the story, but still exciting so it grabbed the reader’s attention. The newsletter was about a woman witnessing a man getting pushed off a bridge by another man ending in a death. The police don’t know who the murderer is, and this newsletter is warning the residents on the danger. Again I wasn’t really going for a specific audience for this piece, anyone interested in fiction would enjoy reading this piece. This piece was inspired by one of our river walks, I got the idea of the man being pushed off of the bridge from the bridge we cross in order to get to Edwarthy. After I came up with the story I really focused on placing the information so it all flowed, because I didn’t want it to sound choppy. At first I was going to place the witness quotes at the end of the article, but ended up putting it close to the beginning so the reader could be introduced to the story right from the start. One thing I struggle with is editing my own work; I don’t really see my own mistakes so for this I had a lot of different people look it over before I posted it. Also throughout writing this piece I learned that I really like writing articles, and using this type of voice for my work, which was really helpful because it helped me to realize what type of writer I am.

 

Links:

I Am From:

I Am From

Black Hood Murder in Brightwood:

Black Hood Murderer in Brightwood

Living With A Sister:

Living With a Sister

Pictures:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23513349-milk-and-honey

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7937843-room?from_search=true