3 responses to “Final Takeaways & Reflections (Tues)”
Final Project Reflection
Upon rereading my Why I Write letter, I found that the main reason that I write has not exactly changed over the semester. I still write to tell stories, explore my mind, and connect with others. I believe that this course has been a continuation of these goals and a process of learning about my writing along the way. I still consider myself a creative fiction writer and poet, but with a bit more practice and understanding. Nonfiction still is not my favorite genre to write in; I found that, for some reason, it is rather difficult to write about myself directly. I did, however, learn that creative nonfiction isn’t just college style admissions essays or long winded memoirs. There is an art to it–a nearly poetic form–that draws on the same creativity that fiction and poetry stems from. The fiction unit posed difficulties primarily rooted in my perfectionism and lack of understanding of revision. It was a struggle to edit after I had deemed the story no longer worth it. Powering through taught me that all stories can be saved and not all of my stories will be perfect. I have always enjoyed writing poetry. I even took a poetry writing class in high school, but that class was not as in depth as this one. This course asked me to explore all forms of poetry. I experimented with many forms, some that I enjoyed more than I thought I would (haikus, sonnets) and some that I decided weren’t for me (experimental). But in the end, I believe my understanding of the many forms of writing has grown and I feel that I can take away my learnings into my creative writing outside of class.
When I first joined this class I wanted to work on my grammar and write pieces that made those reading it feel something, whether that is happiness or sadness. Since the class was not very focused on proper grammar but how we used our words I did not spend much time on perfecting my grammar. However, it feels like the absence of that strictness made me feel like I was becoming a better writer. Unlike all the other classes I have taken that were focused on writing in our class I was not constantly overwhelmed with the need for perfection all around rather than focusing on the message I wanted to convey and how I wanted to do that. I have been able to be creative in a space that was very welcoming and share pieces I never pictured me writing or presenting which I am really proud of. I have learned that as a writer I am constantly wanting the reader to feel and think, therefore I use descriptors a lot or like in my project music accompanying the writing to evoke emotions as well as some vagueness. There were more sentimental pieces than not. My biggest problem was I was making a lot of work that kept distance between the reader and the piece and as I revised I would learn how to find the perfect amount of distance. Whether that is with changing my pieces approach or as simple as title changing! Looking ahead I would work on this distance issue and of course working on my grammar as that is something I would need for anywhere I go in life. My goal as a writer is to write whenever I feel an idea come on or jot it down at least and to read more. Finding an exciting book recommendation has been difficult because I can get lost in some books, so if anyone who is reading this has recommendations please let me know! I like thriller, adventure, and mystery. All the class exercises that made us think on the spot were my favorite most helpful “assignments” because it did not let me dwell on what to write, we just got to writing and made me think on my feet even with the restrictions. I really enjoyed all the genres but oddly enough poetry was my favorite if I wasn’t told I was writing poetry. For example if I was told I needed to write a poem I would be wasting my time focusing on making it sound poetic rather than letting it come off as such! So when I was just told to write a fiction or nonfiction I could write a poem while knowing the content had to be fiction or nonfiction. But I also might try working on different poetry styles to challenge myself. I would continue writing fiction because I usually never do but had a lot of fun with the piece I wrote for full-workshop. I definitely think I will continue to write for myself and other people nothing crazy but I also wanted to start incorporating music and images/videos because I have always had such a love for music and how so much can be said with the instrumentals alone. Using that to archive for myself and others would be something that I would love to do especially when I go abroad in the Fall!
The primary reason I wanted to take this course was to learn how to get creatively inspired. Going into the course, I did not have many ideas for things to write about, but I had faith that ideas would somehow come to me. I just didn’t know how exactly. I was worried about my own writing abilities and my ability to adapt to things I’d never done. The writing workshops were a great way for me to overcome that, and realize that I can do this and I shouldn’t worry too much about it. Before this course I mainly only wrote fiction and didn’t think I could write poetry, much less a rhyming kid’s book, but I’m very proud of what I accomplished in this course and very glad I took it.
3 responses to “Final Takeaways & Reflections (Tues)”
Final Project Reflection
Upon rereading my Why I Write letter, I found that the main reason that I write has not exactly changed over the semester. I still write to tell stories, explore my mind, and connect with others. I believe that this course has been a continuation of these goals and a process of learning about my writing along the way. I still consider myself a creative fiction writer and poet, but with a bit more practice and understanding. Nonfiction still is not my favorite genre to write in; I found that, for some reason, it is rather difficult to write about myself directly. I did, however, learn that creative nonfiction isn’t just college style admissions essays or long winded memoirs. There is an art to it–a nearly poetic form–that draws on the same creativity that fiction and poetry stems from. The fiction unit posed difficulties primarily rooted in my perfectionism and lack of understanding of revision. It was a struggle to edit after I had deemed the story no longer worth it. Powering through taught me that all stories can be saved and not all of my stories will be perfect. I have always enjoyed writing poetry. I even took a poetry writing class in high school, but that class was not as in depth as this one. This course asked me to explore all forms of poetry. I experimented with many forms, some that I enjoyed more than I thought I would (haikus, sonnets) and some that I decided weren’t for me (experimental). But in the end, I believe my understanding of the many forms of writing has grown and I feel that I can take away my learnings into my creative writing outside of class.
When I first joined this class I wanted to work on my grammar and write pieces that made those reading it feel something, whether that is happiness or sadness. Since the class was not very focused on proper grammar but how we used our words I did not spend much time on perfecting my grammar. However, it feels like the absence of that strictness made me feel like I was becoming a better writer. Unlike all the other classes I have taken that were focused on writing in our class I was not constantly overwhelmed with the need for perfection all around rather than focusing on the message I wanted to convey and how I wanted to do that. I have been able to be creative in a space that was very welcoming and share pieces I never pictured me writing or presenting which I am really proud of. I have learned that as a writer I am constantly wanting the reader to feel and think, therefore I use descriptors a lot or like in my project music accompanying the writing to evoke emotions as well as some vagueness. There were more sentimental pieces than not. My biggest problem was I was making a lot of work that kept distance between the reader and the piece and as I revised I would learn how to find the perfect amount of distance. Whether that is with changing my pieces approach or as simple as title changing! Looking ahead I would work on this distance issue and of course working on my grammar as that is something I would need for anywhere I go in life. My goal as a writer is to write whenever I feel an idea come on or jot it down at least and to read more. Finding an exciting book recommendation has been difficult because I can get lost in some books, so if anyone who is reading this has recommendations please let me know! I like thriller, adventure, and mystery. All the class exercises that made us think on the spot were my favorite most helpful “assignments” because it did not let me dwell on what to write, we just got to writing and made me think on my feet even with the restrictions. I really enjoyed all the genres but oddly enough poetry was my favorite if I wasn’t told I was writing poetry. For example if I was told I needed to write a poem I would be wasting my time focusing on making it sound poetic rather than letting it come off as such! So when I was just told to write a fiction or nonfiction I could write a poem while knowing the content had to be fiction or nonfiction. But I also might try working on different poetry styles to challenge myself. I would continue writing fiction because I usually never do but had a lot of fun with the piece I wrote for full-workshop. I definitely think I will continue to write for myself and other people nothing crazy but I also wanted to start incorporating music and images/videos because I have always had such a love for music and how so much can be said with the instrumentals alone. Using that to archive for myself and others would be something that I would love to do especially when I go abroad in the Fall!
The primary reason I wanted to take this course was to learn how to get creatively inspired. Going into the course, I did not have many ideas for things to write about, but I had faith that ideas would somehow come to me. I just didn’t know how exactly. I was worried about my own writing abilities and my ability to adapt to things I’d never done. The writing workshops were a great way for me to overcome that, and realize that I can do this and I shouldn’t worry too much about it. Before this course I mainly only wrote fiction and didn’t think I could write poetry, much less a rhyming kid’s book, but I’m very proud of what I accomplished in this course and very glad I took it.