growth

Creative writing is sort of like an exotic plant. Plant one, and it looks one way. Plant many, and they all look different–varying leaves, foliage, flowers–but they’re still all the same kind of plant. That’s sort of how it is with creative writing. Let one student run off to write, and it looks very different from another student doing the same thing.

This quarter, I’ve had the honor to share this process of writing with several amazing people. While we all have different styles and perspectives, I must say that there is an abundance of talent in this group, Writers of the Round Table, which is quite remarkable.

Through the journal entries ( j tags, if anyone was wondering about my strange tags) and the creative writing assignments (cw tags), I have pushed myself to write from different perspectives. Perhaps it was the older me speaking to the younger me in the moment, as I tried in “you can, but you shouldn’t“, or the ghost of a dead classical composer in a concert hall in “owned it”. Whatever it was, perspective has been a major project I’ve undertaken in my writing this year. Also, creative writing assignments have pushed my creativity to things I never expected to have to do. For example, I put Hamilton to poetry in “Hamilton: A Musical In Poetry”, and found a non-sacrilegious way to make Jesus give “Free Wifi” to 5000 people.

Through these assignments, I feel like I’ve found my voice–and that’s a bit paradoxical, since my voice is always changing. That’s how I like it, a free-form way to express myself in a voice which fits the assignment. Because of this, I have favorite and least favorite assignments. My work in “|| j6 || broken glass” was my favorite, and best, journal entry to date. On the creative writing side, “|| cw5 || Kites in the River: A Brer Rabbit Story” was my favorite, since my idea ended up working out so well. My least favorite assignment, however, was probably “|| cw4 || The Tiger and the Forest“, because honestly, I doubt I have written anything that fits the word “cheesy” so well.

Following my classmates’ work has to be one of the best things about this course so far. So many of them have such unique voices, and I admire all of them for their strengths in assignments.

First of all, Kevin has a magnificent writing voice, balancing on the thin line between humor and sincerity, and sarcasm and reality. Honestly, he writes very well, and his assignments amaze me. I identify well with his tone, and love the fact that he can be funny and yet serious. Check out his Journal 5.

The second person I’d like to acknowledge is Morgan. There is something decidedly special about her writing in general. No matter what the assignment, she manages to stay personal, courageous, real, and yet hopeful. I guess the word I’d use to describe it is “delicate”, but not in a negative sense. In general, her blog is one of the first blogs I’ve read through and thought, “that is truly beautiful.” Obviously, I love her style. For an example, I’ll refer you to her “J5: Delivered.”

This shoutout’s for Maria! In case y’all didn’t know, she’s really the inspiration behind my bluegrass piece accompanying the Brer Rabbit story. Maria writes very beautifully as well, balancing somewhat similarly to Kevin between whimsicality and sincerity. Combine this with her innovative copyright boilerplate, and you have yourself a stellar writer. See J5, When Technology Gets Tough. Also, kudos to her for naming our group!

This quarter has been a period of growth, in many ways. I look forward to another three with all of you.

sempersize