2. Next I want to detail the pieces of my classmates and authors that we have read about this semester. Many of my classmates are tremendously talented writers, and reading their pieces helped me develop my own writing. I loved reading everyone’s 101 facts, they were all very interesting. I have to give a special mention to my table, they are all so gifted in writing. These wondrous people are Liana, Lauren, Taylor, Kinzie, and Katie. A few pieces of theirs that I enjoyed: Liana’s “Their Secret Wonderland,” Lauren’s “Amber,” Taylor’s “Broken Dishes,” Kinzie’s “Ambiguous Measures,” and Katie’s “Deadly Treachery.” Each of these stories have their own flair and personality, and I can vaguely see bits and pieces of their authors in them. Sort of like the expression “clear as mud”.
3. The name for my blog still sounds kind stupid to me, but it’s grown on me. The name comes from my hours spent in middle school sitting there daydreaming and dozing off. It’s probably for the best, but I wish I could still daydream as vividly as I used to. Sadly, class requires attention now, and daydreaming will probably only occur in my free time, when I am usually not bored. It’s strange that daydreaming almost has a requirement of being bored for me. I digress, back to blogging. It was cool to monitor the statistics tab during my time in this class. Liana and I would often see what countries would peek at our blog, and strangely enough, at least one person if not more from several countries at least opened our blog on their browsing device. I think it’s somewhat surprising to get views from different countries, I wonder how they came upon a class of high schoolers? I’m not entirely sure if I will continue to post on this blog. I will for sure if I write a new piece of writing, but that’s not that common during the school year. I don’t know if I’ll even remember it after this school year, but I hope maybe I can stumble upon it one day and revisit it.
4. I’ve never kept a journal before in my life, and I’m not sure if I was really into it enough to give it a proper evaluation. I honestly don’t think I will update my journal at all. The only thing I really liked about having a journal is that if I had something that popped into my head, I had my journal there to write it down. I like blogging more than journaling, but the only reason I find journaling fun is that you can just put anything in there. Random thoughts, events of the day, anything. No one else can read it but you, whereas with a blog, it’s totally out there. It’s a matter of convenience, privacy, and sometimes sentimental value. Journals are a tangible thing that you can hold and feel the tattered pages and worn binding, it would probably give a nostalgic feeling. Also, journals contain your handwriting, which is special to many people. It’s more you than blogging is, I suppose.
5. A journal entry that actually barely holds any creative content, but was really fun doing is whenever our tables listed as many types of Halloween candy as we could. I think it was so fun because nearly every time someone said a candy, someone else would have a connection, memory, or feeling associated with that candy. Although I see this often, it’s still somewhat surprising that a simple thing such as candy can evoke such an incredible discussion.
6. I honestly don’t know what my favorite piece I’ve written is, but if I had to pick, I think I’d pick “Joys of War.” Here is the last paragraph of the story:
“Later that night, with his remaining comrades gathered
around him, he repeats the adage that everyone has come to love. The
consolation is short-lived, and soon the gears of conflict begin to crank and
twist once again. And so James treads on, living day-to-day, night-to-night,
reveling in the daily moment of peace and homeliness that has been passed on
from his fallen comrade.”
7. Looking towards the future, I hope creative writing stays in my life. I took this class to explore a path that I used to dismiss as something that just wasn’t for me, or something that took luck to be successful in. I’ve always written small pieces of imagery to just describe a whole new world, fantasies and brand new realms. Entertainment, specifically video games, inspired me several times to create. I used to think that that was just something I did for fun and that I could never make it in the creative writing world as an author. But this class has changed my perspective. Hearing all the positive feedback from my classmates, and most of all, Mrs. Fraser, I now consider writing as a possible future for me. As I said up there, fiction is definitely the genre I would write. I just think that making those worlds I made as an underclassmen have something actually happen in them would be awesome. Perhaps I could reuse some of them for a setting of a novel if I ever decided to write one, which I might. Making a world come alive with something more than just a landscape or a vision, that’s what I would write.
8. I’m going to recycle a bit of advice I got from one of my other teachers a few days ago. To summarize what she told me: do what you, that’s right, you, want. Don’t do what you’re expected to do just because you’re expected to do it. If you don’t want to go to college, don’t go to college. If you want to start your own business, start your own business. If you want to write, write. What I’m trying to say is, life is about pure experience. Life is about doing what you want to do. Not to be financially stable or successful, but what you want to do. No matter what anyone says about writing not being a viable career or it’s not financially stable or whatever, it doesn’t matter. The short and sweet version: don’t be discouraged.
7. Looking towards the future, I hope creative writing stays in my life. I took this class to explore a path that I used to dismiss as something that just wasn’t for me, or something that took luck to be successful in. I’ve always written small pieces of imagery to just describe a whole new world, fantasies and brand new realms. Entertainment, specifically video games, inspired me several times to create. I used to think that that was just something I did for fun and that I could never make it in the creative writing world as an author. But this class has changed my perspective. Hearing all the positive feedback from my classmates, and most of all, Mrs. Fraser, I now consider writing as a possible future for me. As I said up there, fiction is definitely the genre I would write. I just think that making those worlds I made as an underclassmen have something actually happen in them would be awesome. Perhaps I could reuse some of them for a setting of a novel if I ever decided to write one, which I might. Making a world come alive with something more than just a landscape or a vision, that’s what I would write.
8. I’m going to recycle a bit of advice I got from one of my other teachers a few days ago. To summarize what she told me: do what you, that’s right, you, want. Don’t do what you’re expected to do just because you’re expected to do it. If you don’t want to go to college, don’t go to college. If you want to start your own business, start your own business. If you want to write, write. What I’m trying to say is, life is about pure experience. Life is about doing what you want to do. Not to be financially stable or successful, but what you want to do. No matter what anyone says about writing not being a viable career or it’s not financially stable or whatever, it doesn’t matter. The short and sweet version: don’t be discouraged.