Blog Assignment #9: Final Workshop Reflection

Through this course, I have indeed grown as a writer. I have challenged myself through the assignments, empowered my writing skills, and have thought about the subject of creative non-fiction intensely. I have created work in many genres, yet this course was able to help me grow as well as view writing through a different lens. I find it fulfilling to write creative non-fiction since you can turn true stories into an art form and create something successful. Through the assignments, I was challenged to contemplate on the things I wanted to write about and if they would be presented well through a story, since we had an outline of what was expected for that assignment.  As a writer, it is enjoyable to create voluntary pieces, but it is also a healthy challenge to complete a given task and be content with it. The readings were also a great element to the course since the writing of authors such as Joe Gould, Frank McCourt, Joan Didion and more taught me to become affiliated with some of the most acclaimed work. This is because they’re writing styles can pose as inspiration for my own work.  My favorite piece that I have written in this course is one written in reference to a music venue. Below is an excerpt from the assignment:

The room becomes silent and while the only source of white light disappears. You vigorously run back down its staircase and make your way back to the ground floor. As your excited heart begins to beat, the screams of the ones around you contribute its racing pulse. Synthesizers, drums and guitars begin to harmonize and trigger chaotic movement. The monochromatic atmosphere becomes a battlefield and keeping yourself upright becomes a challenge in itself. Movement is unstoppable as feelings of love and violence vary within the bodies around you. It becomes difficult to fixate your vision while each element of the music become dominating.  The sweat and tears become adherent to your body and despite the discomfort, this moment is what you have been longing for. The physicality is only a reaction to the intense nature of music and its intimate partners.

This piece was favorable to me since my description of this place, as well as its ambiance is one that I extremely content with upon reading it. It was a way to project an atmosphere to individuals that are not very familiar with the genuine effects of musicality. I have plans to write more pieces such as this one since I have come to realize my strong points through this course, description being one of them. This course was an effective way to learn more about myself and my writing. Each element displayed to me in this course was vital in molding myself as a writer and I will hold this importance to me throughout my academic career.

Blog Assignment #8: Authors Note on Personal Memoir

For assignment #3, I decided to reflect on an event that I attended in the past. This was something that I wanted to write about since it was a way to release my thoughts on the unexpected events of a night that was supposed to be enjoy-full.  It was a way to contemplate on the reality of how one wrongful action can become self destructing. This assignment was more of a release of emotions in the form of a descriptive story. There fore, it was a fulfilling piece to write. Below is an excerpt from the piece:

All balance was gone and it was a struggle to keep any sort of composure. The three are now attacking each other out of anger as well as protection, knocking over three large candles. As the flames begin to collide, the living room is now a present day hell. You can feel the heat rising throughout your body yet the fear keeps you paralyzed. A family member quickly extinguishes the fire just in time. Natalie grabs Max while sobbing and escorts him out of the front door. Her brother continues to follow the two, after a one minute intermission of breaking every glass frame in the house hold and punching his best friend on the way out. The trio is now outside of the house ignoring the various bystanders. The sound of police cars and fire engines ring throughout the horizon and her nervous brother pulls out a pair of car keys. He rips his car door open and begins to back out of the driveway to avoid trouble with authority. He begins to drive down the long block and the blatant sound of an accident is heard.

This genre of writing is one that comes easily to me. Therefore, this piece was not difficult to write. The only challenge was choosing what I wanted to write about for this assignment. I believe a piece is successful if you were able to reflect and make sense of something that caused confusion in the minds of others. I wrote this piece on a word processor on my desktop computer and revised its word choice as well as sentence structures. By writing this piece, I learned that it is best to challenge yourself by writing about something that you would normally bypass. This was an interesting piece to write and its process is one that will practice again.