Christina's ePortfolio

     Creative Writing or English 2250 was an interesting class. It sort of allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone. I hadn't done any creative writing since I was a teenager, and I had little to no desire to begin again. But I just thought, “What the hell. I'll give it a shot.” That and other English classes were not available for the summer, but that's probably high on the list of things you shouldn't mention for school assignments.

     One of my favorite things to do in English classes is to read something together as a class and then discuss it. This class allowed me to do that while also allowing me to gain some insight on different writing techniques. I really enjoyed the reading selections from Brian Doyle. He's a fantastic writer, and I'm glad I was introduced to his work. I also really enjoyed “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff and “How to Date a Browngirl...” by Junot Diaz. And one that really stood out in particular was “The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality: a diagnostic test in two parts” by A. B. Paulson. It really challenged my notion of what a short story should look and feel like. It reminded me that writing is an art form, and – like good art – it has the power to change the way you see the world.

     Reading all these great pieces from such talented authors was inspiring and the perfect segue into writing some of my own stuff. It was a nice break from only using my writing skills in order to produce papers for school or scribbling a few sentences at work or making a shopping list. I think I had completely forgotten that writing can be so much more than a tool for completing tasks. One other creative thing I like to do when I have the time is drawing. Creative writing allowed me to have a similar right-side-of-the-brain activity. And just as you experiment with different drawing mediums, writing became a way to experiment with different styles. It was nice that the class explored many different techniques of writing so that we got a feel for which one we are most comfortable with, which one allows us more creative space.

     The revision process/peer review process was an interesting aspect of the class. It was awkward and strange to get a feel for what sending out a piece of your writing into the world must be like. However, it was very entertaining to read twenty or so copies of my piece with notes written in the margins, some of them saying autobiographical instances of my life were “cliche”. So that got a good laugh. It was interesting to see the evolution of my personal essay during the revision process. I noticed that what began as a strictly memoir-esque piece began to turn into more of an argument piece. This really confused the class during peer review workshop, which allowed me to see what I was doing wrong. It was nice to have the perspective of others to point out what was working and what was not working. So then I could take the advice of everyone into consideration, along with my own, and make some changes. Hopefully now it reads as a personal essay/memoir.

     All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my adventures in creative writing. It was a very fun class, one that I would happily take again.