PART A: You, the Writer

• What was your writing identity prior to the course?

Writing consumes a great deal of my identity. My writing identity prior to the course was not next to the identity of a careerist writer, but more so a hobbyist writer wherein my practice of writing was sufficient enough to-at the least-feed my growth in this area of creativity. I exercised my writing abundantly by setting a goal. This particular goal has fallen among many others in my current life period, however I still revisit it every now and then. My goal is to complete and publish a beautifully composed romance fiction novel at the hand of my most devoted efforts, by my first year of university. In past years, I’ve tried to place deadlines that would force me to finish the book by the end of the year. But then I realized that my ultimate goal wasn’t just to have the book finished, but to have it done at its absolute best. And improvement does not have a deadline. But of course, a time frame ensures that the job do get done. And therefore, I decided that university is time enough to put together a beautiful piece of work. My book is called The Sunflower Project, and it is one of my sole purposes to persistently revisit my talent of writing, and above all, to push my skills beyond whatever they could become.

• What is your writing identity now?

The writer I have become is far more mature and adventurous than the writer I started out as. I used to be afraid of being bold amongst my subjects and visiting those typically uncomfortable topics that some writers avoid altogether. In our present-day society, writing about cruelties such as rape and abuse, wartime and loss, etc., are what attract a greater audience and guarantee long-term prosperity for your novel amidst the market. I, among many writers, have grown out of restraints against depicting the ugly truth in the words I use to give out a message to my audience, and free myself in doing so because now my topics for writing are far more vast than those of a writer who is afraid to stir up some discussion and judgement amongst their audience. The kinds of writers that write out of truth rather than sugar-coating every possible harsh reality out there are the writers that reach out to a greater audience and meet with a more continual success. I learned this through reading some of the world’s most successful writer’s pieces. Honorable mentions include: The Fault In Our Stars; in which the author visits a teenage girl’s experience of falling in love while enduring cancer; Trust; through which depicts the brutal journey of a teenage girl and her father whom vigorously seeks to uncover the identity of his daughter’s rapist; Thirteen Reasons Why; in which the main character discovers the people and their actions that had brought a teenage girl to suicide; and many, many more.

• Reflect on your development as a writer:

1. Ideas

I’ve discovered books that explore such odd concepts and present such far-fetching realities, and I’ve learned from this that no idea is too crazy or too “lame” to be developed into a story. Everything begins with an idea. It opens up a pathway, and your journey is in how you choose to develop that idea. Nowadays when I write, I think way out of the box and far beyond the barriers of my comfort zone. I flourish as a person when I think this way because I expose myself to new ideas, and this exposure to new ideology opens up a door to vast possibility.

2. Details

I pay attention to the little things. I feel I always have. Detail has never been a problem to me, except sometimes overdoing it. I do tend to add a great deal of sequence to my sentences, but as I’ve learned through Creative Writing, sometimes simple sentences are the most powerful.

3. Structure

I try to explore different structures of writing. Creative Writing has really pushed me to try out new structures that I’ve never explored-let alone heard of-previous to the course. Since I typically avoid unfamiliar structures for poetry, this year I met some odd structures used by different authors that at first glance may seem horrendous but gradually become quite intriguing. Creative Writing really helped me to learn how much of an impact structure can have on a piece.

4. Voice and Style

My voice and style develops off of the different voices and styles I encounter throughout reading different works among different genres by different authors. I started reading books that present more modernized ideas, but I always go back to the literary phenomenons in history, such as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher In The Rye, Romeo and Juliet, etc, because they not only develop my voice and style, but as well, my language and structure.

5. GUMPS

I tend to get caught up in the whole assumption that breathlessly decorated sentences with big words and unknown vocabulary are what attract readers and make the author sound intelligent. But I need to be careful not to confuse my readers or run-on so much that I completely butcher the entire meaning of my words. It is a difficult tendency for me to surpass, but I will work at formulating those simple sentences with greater internal meanings, and hopefully in doing so,  I will come up with a sentence that will both satisfy me as well as be a beautiful accessory to my novel and other writing pieces.

• How would you explain your voice? What is stylistic of you?

The voice and style I choose to write in depends on what voice and style I have encountered while reading. My writing is very easily influenced. Whether it has been in the last two seconds of my life or in the past month, if I am reading something and then shortly afterwards feel inspired to write, I will unconsciously pick up on the voice and style of the author whose work I was just reading-adding hints of my own voice and style to the mix as well.

• As a mentor writer, what advice would you give to future creative writers?

As a mentor writer, I would say as all writers say, “read, read , read, and write, write, write”. But some words of advice that come from me personally: I find that when I’m developing a story-line or plot, some of which the experience suggests must be somewhat true. If I’m writing about romance-as I normally do-for example, the emotions I must portray in what the main character feels and the certain romantic events they undergo must relate in some way to my own personal life, in order to most accurately capture true romance and attract a mature audience of readers, now you don’t have to go live out the circumstances of your main character-or any fictional or non-fictional character’s for that matter-but there should always be some kind of truth to your words. Base it off of assumption if you may, but never write about pure fantasy. Because the best novels are the ones in which the character(s) undergo realistic circumstances similar to what readers may be going through in their personal lives.

• Future goals and plans regarding writing?

My future goals and plans that regard my passion for writer include completing a publishing my novel The Sunflower Project. I plan to consult an English major among my enrollment in university, or even a Language Arts professor of some sort, to edit my writing and get me published. I have connections as well to assist me in getting my novel into the market and onto the list of the world’s top literature works in history! This has been a goal of mine ever since I had dreamt that dream that proposed that idea for a great book.

PART B: You, the Blogger

• Reflect on your development as a blogger

As a blogger, I have definitely become more conscious about what I post, but at the same time I am more bold with my posts due to the welcoming nature of my fellow blogger classmates.

• How would you critique your blog?

1. Positive

My blog is aesthetically pleasing to the public eye-predominately to the beholders of fantasy, as I myself am very fond of that genre. I would say this because the theme I established around my posts is very open and happy, just like myself. This blog represents me and my whimsical nature, and it is merely an expression of my inner wild child.

2. Need to improve

The aspect of my blog that I would improve is how many posts go up on a weekly basis. Also, I would to establish more of a variety of genres among my posts because I tend to write about romance more than anything else, but readers would be more incline to reading the work of a blogger with a taste for mystery, mischief, danger, darkness, sorrow, etc. Much like my friends will experience with me, my readers must be taken to an experience of many different emotions and variances of moods.

• What will you do with your blog after this course?

One thing I will do for sure is overlook my feed every now and then. I am most likely to commit more to my novel from here on out, however, I will make it a goal to revisit this blog and post whenever I have the inspiration to author up a piece that will not only exercise my imagination outside of the single theme of my novel, but also show me how much I have improved as a writer.

• Which student blogs would you continue to follow?

I will not unfollow any student blogs. I will only follow more.

• What professional bloggers have you explored?

I consider many of the bloggers in this year’s Creative Writing class to be professional bloggers-if that counts. But other than the works of Jade, Ziyana, or Kemi, for example, I haven’t explored any well-known professional bloggers.

PART C: You, the Student

• Discuss an “Aha” from CWR

We’ve had many “Aha” moments this year in CWR.  One particular one came from Mrs. Hunnisett, and I don’t believe it was intended to be the kind of “Aha” moment we normally have when someone says something so true that it just clicks for everyone and unites everyone with this collective relatability. This was nothing like that. It just hit me hard and brought me t my senses about how to succeed in life. Mrs. Hunnisett made it very clear that reading was a necessity, and when she held a period-long lecture about reading one class, it finally entered my brain that literature is so important and crucial to a human being’s brain development. Her words rung a bell; I saw a poster in the library at the beginning of this semester. It was of a dinosaur, and above the words in bright, bolded red: “WHO NEEDS READING”-SAID THE DINOSAURS. AND THEY WENT EXTINCT. And that’s when it hit me, and I went “Aha”! It’s true. Dating back to millennium periods when technology and electronic data base did not exist, all the knowledge of the world was-and still is-contained in books. Books are the miracle database of mankind. I would say books are man’s best creation. This memory was drawn out by Mrs. Hunnisett’s lecture on the impact reading has on our English Language Arts skills, and it was this moment that stood out to me the most out of the entire course. So thank you, Mrs. Hunnisett. My future is indebted to you for making me realize that writing is a gift, and reading is its birther.

• What have you accomplished as a reader? What do your plan to read next?

My accomplishments in the reading area are lacking. I did read a few books this semester-or at least begin to read. The books I completed reading include Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson-whom we did a writer’s seminar on, Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, and E2 by Pam Grout. Through CWR, I’ve learned of many other great novels out there. I’ve added these recommendations to my 2017 reading ladder; for example, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, etc. I will definitely get to reading them now that I am fully aware of the significance of reading. Can’t wait!

Reading improve writing because when we read, our brain is processing a million different words and exercising our capacity to interpret the text, and especially, we are witnessing different literature forms and edited, professional structure. We become incline to perform in the same nature as what we encounter. It’s like consistently studying the art of literature; the more we do it, the better we get at creating our own.

• What have you accomplished as a writer? What do you plan to write next?

As a writer, I have accomplished a more assertive tone with what I am writing.  am more sure of my words and am now capable of developing a more mature, sophisticated composition. I plan to work hard and really focus on developing my novel now. I kno what I need to do to make it a good one!

• Will you take Creative Writing again?

Unfortunately I will not be taking Creative Writing after this. It does not fit among my required options regarding my future. As I approach graduation from high school, it is time to choose electives based on the career path I choose. Writing will always be like a career to me more than it is a hobby, however I have dreams of becoming a neurologist. I intend to travel a lot, and I know that in the real world, depending on writing alone can be risky. But that does not mean I will sacrifice it. I plan to reserve my arts for greater purposes alongside my race to become a neurologist. These skills come in handy when thriving to attract the attention of universities to your application. I am grateful for the gift of writing, and I will cherish it forever. CWR was simply a way of ensuring I wasn’t slowly losing my “superpowers”.

PART D: You, the FAN

• How has studying published authors changed/improved your writing? What craft decisions have improved your final piece?

I was okay with the choice of author for our writer’s seminar. I read Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak, and it somewhat bored me when I first started. I’ve only read one of her famous works so I cannot be sure, but I’ve noticed Anderson’s tendency to create humor amongst the most depressing of novel settings, and I sometimes find that I just don’t get it. her structure and attempted humor somewhat confuses me. But she is a great writer. She has such unique ideas about certain aspects of society or an individual amongst a society. I would consider researching Stephen King to uncover his ideologies behind some of the disturbing masterpieces he’s created for the darker, blood-thirsty crowd.

The genre that interests me the most by-far is romance. It always has been. Any kind of fantastical or mystery-engulfed romance is my kind of good read. I am also very attracted to novels about psychopaths, such as Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.

I learned a lot from the writers. I learned that the best kind of novels that make their author’s the most profit and recognition in our era are the novel’s about an individual’s experience of  certain aspect of a dystopian society.

Just one of my August submissions: https://ashz.edublogs.org/2016/09/28/columnist-for-what-couldve-happened/

I intend to read more of Stephen King, just to expand my dark side of writing because I typically stick to the sunny side of things.

PART E: You, the Critic of your Work

Source #1: https://ashz.edublogs.org/2016/09/28/tracks/

1. TITLE: Tracks
2. Servant Girl takes girl to see a moving train. Girl gets taken by man on the train.
3. The purpose of Tracks was to confuse the reader about what is happening in the short story so that they will keep reading to find what truly happens in the end; suspense.
4. I went to Sri Lanka last summer and the servant lady who works for my uncle took us to see the train because there were train tracks in the jungle just passed the neighbors’ yard. As the train was passing us, I imagined this scene that would turn such a simple, jolly experience into a terrible one.
5. I decided to use imagery mixed with random depictions of the character’s emotions to build up the story because it was such a short scene that I thought I could play around with suspense and attempt to bewilder the readers as I led up to the climax, and then all their questions would be answered.
6. Initially, this piece was meant to be part of an entire story about the Servant Girl’s journey to track down the girl after she got kidnapped by a man on the train, and this scene would stand as the inciting incident. But then I decided to keep it short and bitter, leaving the rest unwritten as to give the reader’s imagination a chance at filling in the blank.
7. Not my favourite creation among the course because it’s just sad.

Source #2: https://ashz.edublogs.org/2016/12/07/the-tower/

1. TITLE: The Tower
2. Decaying tower, though not much to call home, is Geneva’s haven from the Earth that deceives her.
3. The purpose of this piece was to personify something so raw as a withering, concrete tower, and make it so that this dull injustice to deceiving beauty was actually the best accessory to one’s circumstance.
4. Last year in ELA 10-1, the teacher gave us assignment to establish a short story step-by-step; by first selecting a structure such as a tower, then establishing a character, and then establishing a plot. This was what I came up with.
5. I wanted the information that I provided in order to develop the reader’s initial perception of the story to be deceiving, so that I could strike them with a plot-twist and totally portray the true meaning of the statement “looks can be deceiving“.
6. I was really happy with this piece because it truly capture one of my personal beliefs about beauty and first impressions. And I was especially happy with the way the fantasy genre incorporated its way into the piece as well.

Source #3: http://hunniwriters5.edublogs.org/2017/01/20/the-other-woman/

1. TITLE: The Other Woman
2. Love grows weak between man and wife, then wife realizes man is having an affair with Work.
3. The purpose of this piece was to contrast a man’s commitment to work over his commitment to his wife. The audience was told ahead of time to picture “Work” as the other woman.
4. This was inspired by my general outlook on a certain aspect in life: when do we start loving the things we do or the things we attain more than actual people who can actually love you back?
5. I personified work as the other woman. I made objects such as “a bouquet of fancy, silver-lined pens” replace the romantic gesture of a bouquet of flowers, to enhance  a certain “romance” between the man and his work.
6. I extended a list of contrasts between actual romantic gestures and figurative romantic gestures that are possible between a man and his work. But filtering through all of them brought me to the selected comparisons present in the piece because these were the ones that made the most sense and were the easiest to comprehend for the audience’s sake.
7. Probably my most favourite piece I created in CWR 2017!