Final Questions

• What was most helpful to your development as a writer, reader, and thinker? Why? The amount of good writing we read, wrote, and thought about was incredible. I did not know that such amazing material was available or that writing so personal could be so touching. My writing ability grew through our continuous discovery of how to better the way we approach writing, the way I approach writing.This semester, my view of an essay has changed for the better: I now see essays as truths and the ruminations of my mind, instead of ambiguous prompts that we must fulfill for a grade. It was such a crisp realization to learn that everything I'd learned in high school was undeniably false. It is not wrong to put myself in my work; in fact it's better for it.
  
• What can you do to continue/improve this development? I can continue creating work from a personal place, access a type of writing that represents my own experience, even if it's just an echo. I believe that viewing writing as expressin what's inside of me is a much easier way to see it. It also helps me be freer, lets me let go and forget the editor in my head. I can use this knowledge to improve my writing by always implementing it when I am doing a paper or other creative works. I will write what I think and write the way I think. That's when my opinion shines as its own and my voice is revealed.
  
• What did you learn from the reading in this course? Which essay(s) did you enjoy the most? Why? What did it teach you about good writing?  I learned the broad range of essays available and the various styles of essayist I admire. Mimicing or incorporating the techniques I saw in their writing helps my own to become more developed and unique. I enjoyed Doyle's "Rich, rich, rich," both of Matherly's pieces, Selzer's "The Knife," and A.A. Milne's "A word for autumn." They were essays with grounding and I felt a great depth from them. I found that I enjoyed essay that didn't apologize. They were how they thought and just live in their world whilst opening it up for my own.
  
• Describe the writing process that you find most beneficial for you. Why does it work? How can it be improved? I start just writing down everything that comes into my head in a sort of written spew that touches on the swarming thoughts that come from ruminating. Once it's all out, I get to the dirty work. Revise, rewrite, revise, rewrite some more. I go in and try to be more personal, more consistent, more concise, more creative, etc. Repeat for eons til I get it where I want it; a suitable essay. It works because letting go is the hardest part. Then the work or polishing is easy because I know, or at least have ideas, of how I want it to turn out. I believe it is a wonderful method, tried and true. Yet I had to discover the most crucial concept: the initial just writing. 
  
• How has the blog been beneficial to you as a writer and as a person? How? Why? Well, for one it gave me a deadline and consistency that I don't normally enforce upon myself. There is also an openness to the blog that I loved. It was a break for all the tedious schoolwork I had and let me be myself. Though it is still for a grade and is in front of my peers, there wasn't a need to be perfect or competitive. As a writer, I grew by knowing that I could let go and be respected instead of judged. I also loved reading my peer's pieces and see the spark catch fire in them as well. The prompts were all so creative that I had to stop and assess which I wanted to do most, something new for me. Other classes would just force me into a corner with dull assignments, but with the blog, I had options. I write better without restrictions. Breaking/bending the rules has always benefited me in essays in this class. I am rewarded for the risks I take. That's how it should be.
  
• What was your favorite assignment of the semester? Why? I loved the blog, but lately it had been the final portfolio. I squeeze out all the art in me and make something, create something I am proud of. It's wonderful to look back at all of the wonderful work all of us have create over the semester and then combine the highlights for a beautiful project. I also enjoy the fact that I can see my growth and development as a writer, because during the class I felt I couldn't progress fast enough. I see now that it is a process.
  
• What was your favorite part of class? Why? I loved learning all the general knowledge about classic essaying, but moreso the adapted, modernized version of the essay. I truly hadn't the slightest that this type of writing was available and encouraged. Discovering new voices was incredible and developing my own was wonderfully gratifying.
  
• How is the final portfolio beneficial to you? How do you think differently about your writing because of it? It lets me directly see how I've grown and the difference approach makes. I love being able to creatively put together my pieces in a way that is unconventional. I love pushing my writing and craftiness to the areas were they take on a life of their own. I think of my writing as a children that needs attention and love, nourishment and care. Also a lot of patience and persistence that have been tested this semester. I feel that I have a better sense of direction and a "core" in which I can work towards.
  
• Why is submitting your work to a public audience (on the blog and to journals, etc.) beneficial? I gave me the audacity to submit. I stopped worrying about it being perfect and just revised as much as I could. Just because I am young and thus uneducated does not mean that what I have to say it's valuable and interesting. My mind works differently, yes, maybe unrefined compared to the works of the greats, but I still have one. The thoughts that cross it are just as valid as any other and the craft and style I use to express them is unique and my own. It gave me the guts to just do it. Worry about the results after. It was liberating.
  
• If you were to take this class again, what would you want to change and what would you want to keep? The blog needs to stay and the final portfolio! They are wonderful assignments and facets of the class. I hated the analysis essay but that is only because it wasn't my style and I couldn't seem to put my myself into the essay nearly as much as I wanted to. I also didn't think the constant feedback of the class was needed. I loved the class and wanted to keep doing the assignments and dicussing the works we read. There was so much to process and learn I fell in love with the class. The need for validation became like the wet blanket of neediness in this relationship. Yes, I really do love you. I'd love you more if you didn't have to ask. Let's do more of the fun stuff together.  The "work" never was becoming tedious until it asked if it was so.
  
• What did you learn in this class that you will apply to other situations? How? I learned to learn, observe and gather--let my thoughts run wild, then record them the way they are. Granted they will need some elbow grease to make into essays. I've also been told that school is not for the learning of information, rather it is for the learning to love learning. So loving each new assignment or challenge has helped me become a better student, a better person. I have also learned that great advantage taking risks gives. Putting myself out there in the cold, plain sight is much better than hiding in the shadows, longing for recognition.
  
• What makes good writing? Why? Give examples. How can you contribute to that sphere of good writing? Good writing is honest and unique, sincere and brash. Good writing doesn't apologize. That is the greatest thing I learned this semester. Don't back down. It's worthwhile to follow through. Good writing open eyes and connects with something inside the writer because it took so much for the writer to dig it out. "Blind Imagination" rocked me with its bravado and that's what I believe is necessary. Cassie's "Heart Sounds" connected with some part of my humanity and I still can't quite describe how I was affected. The sincerity of most of the pieces we read really took me aback. I can contribute to this same cause by being as honest and real as I possibly can. I will write works that are so hard to rip out but feel so good to be read and loved. Giving of myself has always given me more blessings than holding back and forfeiting. I will write as long as I have this life within me.