In Introduction, Once Upon a Time...
Dear Reader,
I apologize in advance for any stray cat hairs that may find their way into this collection of writing, and I also apologize for any glitter that may get stuck on your hands and then later creep into your life and follow you around like an ex-lover turned stalker. Twenty years later you think you’re free, but nope — a speck of glitter where you least expect to find it. But anyway, that’s enough apologies for now. I should actually be getting into this whole “introduction“ thing.
To be honest, the reason I took this class was simply because I overheard someone on the bus say that it was fun. Who knows where else I would have ended up had my friend not made me miss my usual bus that day. Now I feel sort of bad for screaming obscenities at her. When I first walked in, I realized it was a lot more different than what I was expecting. No fiction, no sharing our personal work out loud (thank Buddha). I never expected to learn as much as I did. I have even come to respect and enjoy what I once thought was actually a manifestation of Satan himself: poetry. There were times when I did feel stuck and worried that I wouldn’t be able to produce anything good enough to hand in, but for the most part, I was able to really enjoy the rather free nature of the class.
My time management skills were truly horrendous, but the limited number of submissions we could make in a day really helped me pace myself as I inched closer to completing all of the quarterly goals. I even felt better about it in the end when I realized I wasn’t actually swamped with work for once. I started to apply this technique to my other classes as well, such as physics, where I did a few of the homework problems a day until I completed them all. Reading also felt a million times better when it wasn’t forced on me like an assignment since I like being able to go at my own pace and not have to constantly worry about being quizzed or annotating everything. To me, I feel that those things distract me and take away from the whole experience. Though I didn’t get to read a whole lot this year because of college applications and my concentration paintings, I did enjoy the select number of books I did read for the sole reason that I could just enjoy the plot without interruption.
As a writer, I can confidently say that I have definitely grown since the start of the year. I have found it much easier to experiment with different techniques and writing styles in this class than any other. It is creative writing after all. I have found that there appears to be an air of sarcasm or humor to most of my pieces, and I feel that those pieces are usually my strongest ones. I’m not good at being all “mushy”, so it‘s only natural that I would favor the ones that really reflect the kind of person I am. I have gained a new sense of confidence in my writing, and I am starting to better understand my strong points and what still needs improving.
As you click your way along the navigation bar at the top, there will be a bunch of magical surprises waiting in store. Basically, this whole portfolio will be like one of those mystery machines you put a quarter into in exchange for a disappointing, impossible to open, plastic sphere. Except you won’t be disappointed here (hopefully). After looking at what I wrote in the very beginning of the year and comparing it to my later pieces, I’m glad to be seeing improvement. The short time spent in this class has showed me why I used to love writing so much and has even made me question why I ever stopped doing it for fun in the first place. Now that all of that introduction stuff is out of the way, I hope you‘re not afraid of blood or anything…
Thanks,
Sparkles the Wondercat
I apologize in advance for any stray cat hairs that may find their way into this collection of writing, and I also apologize for any glitter that may get stuck on your hands and then later creep into your life and follow you around like an ex-lover turned stalker. Twenty years later you think you’re free, but nope — a speck of glitter where you least expect to find it. But anyway, that’s enough apologies for now. I should actually be getting into this whole “introduction“ thing.
To be honest, the reason I took this class was simply because I overheard someone on the bus say that it was fun. Who knows where else I would have ended up had my friend not made me miss my usual bus that day. Now I feel sort of bad for screaming obscenities at her. When I first walked in, I realized it was a lot more different than what I was expecting. No fiction, no sharing our personal work out loud (thank Buddha). I never expected to learn as much as I did. I have even come to respect and enjoy what I once thought was actually a manifestation of Satan himself: poetry. There were times when I did feel stuck and worried that I wouldn’t be able to produce anything good enough to hand in, but for the most part, I was able to really enjoy the rather free nature of the class.
My time management skills were truly horrendous, but the limited number of submissions we could make in a day really helped me pace myself as I inched closer to completing all of the quarterly goals. I even felt better about it in the end when I realized I wasn’t actually swamped with work for once. I started to apply this technique to my other classes as well, such as physics, where I did a few of the homework problems a day until I completed them all. Reading also felt a million times better when it wasn’t forced on me like an assignment since I like being able to go at my own pace and not have to constantly worry about being quizzed or annotating everything. To me, I feel that those things distract me and take away from the whole experience. Though I didn’t get to read a whole lot this year because of college applications and my concentration paintings, I did enjoy the select number of books I did read for the sole reason that I could just enjoy the plot without interruption.
As a writer, I can confidently say that I have definitely grown since the start of the year. I have found it much easier to experiment with different techniques and writing styles in this class than any other. It is creative writing after all. I have found that there appears to be an air of sarcasm or humor to most of my pieces, and I feel that those pieces are usually my strongest ones. I’m not good at being all “mushy”, so it‘s only natural that I would favor the ones that really reflect the kind of person I am. I have gained a new sense of confidence in my writing, and I am starting to better understand my strong points and what still needs improving.
As you click your way along the navigation bar at the top, there will be a bunch of magical surprises waiting in store. Basically, this whole portfolio will be like one of those mystery machines you put a quarter into in exchange for a disappointing, impossible to open, plastic sphere. Except you won’t be disappointed here (hopefully). After looking at what I wrote in the very beginning of the year and comparing it to my later pieces, I’m glad to be seeing improvement. The short time spent in this class has showed me why I used to love writing so much and has even made me question why I ever stopped doing it for fun in the first place. Now that all of that introduction stuff is out of the way, I hope you‘re not afraid of blood or anything…
Thanks,
Sparkles the Wondercat
