Part:A

I’m not going to drag this on any longer than I need to. I’ll keep this brief (as always), I don’t believe in writing identities. When I write I simply try my best to imitate good stylistic choices because, in the end, it’s not the story that matters, it’s the style that counts. I don’t just write down a story, to me it’s all about the way it flows. This does not, however, mean that I don’t have a few gumps here and there (some of which may or may not be on purpose). You could say it’s a “stylist choice”. When I sit down to write, and I mean really sit down to write, because I want to, then I will not feel satisfied until my writing sounds and feels good. To me it’s all about the way a piece flows (if writing doesn’t flow, it’s bad). I don’t have the stomach to worry about it on an english exam, but when I write down stories I take a long time to decide on the right style, because it must be written in the right style. A monotone sounds good at funerals, but using one to sing… no. Don’t do that. Pleas. You will sound as ridiculous in name and voice as a rapping opera star (go to 6:00 in the video). You can’t just approach everything you do with one style.This is the advice I give all you future creative writers.

Part:B

Blog, development… have I done either of those things this week?. I never thought I would have a blog. I am the guy you usually see complaining in the comment section. It’s my thing. My first blog was a complaint, and I am very proud of it. If you asked me to define who I am as a writer by naming the fictional character I am most like, the answer would be Ebeneezer Scrooge. I started this course complaining and that’s how I’m going to end it. I am James who writes in red, because I write with fresh blood. Blood of course meaning passion. Positive things about my blog? My “Megastarllama” approach: comedy. If I ever continue with my blog in the future it will be to write something that makes you laugh.

Part:C

I told you all at the beginning of the course that I joined because I like writing. You could say that my “Aha” occurred when I realized that I neither liked it as much as I though or was as good at it as I thought in the first place. I didn’t get inspiration from the walks (in fact they distracted me), and whenever we did any emulation I struggled to get anything down. Whenever I write anything good, or anything at all, it takes me a long time (I think deeply about my ideas as well as how I will word them). I would like to note, however, that when I am passionate about a topic my ideas are on the page as soon as they come to mind.

Although my writing could be better, I can assure you that I am a good reader. I read a few books this year that I felt a real connection with. Ayn Rand is the author of one of those books ( “Anthem”), and I intend to look further into her philosophy. Regardless of my appreciation for Rand’s work my favorite book this semester would have to be “The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared”. Jonas Jonasson has a special place in my development as a writer, as well as a person, because his book changed my writing forever and it helped me realize my sense of humor. If there is one thing all this reading has done it would be giving me the wish to read on, and I intend to read at least one good book every two weeks on a regular basis in order to satisfy my renewed love for reading. As for writing, again I already told you that I stink, but in order to improve I plan to write something at least once a week to see where my writing might take me.

To be quite honest with you I didn’t really like this course, or any other courses I had this this semester. Don’t get me wrong, everyone I worked with surprised me with their outstanding talent and potential, but I just don’t think the same skill is present in my own writing. I’m afraid that despite having had the chance to improve my writing through this course my work still doesn’t seem to be heading in a direction I would like to follow. This is goodbye from me to creative writing forever. I hope none of the others ever have to give up on their writing and that they achieve great things in the future.

Part:D

The writing seminars where a good opportunity for learning about not just famous authors but also some that are not quite as well known: my classmates. As I sat through every Seminar I did not think so much about the subject of the discussion itself but rather about the thoughts and ideas of the people discussing it. Honestly I hardly remember a thing from any of the seminars, let alone any of my classes, instead what really resonated with me was the insight I had been given into the minds of my classmates; I learned about the core values and workings of their minds in regard to not only their writing but their perceptions of the world itself. This is why when it came to the seminar on Rumi I immediately felt a connection. Rumi evaluates the human soul much as I do, and his ideas and philosophy helped me recognize my own core values a workings. From reading more of Rumi’s work I hope to expand upon my perception of the world and move a few steps forward in the direction of my fait.

Part:E

The first piece I would like to discuss is called “Cold”. In this piece I tried to portray a philosophy of illusions in the form of an allegory; I intended for the peace to appeal to those with philosophical ideas. The speech in italicized letters is the “student” and the speech in the normal font is the “teacher” who explains the students questions. The first line of my piece is my way of establishing the main idea of the story when the teacher says,“Cold. It’s not a curse, it’s a gift: it graces you with its feeling when all else is lost. It brings neither love nor peace, but it is evidence that both remain in your heart after experiencing loss.” The word Cold can be used to define the word nothing. In my title, and in my piece, cold is used to represent the idea of “nothingness” and how it is in fact “something” and that in order to avoid cold (nothing) we ironically create a lie that in turn makes life an illusion and, in the end, “nothing”.

What inspired me to write this piece was “The allegory of the cave”, an allegory by Plato. In “The allegory of the cave” Plato used a question-answer style to portray his message; in “Cold” I used his method to portray my own ideas. I made sure that the questions the “student” asked where relatively simple like “How do you know?” or “What?” (whilst connecting to any previous explanations done by the “teacher”) in order to guide the reader’s thinking and thought process throughout the piece.

After reading through the piece I later decided that in order to make the two speakers appear more distinct and separate, as well as to help give them different tones, to italicize one of them as it gives the piece a distinct flow and sense of structure. “Cold” was my first attempt at an allegory and I would say that for what it is it is a big step in my experience and overall development as a writer.

Next I would like to discuss perhaps my favorite piece this year, “Liberty”. Liberty, the protagonist, is a young clumsy women who tightropes in many dangerous ways, with surprising results. In my extension of this piece, my final creat story, the title “Liberty” takes on a whole new meaning for the reader as it becomes the fanciful story of how many things came to be, such as the statue of liberty. Before writing this piece I had not set foot much into the field of comedy, but after acquiring a taste for comedic writing this semester it influenced me to begin writing my own. Through this piece I intended to humor the reader and develop a fan or two for once (of course). Like many have mentioned after having read it, “Liberty” is a comedy of which its humor derives from matter-a-fact/ ridiculous statements and storytelling; after writing this peace I had decided that it would greatly improve from such structural/stylistic changes: “…the candle fell and burned her entire house to the ground.” Overall, like “Cold”, this piece has been a significant step in my journey as a writer as it has given me comedic experience and accomplishments.

Lastly I will discuss “The Game is on!”, my first ever news report. After having watched the play “The Games Afoot” in grade nine I had written a brief summary of what I had seen, and this is what had influenced me to write about such an old piece of news. Being that it was about a play, drama related, I intended to appeal to the many drama students (as well as the drama teacher) in the class with the news of a successful play. This piece is a direct revision, critique, and analysis of “The Games Afoot” and it explores the ideas, choices, and humor in the play. After having studied a variety of articles I had decided upon the appropriate style for establishing a critique/praise/ informative voice:  “the play has the misfortune of starting off with cheesy jokes and not-so-scary-effects that leave to the beginning of the performance being a little dry. This does not last long though, as they quickly make up for it with the introduction of a murder.” Considering the fact that I had to do research on article structure and remember the details from a play I had seen years ago, I would say that “The Game is on!” is my most challenging and constructive work in my journey as a writer in the course of this semester.