reflective writing

I’ve made critical assessment regarding my understanding of creative nonfiction and the class (ENG4017) in general arriving at compact and constructive ideas.

I recall attempting to define creative nonfiction during the first day of class. Though not ignorant of the subject at hand, my analysis amounted vague ideas. I remember saying, “Creative Nonfiction is a type of writing that bridges nonfiction (which is factual) with different writing styles. Such writing styles include or could be satire or comedy, memoir, narrative and even sports writing. As long as they are factual, the style which one chooses to write could build up to an end product that is Creative Nonfiction.

More so, Creative Nonfiction creates scenes or pictures that I believe equates and embodies what this type of writing entails. They way events or ideas are described or segmented coins Creative Nonfiction. There are many types of nonfiction writings. However, the STYLE is what sets Creative Nonfiction from the rest, and it is this idea that is key. I must affirm that creativity centers on the idea of style or styling.”

The idea of creating and blog and posting entries came to my liking. Knowing I haven’t had an opportunity to showcase my writing, the blog created an outlet to have my pieces read. Through the blog, I was able to post four pieces of essays categorizing as “I” essay and “eye” essay. The “I” essay were very essay to write. Writing form the first person was something I knew and enjoyed doing long before enrolling in this class. However, the second kind of essays, the “eye” essays proof to be very difficult. It was then that I realized that as a creative nonfictionist, I more susceptible to writing “I” essays then “Eye” essays. The “eye” essay requires the writer to tell a story of another which had either been told to him or her or which him or her witnessed.

Going to the carriage house was a very fascinating part of the class. We all had the opportunity to read our story out loud in front of the class. Unaccustomed and uneasy to public reading, I felt a joyful release. There were many great stories exhibited by classmates whom I admired reading the pieces. Josh’s piece was brilliant. I intend to request a copy to have for myself. I look forward to the next installation.

Going for money. If a student has his or her work publish by any publication venues, that student has an automatic A for the class. Words of Dr. Chandler as she discussed we would be searching for suitable publication to send any one of our writing. Browsing the list of publications, I arrived at upstreet as my desired choice. Upstreet is a very open, free and fair publication that calls out for submissions of prose, poetry, and nonfiction. Upon reading some of their past and current publish pieces; I realized that my story fits well with some of the stories that have been published.
Now I ask myself, what have I gained form this class in regards to writing and creative nonfiction. If I cannot answer this question then my time has been wasted. Therefore, since I believe what I know is a potent response, I can say with affirmation; I feel the class was developmental and instrumental to building me as a writer to look out for.
As of this point in the class, I’ve learned how to write using styling. Styling creates a scene, mood, tone and so forth. Creative nonfiction is a stylistic genre. I learned to write descriptively, painting pictures through descriptive and telling details. I learned to allow my writing to have dynamic and prospective, which in fact can bring sophistication or twist to the piece. I learned to distance myself from the story in order to better see the story; that which I was told is a part of building a character. Building a character is very important. This is how the reader sees the author or protagonist if there is one. Through the use of journal writing, I was able to familiarize myself with my strength and weakness as a writer. Because of the journal, I have many colorful stories and writing exercises that may serve future purpose. As a testament to the class, journal writing has become a healthy practice for.
Creative nonfiction made me fall in love with writing again. My thoughts always seem to be following freely, thanks to the visual or practical exercises we do before writing. Goodbye writers block.
It has indeed been a pleasure and a tremendous learning experience taking creative nonfiction with Dr. Chandler.