Myself, the writer.

After taking this course for a second time, I can honestly say that my writing has taken a big turn that reflects more of who I am. I was able to read myself in a much better manner this time around, and I am much more proud in my writing. I have learned how to use more sophisticated words and make my writing less like how I used to write when I was in grade nine or ten. The type and style of my writing have also taken a big leap because of the new experiences I have had over the course of the past year and the new pieces I have exposed myself to where the style of the writing is interesting and I was able to adopt it into my everyday writing.  Typical themes I write about a lot is heartbreak, betrayal, dark times, and love. I love writing about the truths of these topics that no one wants to admit to because I want the readers to relate and understand what I am talking about on a real, deep level.

This course has helped me with my English class when I took them together last year, but this year because I am taking English in summer school, I took creative writing as a practice English class before I do the actual class. For my future in writing, I see myself taking this class again next year, and plan to even take it in university. I also will continue to write whenever words said aloud don’t seen to be working. Since writing has become my own way of a self-rant, I don’t think I will ever stop writing, it brings me peace and joy all the time.

Some things I would tell future creative writing students is that first, get ready for a workload like none other. There is a lot of things to stay on top of in this class, and if you miss one due date, you best believe you are going to fall behind on everything else as well. The good thing is that we get more than enough class time to have things done even before going home, but you should not count on it. I would also tell them that this class is where you drop all your other classes at the door, and allow yourself to open up as a human, and not just as a student. This class is your time to open your emotions and express them in a different way.

 

Myself, the blogger.

Blogging this semester was pretty straight forward and familiar to me because I have done it before, but if there was something I liked about my blog last year is that it has more random posts, and I had time to play around and make it reflect who I am. This year, it was hard finding the time to make my blog look as sophisticated as it did last year. Something I love about my blog is the title “broken soul” and my URL because it also means a broken soul in Arabic. That phrase reflects who I am because I believe that everyone deep down is corrupt and just needs to break down at some point. Something irrelevant to creative writing but relevant to that statement is my constant feeling of needing to help people because I want everyone around me to feel like there is someone who cares for them because I know what it is like to feel alone all the time.

Some of my absolute favorite blogs of my classmates are as follows;

Abhay: http://conception.edublogs.org/

I love reading Abhay’s blog, his writing is phenomenal and full of so much inspiration. The way his mind works is truly reflected in his writing and he is overall a great person to be around always and I have so much respect for him.

 

David: http://lyricalmurder2.edublogs.org/

David’s blog is one of the most interesting I have ever read. I found so much inspiration from reading his blog because of all the truths he writes about. His style of writing is also very different than what I have seen with any of my classmates and that makes me appreciate his writing that much more.

 

Eunice:http://fragileheart.edublogs.org/

Eunice’s blog, I feel, is the sister of mine. The things we write about are very similar, and I think that we have experienced a lot of the same things which I think helped us build a relationship. Her blog is relatable to anyone who reads it, which is what I try to make mine like, and I refer to her blog when I am in doubt of what to write because I know I will find something golden in her writing.

Myself, the student.

One of my favorite creative writing classes this semester was when he had the guest who spoke to us about different philosophers and their philosophies. That day was one of the most interesting I have had in school because it was as though these philosophies were made to mess with people’s heads, and I realized that not everyone can understand or wrap their heads around these concepts. There were many “aha” moments I had during this presentation including the following bread crumbs I picked up from his presentation.

“Death is like being stupid, it only affects the people around you.”

We also talked about the concept of being in itself, being for itself, and being for others, and then we were given the chance to write about that;

“She sees that guy as a piece of herself. Who would she be without his existence? When she looks at him, she’s only thinking of him, nothing else matters. Everything around her turns into nothingness, her eyes are for him only and she only hopes he feels the same way as he blankly stares at the ceiling.”

 

Reading this semester was no doubt the biggest struggle I had in creative writing. It was hard for me to always put down my course work and start reading because the course load I had this semester is one I wish no one else has to go through. Reading has always been an escape for me, just as writing is, but I felt this semester detached to any reading, and I found myself only reading so that I have something to put in my reading ladder. I hope that this summer and next year I am able to get back into reading, for that matter, the rest of my life. My plans to read next is Mind Plater and another book Ms. Hunniset is letting me read over the summer, and I am so excited to be excited about a book again! Two of my favorite books I read this semester were Arab Nights and Days, and Beirut Hellfire Society. These are both books based in Arab culture and I enjoyed reading them a lot because I understood the books on a personal level since I am Lebanese. The books I will be reading over the summer are also set in Lebanon from what I understood from Ms. Hunniset, and I am so excited to read them. Reading is something that definitely improves my writing because it allows me to use new vocabulary and it also provides me with a bunch of writing inspiration. Since I a taking English in summer school, it is important for me to be constantly reading if I want my writing to improve, as well as my reading comprehension skills. Other steps I will take to improve my writing skills is to read examples of other people’s writing and I will write! The only way to improve as a writer is to read and write.

Myself, the fan.

The writer’s seminar my group and I presented on was J Cole. At first, we were going to do it about William B Yeats, but after we realized that it was going to take a while longer if we were researching a 90’s poet, rather than a rap artist today. I personally have listened to a few of his songs as made requested by my friends, but I never was interested in him as a songwriter, so when we decided to do our seminar about him, I was excited to learn more about him. I am so glad we decided to do it about him because I was inspired by so many pieces of his work and his lyrics are so relatable and they hit home. I learned throughout this presentation on J Cole, that no matter how bad you may think you have it, there is a guarantee that hundreds of thousands of people can have it way worse than you. I think everyone should count their blessings instead of what they see wrong with their lives because what may seem like a hardship to others, is a walk in the park for someone else. J Cole and his back story really helped back this up and put it into perspective. There is a piece I wrote emulating some of his work that I presented, and it is shown on the Writers Seminar Page.

Another author who was presented in class was Billie Ellish. She is super inspirational because she represents that no matter your age, you still have the potential to do and be whoever you want. She is only 17 years old and has songs with over the chart results. Her writing is motivational and being a teenager, it puts things into perspective and helps people realize that they are not alone in whatever battle they may be fighting. This is one of the many reasons why I started and will continue to listen to the great music she puts out. My favorite song by her so far is Ocean Eyes.

Myself, the critic.

The first piece I will be analyzing is What is Your Silence Like?

The title for this piece is reflective of what the entire poem is about, silence and what it feels like in different settings. When I wrote this, I was in a really dark and sad place where I felt like I had no one and like no one was there for me. It was the ultimate feeling of loneliness. I never knew how much I needed to write this until I did because it put a lot of things into perspective that I didn’t think was out of place. The style I used in this was first saying where silence is felt, like in the shower, at night, while studying, etc, and then I wrote a little of how I feel the silence in these times. The purpose of this I think was to let anyone who reads it know that they are not alone in feeling lonely and like they have no one. As much as we want it to be true, that we are alone, there are people who care about every single one of us and I want that to be more understood than it sadly is. The inspiration for this came up from a picture Ms. Hunniset put on Edsby during spring break, and I was immediately intrigued by this idea of silence as being heard. The hardest part about this wasn’t writing it, I wrote it in at least 20 minutes, the hardest part was the revision before I was posting it. It took quite a few read-overs to make sure it didn’t sound choppy, and that I was getting down the right message through my tone. If there is anything I still would like to adjust to sound better would be these few lines, “Silence is walking around with headphones in…That is school silence.” I feel like I could make it sound better and more professional in a manner where it is more relatable. Lastly, I can very proudly say that this piece right here is my favorite I have written in all of the semesters. It reflects who I am, in a deep manner, but it also helped me understand how powerful my emotions are, and how that can easily be perceived by words.

The next piece I will be analyzing is The Other Side of Things.

The title for this is symbolic of the entire piece because no one knows what goes on behind closed doors, and people should be supportive and kind to everyone they meet. No matter how much a person can give up for someone, they might always have that mentality of, “I didn’t ask you to do that.” It is heartbreaking to know that people are that self-conceited, and how you can give them the world, but they will give you their backs in return. The people who disregard those who help them in everything they need are the people who do not deserve someone who cares about them. This piece is a series of things I have had to help my friends deal with other the past few years. I am not complaining in any way that I get to put all this on me, I am actually happy that people ask me to listen and help them, but at times, all I need is someone to listen to me, but of course, the people I was there for are not there for me. I wrote this in a time where all I needed to do was scream “help” but no one was listening or looking my way. There was no one person or thing that influenced this, it all just came to me at once when we were given this quote in class, “ Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I am not living.” – Jonothan Safrer Foer. When all the quotes of what people have told me were done, and I began talking about myself, that is where I want to be real and show my emotions and how everything I have been put through by other people makes me feel. Another thing I think about a lot is that people in a relationship might have the mentality of “oh, this person helped me, now I have to listen to their stupid problems.” Having this mentality that helping the people who help you means that you owe them is a clear sign that they are not good friends. If you wake up with a strain of thinking that you have to put in immense effort to keep a friendship going, then I am sorry, but that person is not your friend. A friend should help take care of your burdens, not be one of them.  My favorite part of the piece is the last line, “It is too much to ask for, I know, so here I am writing it out because crying does not help anything anymore.” This was meant to leave the reader with something deep to think about, that no one around them is okay. We all have things we are going through, but we all have our own ways of masking the pain. The least a person can do is make everyone around us feel welcomed, cared for, and loved.

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