Going into this course, I feel like I had just started to understand who I was as a writer and what writing meant to me. After AP English and Creative Writing 25 last semester, I started to gain confidence in my writing, because of how much I would write and the visible growth in both my marks and my style. Last year, I had never even attempted to write poetry, and the only practice with fiction I had was through the personal response essays we would write in class. I had little faith in my writing, and I would often compare my work to the work of others in the class who would write at a much higher level.

 

I think during Creative Writing last semester, when I discovered my love for poetry, I really learned how to write and what to write about – myself, my feelings, and my experiences. Every character I would create would be rooted in an aspect of myself. Recently, my ideas from poetry have manifested into fiction, which changes the structure of the writing greatly. For a period of time, I would write without any punctuation or capitals, and although I still love the idea of writing all lowercase, I’ve started to understand the impact that a simple period or semicolon, or dash (my favourite and most overused punctuation mark) can have in my work.

 

My style is one balanced between reality and illusion, but I try and keep all my work grounded and make sure the characters are people instead of just ideas or emotions. Common themes in my writing include love, redemption, motherhood, beauty, and I always write in first person. Writing in this style allows me to become as attached as possible to my work, and I always find that as a reader I prefer short stories in particular to be in first person. My poetry is often more detached with the purpose of having the reader contemplate and understand the lyricism and symbolism for themselves.

 

In terms of my advice to other writers, I would definitely offer that comparing your work to others is one of the unhealthiest things one can do, because it can really shatter your sense of self confidence. Also, write what you know. Don’t try to overcomplicate anything to sound more intelligent, just get all of your words and ideas on paper and structure it later. With raw and real emotion comes great writing.

 

I hope to work on improving my style of writing and creating a strong, clear voice that I can be comfortable in, and one that is recognizable as mine. I also want to explore different topics and ideas in my work, but I think that will come with both experience, age, maturity, and just writing more.