Final Workshop Reflection.

I never knew that creative writing was a thing but it is nice doing your own thing in writing. I am used to journaling every day, I write about my day, my feelings, new experiences and my favorite, jotting down quotes I come up with. I have written creative nonfiction before but this course was different for me because topics were given to me which allowed me to start somewhere. One of the most difficult part of creative nonfiction for me is having a good start and ending. Wrapping up is always a struggle for me because highlighting the entire story once more does not do the job, I feel like it should have some sort of thesis.

There were so many great readings in class. My favorite had to be “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote. This was one of the first readings we did and it stuck with me because the story itself is pretty fascinating. This reading was one of the best description pieces we read in class, in my opinion. I enjoyed the first fifteen pages so much I bought the book and can not wait to finish it so I can watch the movie afterwards.

My favorite piece of writing of my own was my description piece of a concert. I enjoyed seeing how fun it is to analyze a moment in your life and bring it to life in your writing. It gave me a mind of creativity. My piece was called “Forest Hill Drive 2015“which was the name of the tour:

“The beginning of our cab ride was like any other cab ride with girls sitting in the back, a photoshoot. Flashes are going off from the right and left side, the hot summer wind coming in from all four windows, hairs are blowing, laughter is being shared with a soft scream because our hair is getting stuck to our lips from all the lip gloss and then it stopped. The cab driver initiated a conversation asking us who was at the garden, “J Cole. He’s my favorite rapper.” With nothing else being said the cab driver picked up his pace and started to drive faster.”

Although this was fun and I would love to attend more concerts and write a good experience that would make other people want to go, I am not sure what type of journalism I want to do. I like writing with no rules because I want to stay true to myself and belief.

Responding to a piece of literary journalism

When Mom Steals From Her Kid
http://www.narrative.ly/mommy-dearest/when-mom-steals-from-her-kid-2/

What really grabbed my attention to read this piece of literary journalism was the intro which was "One of the hardest things about being a seven-year-old with a drug-addicted mother was realizing why everything from piles of pennies to my most prized possessions slowly went missing." This entire post is about a girl who is most likely older now, remembering the times when her mother would steal from her when she was younger. Their life does not seem great as Laura (the young girl) describes her living conditions which did not seem safe at all. I think its amazing being able to see the life of someone who has to deal with their parent being a drug addict when they are the ones who are completely sane. Its also sad to know that things like this actually exists. I only seen such terrible scenes in a movie which is why I think the writer chose to write about this to bring awareness. The writer is the character. One quote I enjoyed reading was "Later on that night, my stepfather sidled into my room after bedtime, after my mother gave me a stiff “goodnight” and refused to read me a bedtime story because she was “too tired.” " I was pretty impressed seeing that her six year old self was able to acknowledge pettiness from her mother who didn't read her a book because she didn't give her her ten dollars that she has earned. I really enjoy the dialogue shared in this piece and description which makes this profile good. 

Planning an Interview for a 'personal profile'

As I think about the interview I will have to encounter I think about the type of people I would like to learn about. I know many of my classmates will interview some sort of artsy person and I want to set my writing apart. I don't want to learn about someone's struggle, Id like to learn about someone's happiness. As I think of "happy" I cant help but have my six year old niece in mind. She's so free, happy and funny. My niece lives with me and as much as I would like to think that I really know her, I don't know who she is in school. I want to know her future plans  and goals. I want to ask her where she sees herself a few years from now, how she thinks shell look, what would she like to be when she grows up and more depending on her answers questions can take a turn.