Writings past and present...or something like that.

How I learned to write? I really don’t think that’s something that I know all that much about myself. I mean to say, yes, I can recall incidents that have helped me to become a better writer but I can’t recall any specific point where it became apparent I was good. I guess I must have a knack for it, funny though because I was always a big reader but never really wrote much till high school.

At first it was mostly school projects and in my sophomore year I took a creative writing class and had a baptism by fire into the subject. I later learned to love the woman who taught that class but at the time I hated her, it, and anything related to the class. Anything I turned in seemed to come back riddled with criticisms- and not the constructive kind. Oh no! These were bitter words and they endeared her to no one who got them. Then, little by little they became less frequent till they disappeared all together, and frankly I’m not all together sure why. I didn’t work any harder or try any really new techniques. I suppose I just assimilated all that she was teaching subconsciously.

After that, for two years, I was an editor of the high school literary magazine (which that teacher was the supervisor of strangely enough.) That was a very interesting experience; it really helped me to understand how others felt about their and others writings and how to deal with those feelings. There was also a witch hunt for plagiarism at one point. It was then that I started to surround myself with literati chums. That may be what influenced my writing most. One of my dearest friends is a journalism major, the other English/ philosophy- in fact she just sent off her first novel to the publishers! We always talk about books, what we’re writing, and even created skits revolving a church called Grammarvangelists. You can’t hangout with people like that and not have something of them rub off on you.

But because I was able to test out of my college English classes I’ve not been getting any really good feed back on my other papers. Its always that underline “good!” but, really, how does that help me improve? That’s why I’m really enjoying this English class, the other students and instructors are providing me with the information and skills that help me be a better writer. Subsequently, if I’m able to enhance my abilities I have that much more experience and skill at my disposal to help other students.