Creative Writing 1210

Prior to taking my CW 1210 course this past summer, I was writing for the sake of writing; operating solely and blindly on emotions with no legitimate purpose or direction. I had successfully convinced myself that that was enough. But as ignorantly blissful as my lack of knowledge made me, I was painfully aware of my deficiencies whenever I began a writing project and hit a roadblock or when I knew a poem could be more but did not know how to creatively and properly articulate the “more.” My writing was void of a solid foundation, like a house built by a shady contractor trying to cut corners. Missing was the fundamental understanding of creative writing.

I have since been able to overcome my fears by challenging my creativity and motivating myself to get rid of old habits and think clearly. And according to George Orwell, English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic, that is the first step towards political regeneration so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers. 

And so forward I march with the learned importance of technique, style, traditional and contemporary models, form, content, five senses, precise language and diction. With the understanding that the visual process is responsible for my creativity and that language is an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought. And with the knowledge that possibly it is better to put off using words as long as possible and get one's meaning as clear as one can through pictures and sensations.

EJW