Personal Narrative How I Became a Writer Essays - 1557 Words

I have found becoming a writer every bit as much a process as writing itself. One does not become a writer overnight but over time, and I offer the following stories as examples of some of the steps I have taken in what is proving to be a life-long process. My initiation into writing was typical of the 1960s, when I began receiving a public education at Elementary School. Writing consisted primarily of penmanship, books reports and research papers, all with highly structured formats as designated by the teacher or by the textbooks the teacher used. Our schools days were equally as structured with class time divided by subject, the major ones being English, math, science and history and the minor ones being gym class, art and music. The†¦show more content†¦At first, the idea of pairing history with English struck me the same as when I heard that the sixth grade teacher I abhorred was going to marry the third grade teacher I adored. They just didn’t go together in my mind. Then I learned that, although our stories had to be based on historical facts, we were free to take creative license with them. My imagination was sparked. Since in history class we had just finished reading about a president whose term of office was ma rked by the uncivilized behavior of his supporters (I don’t remember his name either), I decided to use this as the setting for my story. I wrote a Gone with the Wind-type tale in which the ladies attended the Inaugural Ball in beribboned hoop skirts, the men got exceedingly drunk and unruly, and the story climaxed with the smashing of the White House’s crystal punch bowl. What fun! As a result, I began experimenting with various forms of creative writing, ultimately latching onto poems as a form of self-expression that suited me. By the time I moved on to high school I was spewing poetry like water from a high pressure hose. Somewhere along the line one of my teachers suggested I enter a state-wide student poetry contest and my poem won an honorable mention. In addition to having my name printed in The Detroit News, a thrill for me, I was invited to attend a conference of all of the winners from around the state. My enthusiasm was soonShow MoreRelatedMy First Year Experience Program1134 Words   |  5 Pagesprogram focuses on helping the first year students at the university learn how to perform in the classroom and write collegiate style work. There’s no doubt that students benefit from taking these classes during their first semester of college. For me, there wasn’t high expectations at my previous school of good writing techniques and correct uses of writing tools. During the course of this semester I became a stronger writer and well prepared for the rest of my college career here at Pacific LutheranRead MoreI Am The Product Of Clark County Educational System Essay1503 Words   |  7 Pagesforte. Nevertheless, this is not to say that I could not write. Throughout the semester with the assigned reading assignments and the given practical writing exercises I have come to grasp a vague understanding, I had never been taught how to write essays correctly. I am the product of Clark County Educational system. I have always struggled through my last classes and hoped to get out of my struggles this semester. One the greatest challenges that I faced was the distinction that existed among differentRead MoreThe Most Wonderful Books : Writers On Discovering The Pleasures Of Reading1153 Words   |  5 Pagesappeared in â€Å"The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the pleasures of Reading.† Sherman Alexie is a well-known Native American writer that publishes short stories, novels, and poetry. Out of the three narratives, I found myself connect with this story more than the others. Alexie tells us about his childhood as an Indian boy that grew up on the Rese rvation. His father was a big reader so as a kid he’s always had an interest in books and eventually it became a passion. As he advanced in readingRead MoreImportance Of Personal Writing915 Words   |  4 Pageswith writing effectively. I had absolutely no interest in learning to write, which was mostly because of how difficult it was to me. Often, I found it boring. As I got older, I found interest in music and poetry, sparking my interest to learn to write like musicians and poets. Up until that point, I had always been writing papers for school, often to write research papers or to write forced narratives. I never wrote anything for myself until about junior year in high school. I did always enjoy readingRead MoreThe Great Challenge For Marginalized Writers Essay1681 Words   |  7 Pagesseen how marginalized writers, such as women and people of color, challenge dominant cultural constructions of gender, race, and/or class in colonial America and the U.S. Perhaps these w riters challenge our ideas about dominant gender roles or racist assumptions about people that were common at the time.   Choose three writers we have studied who occupy this definition of marginalized status and discuss  the narrative strategies these writers use to challenge the status quo.   For example, how do theyRead MoreSlaves Narratives: Frederick Douglass, Olaudah Equiano Essay1477 Words   |  6 PagesSojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Olaudah Equiano all have extremely interesting slave narratives. During their lives, they faced plenty of racist discrimination and troubling moments. They were all forced into slavery at an awfully young age and they all had to fight for their freedom. In 1797, Truth was born into slavery in New York with the name of Isabella Van Wagener. She was a slave for most of her life and eventually got emancipated. Truth was an immense women’s suffrage activist. SheRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Ekphrasis 1293 Words   |  6 P agesfilm. In ekphrasis, it is the writer s intention to create an extension of the work of art in their own writing, in the case of this essay, I ll exam specifically the work of poets whose appreciation for the visual arts has largely influenced their written word and I ll discuss closely how overtime this need to extend the artwork has led to the evolution of ekphrasis as a highly celebrated and constantly expanding form of art in its own right. How has this personal connection between two creatorsRead MoreThe Life of A Slave Girl by Harriet A. Jacobs Essay1272 Words   |  6 PagesA slave narrative is to tell a slaves story and what they have been through. Six thousand former slaves from North America told about their lives during the 18th and 19th centuries. About 150 narratives were published as separate books or articles most slaves were born in the last years of the slave regime or during the Civil War. Some Slaves told about their experiences on plantations, in cities, a nd on small farms. Slave narratives are one of the only ways that people today know about the wayRead MoreIn My Creative Nonfiction Genre Proposal, I Stated That,1571 Words   |  7 Pagesmy creative nonfiction genre proposal, I stated that, â€Å"my [creative writing project s] focus will be literary essays that address humanity’s universal desire for a sense of identity and belonging; these essays will be written from a personal perspective, containing anecdotes, internal conflicts, and external opinions† (1). A little over ten weeks later, I believe I have achieved this goal in my final draft because of the stylistic approaches and revisions I made with the help of the Creative WritingRead MoreThe Beginning Of Creative Nonfiction1517 Words   |  7 Pagescreative nonfiction is vast and diverse, spanning from the earliest known civilization to the present. This literary genre includes memoirs, essays, travel writing, and journalism. The literary essay is the mode o f creative nonfiction I have chosen for my course project, and I will address the general history of creative nonfiction, focusing on the development of the essay. The origins of this genre date back centuries before Montaigne coined the term â€Å"essay.† The beginning of creative nonfiction began