Memories

This blog was created as a final project for my Honors Creative Writing class. Prior to the project, we were told just to write anything, and by the end, we had to have 100 pages total. It proved to be a very difficult task. Some days, the writing would come easy, the words just flowing over the page and everything seemed ok. Other times, I would go back and read what I wrote, and it just wasn't good enough. It didn't sound like me, and if someone who knew me really well read it, they would have been confused. Now that I have done more research and read more books, this isn't the proper attitude to have. The first draft is supposed to be crappy, and getting the thoughts down on the paper is important, not writing the greatest thing of your life. It will never happen the first time around, as I have experienced.

I started to panic. After I got to the 100 page mark, I thought nothing was worth revising, nothing was good enough for myself or anyone else to read, and all of my efforts for this entire trimester had been futile. I was stuck. Nothing was making sense, and I felt like I was just writing the same thing over and over again, about my own life, my boyfriend, my friends, my fears. Even though I know a lot of it was important to write and get down on paper, it still was not up to my high standards. The bar I set for myself for that first draft was too high, and I let it consume my thinking, and my writing suffered. I literally could not write anymore, I was just done.

So, to get myself out of the freak-out mode, I searched for a solution. Over Memorial Day weekend, I read On Writing by Stephen King, which was suggested to me by one of the greatest teachers I have ever had, Mr. R-N. I read it cover to cover that weekend, and it changed my perspective. I was ready to learn more and get a different perspective outside of my own little world and bubble.

I came back from that weekend, all of the seniors in my class were gone, and Mr. R-N gave us a new project. We just had to research and learn more about any topic in the world that interested and inspired us. I had already kind of been doing this on my own, so it was a natural step to just take what I had been doing on my own and continue with it for this project.

I've read books, looked at websites, talked to people face to face, and emailed writers about writing. I wanted to create a place where people, especially students, can come together and create a writing community. There is a lack of resources for teenage writers written by teenagers, so I hope this is helpful.

My first piece of advice, or "tip" if you will, also related to the title of this post. Memories will always be there, and no matter if you are writing a song or a fantasy novel, your own personal experiences will influence it. You can't change where you've been. A large majority of my first 100 pages were about my past and current situations, and it was important to get those things out before I tried to move forward and write about something different, like fiction. I tried to fight it for a long time, and instead of focusing on writing a great piece, I was focusing on sugar coating my own feelings. Memories are all we've ever known, as is said in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmNp09jdghg

Let the memories in, and reflect on the past, and never let them slip away.