Fourth Assignment

Here is my fourth assignment from the creative writing workshop I'm taking.

Q? What writing tools do you have and would do you want or need? 

A.) I have an imac desktop computer that is very nice to write at when I get to stay in one place. It's in my classroom/dining room. I have an open floor plan so I can see all over my house and keep tabs on what is going on while I'm at my desk typing. However, I find that I do much more web surfing from the desktop than anything. I like checking my email best from it. (I have no idea why. Bigger screen maybe?)

I also have a macbook laptop. I bought a blue silicone cover for the keyboard so it stays clean wherever I take it. I like the macbook because it allows me to go anywhere I want to go, different rooms in the house or outside places. I find that I get more work done on the laptop for some reason. I think it must be because it allows me to go so many places, like the couch or bed where I can be comfortable and I'm able to sit down and get the words out, verses being tied to a chair and desk.

   Also I have a 5-star notebook and a Bic Velocity pen that I carry around to jot notes down and to write things longhand sometimes. If I have a stray thought or dream, it goes in the notebook, because it's quicker than opening up a pc and writing it down.

Q? What type of writing props do you have, if any?

   A.) I don't have any writing props, but I LIKE the idea of having one. I especially like the idea of the figurine that you can pack around and put by your laptop wherever you go! I may go hunting for one now! I don't require props though for writing. I require the right atmosphere. I have to be semi-relaxed. I can't write when I'm jittery, anxious, or agitated. If I do it's all angry and incoherent. 

   I guess if you call it a prop, I HAVE to have a keyboard. I'm a fast typer and am able to write best with a keyboard. My thoughts flow fast, and so do my fingers. Handwriting is way too slow for me.  

Q? Where do you prefer to do your writing and does that place exist or do you need to still create it?

    A.) I can write pretty much anywhere, as long as its relaxing or I can write in a very busy place where I feel like no one is noticing me. I CAN'T write in a place where I can't concentrate and feel as if I'm being observed. So basically, I need to be mostly by myself or in a very crowded place where I can get lost in the crowd. I don't want to be noticed while writing; I feel like people may invade my privacy and I can't get to that quiet place in my mind where I can create and write.

Second Assignment

Here's my second assignment in my creative writing workshop I'm taking at universalclass.com

Q? I was asked to describe my fear(s) that hold me back from writing. From giving it my all.

Here's my answer.
A.Hmm.... You want to know my fears on writing? 

I'm like most everyone else on the planet and have the fear of writing words that suck, that are pure drivel.  I fear that no matter how long I try and practice, that the best work I can produce would belong in the trash compactor. It's also a scary thing to put your words out there. To let pieces of yourself go, your words, and to be exposed to others. It's so easy to get hurt that way. It takes courage to put yourself out there and to keep banging into that brick wall, until it comes tumbling down. It takes courage, perseverance, and discipline. 

I know I have weak areas that I do need to work on in my writing, one of them being dialogue. I have no problem talking to people in real life, so why can't I get my characters to open up more on the page?

I was reading an article not too long ago that suggested you go out in public and eavesdrop on people around you. I did this today in K-Mart. A lady was talking to two acquaintances about her daughter's voice lessons that may or may not happen the day after Christmas. She thought it was funny that the music teacher was going to hold lessons the day after Christmas, and was going to take her, until her mother-in-law called and announced that she was going to hold a family dinner. So the lady had to back out of the lessons. (This had to be the most boring conversation in the history of conversations). I moved on, after stupidly standing there staring at brown and white teddy bears in hoodies. Did I mention I was in the toy section?

Hoping for more interesting dialogue, I wondered into the pharmacy isle looking for the latest spin style brush from Con-Air for hair-care. I happened upon an older gentleman, with a country twang and a walking cane talking to a couple of old friends. He was telling them how he was broke and hobbling around with the cane. He said he had a chiropractor who x-rayed him, when he walked with pain in the knee. The doctor asked him if he had fallen. The gentleman said, "No, I haven't." But then he got to thinking. "Well, about six months ago, I was out plowing the back 40 and I stepped down off my tractor and fell over. But I got back up. I was ok." The doctor said, "That's the way these injuries occur. Something minor gets pulled or inflamed and you can't tell, but it will set up a huge problem down the road." The gentleman continued to tell his friends, how many weeks of adjustments he had to go through to get his leg feeling better again. But he still wasn't there yet, as he still had the cane.

Since I didn't get lucky enough to hear any juicy gossip, I paid for my purchases and left the store. Perhaps, I could try going to the local bar for more scintillating conversation? 

 I suppose the key to conquering your fears, is just to face them. Don't look at fear at something that paralyzes you, but instead as a tool to make you think on your toes, to grow and adapt, and become something more that you are at the moment. It can be a tool for growth. That's how I choose to look at it!

First Assignment

Here's my first assignment I was asked to complete in my creative writing course at universalclass.com.

Q? Describe the room your in.

A. The light reflects off the eggshell white walls of the bedroom I find myself in. It's late, I'm sitting in bed with my favorite patchwork quilt pulled up and bunched around me. Even though it's late, my toddler hasn't found her way to dreamland yet and is amusing herself by looking at her story books next to me. 

This room looks like a toy bomb went off in it. A pink, polka dotted toy bomb. There is a two-story Barbie mansion sitting in the middle of the room, with Barbie dolls in all states of dress and undress lying all around it. I wonder if the party at the Barbie mansion got out of control, and perhaps the jealous Porcelain Fairy Doll, (who didn't get invited to the party), used the Fisher Price phone to call the GI Joe cops? Perhaps that's why the dolls are laying all about the room looking as if they have partied too hard. Prince Charming has lost one boot and his crown.

The ponies must have come to the party too, or been invited to the corner of the room, for a tea party. A toy table has been set up in the corner with fake cake and teacups for a tea party not to be missed. My Little Ponies are all around in varying colors from pink to green. The brown contrast of the room's carpet really sets off the yellow color of Buttercup Surprise Pony's plastic body.

My gaze drifts from the toy-strewn floor to the walls of this room. Magical art abounds, fairies fly across the walls, flowers bloom on the windowsill, and a huge painting of "The Swan Princess" ballet hangs over the full size bed.

It's a room of magic, of imagination, and inspiration, of rainbows, and childhood giggles all wrapped up in the smells of lavender and vanilla. It's a room for dreamers. 

Creative Writing Workshop via Universal Class

Q? What's playing on my playlist?
A. Skillet "Falling Inside the Black"

So I was visiting my local public library's website and found an exciting discovery. Universal Class is now available, offering tons of online classes that you can take for FREE! I love learning new things and I'm a HUGE fan of office supplies. I love pencils, pens and notebooks. I hated elementary, secondary school, except my senior year, BUT I LOVED college. I managed to amass two college degrees. I've missed being a student so I was so stoked to find out that I can take classes for free. 

     I immediately enrolled in Gregg Shorthand 101 and a creative writing workshop. I shortly dropped the shorthand course because I discovered that it would take a HUGE amount of effort, time and practice for me to learn how to write shorthand. I thought learning shorthand would be a good skill for me to have as I am always writing. But after evaluating the pros and cons, I decided that a more effective use of my time would be to take the creative writing course. With the digital age today, voice recorders and software abound and I'm also a super fast typist so, for me, even learning how to write shorthand would not be as fast as me typing. 

   I did decide to take the creative writing workshop and I thought that I'd post my assignments online for you guys to read. If I am spending time learning and sharing something new, then why not share here on my blog too? So the next few posts will be in relation to the writing exercises that I'm being asked to do in my class.

   Blessings!

    

Universal Class

Hi,
  Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm the worst about regularly updating my blog. For some reason, it's hard for me to remember to log in and write a blog entry. I have no problem with twitter or tumblr, but for some reason this blog seems like more effort to update. I think its because twitter and tumblr are so quick and I feel like I don't have to compose elaborate sentences that relate to each other to form paragraphs. I feel like I can be random on twitter and tumblr. It's ok for me to shoot out a quick 142 characters on life, love or what I'm having for lunch. But on my blog, here, I feel that I need to compose an elaborate posts.
So from now on I'm going to post like I would on twitter and tumblr and see what comes of it. I'm going to let myself hang loose. WARNING: May result in random, unrelated blog posts that could be a waste of time reading OR may be entertaining, madcap, dramatic reading! Time will tell!