I would also like to discuss the steps that I used when writing and revising my Creative Nonfiction Essay. To start, I was really confused, a lot of things happen, but not everything that happens in my life I want to discuss. Going through my previous blog posts, I did not feel inspired to make an essay out of them. When I started to write my essay, I picked up on a really busy week I had with school, and my struggles to finishing high school. Mid-essay, I stopped and read what I wrote. It was absolutely atrocious to read. I hated it. During that particular weekend the essay was assigned, other life events took place. They also corresponded to my first blog post, "Theme Song," when I began my English 100 Composition 1 course. Unfortunately, I only realized my dislike for my writing by the time I had my next class on the Tuesday following the weekend. I decided I was going to switch it, so I spoke to my teacher, Mr. Mangini. He said it was okay, and that made me feel better about my decision. This essay was to become a part of me and it looked terrible.
After I finished writing my new essay, the next step was to ask my mother to read it and see what she thought about it. I always ask my mom to read things. She makes me feel more confident about what I write, and then I follow it up with my sister, Jasmine. I think this is a vital step. Once they read it, only then will I read my work so that I can fix the flaws. My mom has a very good eye for reading the work, but does not like to let loose anything personal, and prefers not to write about her emotions. Her way of explaining that is through a three page essay I wrote about an omelet in 9th grade. My mom thought it looked good, and so did my sister.
My third step was to take it into class, we were going to do a miniature workshop to see what we will need to change on our essays. Mr. Mangini had a special form which helped me see all the faults in my writing. I realized I needed to add more symbolism to it and include more of the senses to give it some imagery. I also did not really mention my house as a place of which I was at. I never really described the places that I did mention. A part of the sheet I did not understand was the "why" aspect. Why did this story happen? I don't really know why, it is just what happened and it made me feel terrible. I never really let out my emotions, how I felt at the beginning or the end.
Fourth step was to do the fixings. Of course, you need to realize your mistakes, and now it is to fix them. I have to add the details. I did a whole lot of telling and no details. I also had to add some more dialogue.
Fifth step, I need to change minor corrections. Grammatical errors and spelling flaws. Restate sentences so that it looks neat and organized while keeping the concept that I was thinking when I wrote it. If I go back and change the grammar, I start to want to change the concept and that is not the point of writing your thoughts as they are thought.
My last step is to read over it, let my mom read over it, my sister read over it, and a friend read over it. Ask them how they feel when they are reading this. It turns out to be like a whole psychology emotions test, but the point of the matter is to see if they are getting that feeling as if they were in the situation and could feel the conflict tensions and feel the things I felt while living that moment.
Personal Life:
Half the week I experienced is pretty much in my Creative Nonfiction Essay. The other half was more craziness. I honestly have no idea where to begin. I finally got a minor hold onto some of the homework I am assigned. I also will be dropping a math course soon because I finished it, not dropping in terms of letting it go. I had a three day weekend, and I consider myself lucky for that. Two of the three days I spent falling asleep everywhere, even standing up in the kitchen. I have no idea what was wrong, but it might have to do with a new cold I got. The third day, I was trying to finish up my homework assignments due like a mad turkey. My school was open so I finally found out I got accepted into the National Honor Society, and that felt awesome. I honestly did not think I would get accepted. We have two advisors who run the society and then the board members who let students in based on their resume. Although I had .07 of a GPA from 3.5, I was able to get in through my past volunteer work, my school club accomplishments, and also the fact that I am in college. I am expecting a letter now for a ceremony that will take place in King of Prussia on November 4th. Hopefully I do not miss anymore of my college class days since that date falls on a Tuesday and I may have to miss a class. I honestly hate when I miss classes though, I could probably compare it to a toddler going to school for the first time in their lives and having to leave their parents. That separation anxiety.
Other than that, I lead a really boring weekend, and have nothing to show for it (except a little weight loss). Unless you think like me, and really enjoy coffee. That is amazing stuff.