Expressing my Individuality
My lesson in my Creative Writing class this week is on individuality. It is about allowing my writing to reflect my uniqueness, my point of view, my interests. It was suggested that we keep a journal in order to practice writing, to hold our thoughts and ideas and impressions, to explore.
I haven't been a very good journal writer over the course of my life. I kept a journal in high school and for the first half of my mission. Over the last several years, this blog has become my journal in that I record in it the major events of my life and what I happen to be thinking about. In that way, it is a reflection of my interests, and hopefully my uniqueness. The problem is that this blog is public. It isn't free writing, such as is encouraged for the class journal, because I am very careful about what I write and how I write it. I try not to record things here that would humiliate or embarrass family members or friends. I edit and revise. I try to keep to a consistent topic. I am aware that I have an audience and that has an impact on how I write. So - I should probably find a notebook or something I can use for a "free writing" journal.
Another thing mentioned in the lesson was developing our own voice. Do I have a voice? Does my writing sound like me? Does my personality show through in my writing?
It has occurred to me that I am kind of a bland sort of person. I tend to keep an even keel, and I'm not tossed much by the waves and the winds of life. For our homework, we are supposed to list five things we hate, pick one and write about it - what it is and why we hate it. We were told if we didn't want to write about what we hate, we could instead write about something we love. My problem is that hate and love seem like incredibly intense words. Yes, there are things that frustrate or annoy me, but I wouldn't say that I hate them. There are things that I enjoy or like, but not much that I am really passionate about. It is hard for me to get excited about anything, really.
I remember as a child seeing other children with their Cabbage Patch dolls, and all the hooplah that seemed to be centered around them. I remember telling my parents that I wanted one, and even finally acquiring one, and then I remember looking at it and thinking, "This is just a doll. What was all the hype about?" Where was the excitement and joy that all the other kids seemed to gain from it?
To this day I've never been able to comprehend the intensity of sports fans at a game. To me, it's just a game, and whether the players are professional athletes or kids in little league, it is still just a game. This time one team will win and another time someone else will win, but what's really at stake? What does it mean in the overall scheme of things? To me, very little, if anything.
Does my writing reflect the calmness of my nature? Is my writing less effective because it lacks enthusiasm? Does my voice come across as bland and boring? If I use my personal observations and imagination and language skills to say what I have to say to the best of my ability, will it matter if I'm not passionate about my subject matter? Perhaps my dispassionate approach to life is part of my voice and an expression of my individuality. Or maybe I just need to figure out what there is in life that I can get excited about, and write about that.
I haven't been a very good journal writer over the course of my life. I kept a journal in high school and for the first half of my mission. Over the last several years, this blog has become my journal in that I record in it the major events of my life and what I happen to be thinking about. In that way, it is a reflection of my interests, and hopefully my uniqueness. The problem is that this blog is public. It isn't free writing, such as is encouraged for the class journal, because I am very careful about what I write and how I write it. I try not to record things here that would humiliate or embarrass family members or friends. I edit and revise. I try to keep to a consistent topic. I am aware that I have an audience and that has an impact on how I write. So - I should probably find a notebook or something I can use for a "free writing" journal.
Another thing mentioned in the lesson was developing our own voice. Do I have a voice? Does my writing sound like me? Does my personality show through in my writing?
It has occurred to me that I am kind of a bland sort of person. I tend to keep an even keel, and I'm not tossed much by the waves and the winds of life. For our homework, we are supposed to list five things we hate, pick one and write about it - what it is and why we hate it. We were told if we didn't want to write about what we hate, we could instead write about something we love. My problem is that hate and love seem like incredibly intense words. Yes, there are things that frustrate or annoy me, but I wouldn't say that I hate them. There are things that I enjoy or like, but not much that I am really passionate about. It is hard for me to get excited about anything, really.
I remember as a child seeing other children with their Cabbage Patch dolls, and all the hooplah that seemed to be centered around them. I remember telling my parents that I wanted one, and even finally acquiring one, and then I remember looking at it and thinking, "This is just a doll. What was all the hype about?" Where was the excitement and joy that all the other kids seemed to gain from it?
To this day I've never been able to comprehend the intensity of sports fans at a game. To me, it's just a game, and whether the players are professional athletes or kids in little league, it is still just a game. This time one team will win and another time someone else will win, but what's really at stake? What does it mean in the overall scheme of things? To me, very little, if anything.
Does my writing reflect the calmness of my nature? Is my writing less effective because it lacks enthusiasm? Does my voice come across as bland and boring? If I use my personal observations and imagination and language skills to say what I have to say to the best of my ability, will it matter if I'm not passionate about my subject matter? Perhaps my dispassionate approach to life is part of my voice and an expression of my individuality. Or maybe I just need to figure out what there is in life that I can get excited about, and write about that.
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