Paint You Wings

"Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is a burning well, poetry is just the ash."
                     -Leonard Cohen

Poetry~ Haiku #2

The End
The leaves fall slowly,
Crimson blood seeps out of me,
As I near the end.

Poetry~Haiku #1

Gone
The trees are dying,
And he turns around to leave.
I am all alone.

         "Good writing is like a window pane."
                            -George Orwell (Author of Animal Farm)

Dialogue

"What's wrong Delphia?" Katherine asked. 

She lifted her head, drying her eyes. 

" It's nothing. I'm okay." 

" It doesn't seem like you're okay." 

"Well, I am." 

"But it doesn't seem--"

"You're not going to leave until I tell you, are you?"  

Katherine crossed her arms, smiled and said, "Nope!"

Delphia closed her eyes and sighed.

"Everyone thinks I'm a freak."

"I don't!' 

"That's because you don't know."

"Know what?"

"I'm psychic." 

55 Words or Less~Short Story~

          Red

          The girl stared at her reflection in the mirror, motionless. She blinked, once, twice, a third time. She moved forward to wash her hands, the cold water running over her fingers. A small smirk graced her features as the water turned red.

          Washing away her crime. 

Inspiration Song: Demons-Imagine Dragons

    "When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature. "

                 -Ernest Hemingway (author of The Old Man and the Sea) 

55 Words or Less~Short Story~

Cash

             The giant room felt small. Blossom tapped her fingers against her thigh, waiting for her turn, a small wad of cash in her hands. Her turn came, and she approached the counter. She smiled timidly at the man standing behind it, handing him her cash.

       
            “Is this all?” he asked. She nodded.

            “Not enough.”

             BANG!

           

            

Memoir

            The Glass Castle is an excellent memoir about a young girl, Jeannette Walls, who goes through many obstacles and difficulties during her childhood. She travels from one spot to the next, never staying in one place for too long, with her charismatic and drunk (most of the time) father and careless mother, along with her siblings Lori, Brian and Maureen.

            When I heard we were going to be reading a memoir, I was kind of upset. I wanted to start with something exciting; a horror story or some intense fiction story. I didn't want to read about some girl who had taken her memories, exaggerated them a bit, and then put them on paper, just to make money. I thought it was going to be boring. I was pleasantly surprised.

            Jeannette Walls captivated me from the very first sentence. She had such a unique style of writing. She includes her audience into the story, making them grip their seat in excitement or their heart pound with fear. I loved how you had to really pay attention to the book in order to catch the small details inserted in certain spots that really changed the story entirely, and gave me some insight on how the people were feeling. I especially loved the way Jeannette used foreshadowing in her book. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, and would have no problem reading it again. It really was an excellent book (though the mother infuriated me to no end).

            I felt that there were two messages of this book. The first one, in my opinion, is that even when things are going terribly in your life, there is always a moment, however brief it may be, that shows you that life will eventually get better. For example, Jeannette and her siblings often had to go through a lot. They sometimes weren't able to get food in their stomachs, had to wear rags and much more. But because of this, they really appreciated the smaller things in life that we sometimes ignore; for example, when Rex brought them bicycles. All of the kids were so happy for such a small present from their father. They were excited to have something that they could call their own. We see that Jeannette also overcomes all the obstacles in her life and becomes a successful author. Even if the starting of her life was rocky, Jeannette got her happily ever after. Another message that I found important in this book is love. Even though Jeannette might have had all the reason in the world to hate her parents, at the end of the day, she didn't. She loved them and though they might have had unusual ways to show it, her parents loved her too.  

            I did find writing my memoir harder than expected. I felt it was difficult to put exactly what I was feeling into words because some emotions can be so indescribable that no word in the English language can portray exactly what you mean. Describing what I heard or saw was difficult as well. I feel that for a memoir, the reader has to connect with what you’re saying; otherwise it loses its effectiveness.  I enjoyed this assignment though because it gave me a chance to appreciate so many aspects of my life that I often took for granted.

         

Me as a Writer

                    I love writing. It's a perfect way to unload all your emotions, to share your opinions and views on a matter, to say everything that you aren't able to say with your mouth. A simple sheet of paper can hold so much. Your desires, dreams, secrets, fears and hopes. And maybe that's why it appeals to me so much. Every sheet that I write on, holds a piece of me, a piece of who I am as a person, of what I enjoy, what I dislike, and so much more. Ernest Hemingway said "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."
                   For the most part, I like all sorts of writing. Fiction, mostly. I enjoy writing essays as well, as weird as that sounds; however, one type of writing I absolutely detest is poetry. Just the thought of it gives me a headache. For some reason, I just can't seem to find the appeal of rhyming words. Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy reading some poetry. It's just writing it that makes me want to literally, pack my bag and leave the class.
                  I'm a huge fan of reading novels, especially of the fantasy/mythology genre, such as The Mortal Instruments, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Hunger Games Trilogy, along with much more. I like the fantasy genre because it fuels my imagination and gives me an escape when I'm really stressed out. Another reason as to why I like the fantasy genre so much is because there is not right or wrong in these types of books. All there really is is the imagination and creativity of an author. The idea of different creatures, heroes and villains, a different world, utterly captivates me.
                  As a writer, my greatest weakness is cluttering my writing. I lose myself trying to describe little things that aren't always relevant to my writing, which often results in me cutting off a whole bunch at the end. As we have learned, clutter is not a good thing to have in writing.
                  I have really looked forward to this class because I was excited to let loose the storm in my head, and write down some of the ideas I have. This class has so far met up to my expectations, and I found myself liking things that I thought I wouldn't such as the Glass Castle. I'm excited to see what else writer's craft has to offer.