THE FOCUSED STUDENT
Writing isn't a dream. It's my life. I
started writing in elementary school at the age of 8, when I fell in
love with Goosebumps, A series of unfortunate events, and many other
novels by YA authors. I had always tried creating my own material,
but it came out as nothing but a ripoff of what I read. Of course,
that's how it usually goes for little children. They end up writing
almost nothing but glorified fanfiction. Soon enough, I had the
great determination and drive to create my own characters, and
stories. None of that would come about until ten years later though,
after reading a little book called, “A Game of Thrones.” Soon
enough, I became inspired to read more, write more. I was hungry to
learn the craft, and hungry to become better at it. I felt as if it
were the only way I would ever have fun while making money. For, the
world is a terrible place out there. It's all about survival, and if
you can't survive, you either fall under the cracks ,or die. I'm
going to be a survivor.
So I started reading more and more.
It's something I hadn't done in years. I read small books, I read big
books, and loved them all. I read good books to know what works, and
bad to know what doesn't. And, when I read the bad books, I often
wondered how they got published in the first place. Later, I went on
an online internet forum to get some critique. The people there can
be quite harsh, but they kicked my ass well enough to make me the
better writer I am today. Though, I still needed that little extra
boost.
At the dawn of Summer, June 2013, I
enrolled in a creative writing class at my college. I remember
smiling the brightest smile I could when I enrolled. I would be
talking, swapping stories, and sharing connections with others that
had the same passion as I. Goosebumps ran down my arms as I made my
way through the halls and came to the door of the classroom. I was
five minutes early, so there was no one there. All these thoughts
were running through my head. I couldn't believe I was so close to
meeting others just like me. This is what college is for isn't it? I
had probably wasted almost two years not talking to anyone because of
my anxiety. There were times I would walk away, even run when someone
entered the hall, and stood or sat in front of me before class. Not
anymore.
Soon enough, I did make connections in
the class, but I'm not sure if I'll even really speak to them, and
the class itself didn't really help either. There were only a few of
us with the creative spark, with the desire to read, to write.
Everyone else was just there for the credit, and the rest of us
became buried beneath them. There were times I thought I was in pop
culture English rather than Creative Writing. Sure, we got feedback
from the professor, but no real critique. He was too nice. That, he
was afraid to make some deep critical analysis of our work. I know
they say that the writer is their own biggest critic, but I knew
there was something wrong with my paper, despite being grammatically
correct. I really wanted someone to tell me what I was doing wrong,
tell me what I was doing right, but no. The class was too
“mainstream,” for that to happen. When the professor wanted
everyone to read a book, most said they'd rather he assign them one,
and he did. His own material. They were supposed to read a book, or
his, and discuss in an essay what they liked about it from beginning
to end. That also ended up getting buried beneath the cracks. That
assignment, was a missed opportunity for the teacher to get people to
read more. I don't care if they read Twilight, 50 Shades, or any of
those terrible novels. Because, reading terrible novels can and will
eventually get someone to read something better.
I understand one can't get people to
read. People will read if they like to or not, but just, “saving
them a trip to the library.” No, that is not acceptable. That is
making the class not just easy for the students, but easy for the
professor so they don't receive any criticism. Making them go to the
library or Barnes and Noble, would have been the best way to get them
interested in reading. Even if they only did so during class. All
they'd need to do is find something they're interested in. From
romance, to fantasy, to cars, to detectives, anything would have been
helpful. After I become an author, I'm gonna become a teacher as
well, and I'll teach creative writing myself. I have something I need
to share, and contribute to a class. Especially a class that may not
be interested in reading much.
All in all, in that class, I was a
focused student. All day I wrote, and all day I read, just to get
better at the craft, but the class itself almost felt like a waste of
time. I still learned some decent material, but it's nothing
different I would have learned from a message board. Connections were
made, but how long they'll last, I'm not sure. Overall, this has been
an interesting experience in my journey as a writer. I just wanted to
be challenged more. I just wanted to be in a class filled with
students that shared my passion, but most of them didn't care.
Thankfully enough, that didn't sap my energy, and I had and always
will have the desire and drive to continue on the long, tough road to
success. My journey. My battle. My future.
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