Dear Dr. V,
First, let me say how much I have thoroughly enjoyed this course. As someone who desires a career in writing, I have seen so many benefits that this class has to give. I believe that this course has helped to broaden my horizons in terms of writing creatively. The prompts were very unique and unlike any other creative writing prompts I’ve ever been given. I’ve found that a prompt with the right balance of structure and freedom can really get my muse working. I write almost every day, be it a creative prompt, progress on a novel/novella idea, progress on a screenplay, or just a quick line or two in my journal. I’ve learned that sometimes, maybe even most times, you’ve just gotta let the word vomit happen and worry about eloquence later in the revision process.
While I cannot be sure of any improvement in my actual writing from this course, I believe that I have become more fearless with my writing. I am taking more chances and not worrying about eloquence or sloppiness. I’ve actually surprised myself with a few of the pieces I’ve written since the start of this semester. The ability you gave us to stray from the prompts and make our best possible work really helped the creative process. Multiple times I’ve said, “I don’t think this is what Dr. V had in mind for this prompt, but I’m gonna go with it anyway,”.
The different genres we explored were all very interesting. I will admit that when you said we were to start with poetry, I was a bit disappointed. I have had so much experience with poetry; in my high school English classes, in my high school creative writing class, I even took a poetry seminar class in my high school. I wondered what more you could possibly teach me. It then did surprise me when you did not lecture us about iambic pentameter or tell us about different types of poetry, and it surprised me that our first poetry assignment was not to write a sonnet or a villanelle or a limerick. It was simply to use anaphora in a poem. And this was what all poetry prompts were like. Don’t worry about structure, focus on content, use this little trick, and just write. It was unlike any poetry lesson I had ever had.
Out of the three genres we explored, I think creative non-fiction was the most difficult for me. I don’t think I ever quite got exactly what creative non-fiction was. Everything seemed like poetry or a neat short story fiction piece. Another issue I had with creative non-fiction is that the genre seems to fall under the mantra of “write what you know”. My personal issue with that mantra is that, at least comparatively, my life has been fairly uneventful. I don’t have much writing material to work with, and the little I do have is so easily spent. Writing about my life will get you the same three or four stories over and over again. Perhaps I simply never quite learned how to use creative non-fiction properly. The main problem I have with creative non-fiction is that it can so often cross over into poetry or even short story.
Fiction is the genre I was most excited about. In high school I never got much prompt to write fiction pieces, and I was excited to learn more. My only issue was that the prompts for fiction in this class were always either hit or miss. They either sparked something or left me with an absolutely blank page. I will say, however, that when they sparked something, they sparked some of my strongest work.
Thank you for being a wonderful professor this semester. Your class is a great creative escape from the world, even if it is occasionally too early for the creative juices. Thank you again.
