To say that I like words would be a grave understatement. To say that I am hopelessly in love with them, addicted to them, completely and wholeheartedly enraptured by them would be far more accurate. I've always adored words, ever since I was a child, and that is what inspired me to write, which, in a roundabout way, is why I signed up for ENG 121: The Short Story.
I didn't really know what to expect when I registered for it. I was one of those late-registers, the kids whose plans fall through and they find themselves registering for classes a week before they start. Needless to say, most of the classes I needed were full, you know, classes like College Writing. I was lucky, they made an exception and slipped me into this class, ENG 121: The Short Story. I was beyond excited. I love short stories, I always have, and now I get to take a class that's solely focused on them? I couldn't have been happier.
Of course, that's not to say that I wasn't apprehensive. I think every student has doubts before starting new classes. What if it's a horrible professor? What if I hate the class? What if they ruin the material for me? Luckily, none of that happened. Not to be cliched, but I have a really good feeling about it. The material we're going to cover seems fascinating, the professor seems to truly love the subject, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
There are so many things I'm hoping to get out of this class, from a better understanding of the mechanics of a short story, to the multitude of styles and authors out there today. I'm hoping to better develop my own skills as a writer, and expose myself to the many different cultural aspects of writing as well. I suppose I'm an overachiever, but there's so many things I'm hoping to do during the course of this class. Besides the classic "going to get good grades" and "going to make sure I don't procrastinate on my papers," I'd also like to rework my own stories...polish them up once I've learned more about short stories. I have so many little bits that I've written over the years, but not one of them is completely finished. The drafts are finished, but every one of them still needs work, be it a sentence here, or a paragraph there.
Hopefully someday I'll have them finished, but knowing me, I'll never be satisfied with them. I'll always think there's something that can be fixed, a word that can be changed. And who knows? Maybe no one is ever completely satisfied with what they write. I guess the only thing that truly matters is that you write what you love and love what you write.
I think you hit the nail on the head in that last paragraph, Keziah. I'm sure no one is completely satisfied with their writing. I know that I can feel good and happy about the way a certain story of mine has turned out, but then, maybe a month or two or three (or maybe years!) later, I look at it and see a line or two that will make me cringe. Sometimes I get irritated by something as small as one word I chose to use.
ReplyDeleteBut there's really something beautiful about that, too. When a person cares that much about the writing--when they obsess and putter over and over--that means they're really trying to do the good work of writer, which, of course, is to shed light on the human condition and try to understand why we are the way we are. And that is one of the most important jobs in the world...