Well this block of the Creativity Workshop has been sucking even worse than the one before. I haven't gotten much writing done, but I've had a lot of fun generating ideas for different things. I think to get this creativity workshop to be more productive, I need to brain storm for the first two weeks of the block and perhaps write the last two weeks. I don't know. This flying by the seat of my pants thing (aka a Pantser in the literary world) isn't working as well as I had hoped. It works when it comes to writing the first draft, but I need time to mull the idea over and refine it. A bit like polishing stones. These ideas are rough, but with some serious thought and tweaking, I can have a descent plot already figured out before I start writing instead of plowing my way through it and hoping that I'll have something salvageable by the end of the first draft.
At any rate, you may be wondering why this post is called Renewed Interests.
I stumbled upon a nice bit of information. As many people may know and probably don't care, I am a psychology/creative writing double major. I decided to take an extra quarter or two to follow my dreams and get a degree in Creative Writing. My college is one of the only ones in the UC system that has an actual creative writing major. In fact, it was one of the reasons why I chose to go to the school (besides descent food, nice dorms, hot guys, and having my first major neuroscience). I couldn't leave this campus and not get a creative writing degree. With that being said, this summer I finish up my Psychology degree and the next two quarters I'll be getting my B.A. in Creative Writing. I plan to graduate in Winter quarter. So what the heck am I going to do for Spring quarter?
I plan on getting my M.F.A. in Creative Writing with an emphasis on fiction and screenwriting. UCR offers a low residency MFA program which means that all my learning will mostly be online with a 10 day seminar/workshop in the Fall and Summer. They offer spring time enrollment and most importantly, my mom said that it was okay (well she didn't say much of anything, but at least she didn't say no). My reasoning was that I can't do the traditional classroom thing anymore, but I don't want to sit around doing nothing, I want to actively learn something. Also, I can finish my requirements for Nursing school in a timely manner without trying to squeeze them in.
I'm hoping this new method I'm going to try can help me get my portfolio ready. I need a 25 page writing sample to turn in. Luckily, the application isn't due until February, so that will give me plenty of time to work on my sample and polish it up. Also, if I don't get accepted, I still have six months to take off before going to a nursing school (it might not be the one I want, but it's better than nothing). That was the original plan, but this opportunity presented itself and I feel like I should take it. If it's meant to be, it'll happen and if it's not meant to be, then something bigger and better will present itself to me.
So the next block, I want to revisit an old story I wrote about the Japanese internment. It was a huge history and research fail, but the teacher said the writing was there. You can fix things you flub on the research, but if the writing isn't good, well... so here's my goals for the next session since I don't think I can salvage what's left of this one (if there is anything left, I don't know what week we're on)
Week 1: Characters, Research
Week 2: Brainstorming, Plot
Week 3: Writing
Week 4: Writing
3 comments:
Sounds like a great program! Good luck!
It also sounds like, though the Creativity Workshop hasn't been working for you (it's a system that can't possibly work for everyone; we don't all have the same writing process) you've found a way to make it work for you. Good luck with that, too!
Very exciting! Good luck with the application :) Your goals sound fine, and we're just coming to the end of week 8 :)
Thanks you guys. That really means a lot.
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