6:30 in the Morning

I have mixed feelings about the night shift, particularly when all my co-workers leave and I am left her with a few busy janitors around 6:30 in the morning.

On the one hand, I am seeing a part of the day that no one else gets to see. I work in a modern constructed building meaning that the facade of the building is all windows and I get to watch the sky change all kinds of intricate colors as the sunrises everyday. While I am at a desk, since not many are familiar with 6:30 in the morning its peaceful and I can read, write or get any kind of computer work done. It's quite an easy job at 6:30 in the morning.

On the other hand, 6:30 in the morning is a lonely time. There is no one here except me and a few busy janitors. There is no one to tease or play with, or relieve me from the desk if I have to go to the little girl's room. If anything is to happen in the building...I will be the only one here and even though I am trained and have everyone's numbers at my finger tips, it still makes me panic a little inside.

Oh 6:30 in the morning, what am I supposed to do with you? I used to dread you when I had to wake up at this time and now I am glad because it means my shift is almost done, but are you lonely or serene, I guess it will just vary by the day.

Article #6-Winter Registration

Article for the Echo on Winter Registration: http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/article/2010/11/registration_begins_for_winter_semester

NaNoWriMo: Getting Harder

Word Count:10,334
Status: Still don't have a passage I'm proud of, but story is still developing smoothly with no writer's block yet.

While so far I feel I have been pretty good at setting up my story in a way where I am never stuck as to what is going to happen the next time I go to write it, it is getting harder and harder to find the time and the motivation to keep writing.

As stated before, the goal is to write 1667 words a day, at first this seemed very easy, a minuscule amount. It was only about a chapter, only about six pages. Well, at first it is easy, but try writing six pages everyday! Not so easy after all.

For the first time yesterday I fell short of my daily word count by about 300 words, I tried very hard to catch up and get those last words in by midnight and I just didn't make it.

Today, I was trying to work ahead because I have a massive research paper to work on as of Wednesday of next week. I thought I was doing good, but between falling 300 words short yesterday and doing my words for today...I only got about 300 words past my daily goal today.

For the next few days I am going to continue to try to work ahead of schedule and get as much possible, so that I do actually complete my research paper, but as for tonight after playing catch up, I just don't have anymore in me.

NaNoWriMo Doing Good so Far

Word Count: 6989

I'm on the ball, I've met my goal for most days and I am even a little ahead of schedule. I have set up the next scene to know exactly where I'm going, so I'm feeling pretty good.

One of my friends informed me today that she read an article about how publishers hate NaNoWriMo, because people will write these novels and immediately send them to the publishers. I certainly will not be doing that, but I was thinking about starting some kind of revision goal for the next year so as to make this novel into something worth reading later...right now its where it is supposed to be at a 0 draft.

NaNoWriMo Day Three

Word Count: 5256

For the first time I did not go over 1,666 words, instead I am slightly under that goal, but it is still extremely early in the day and I may feel the motivation to write a hundred more words or even more later.

Challenges I have faced so far: this novel is a 0 draft and therefore pretty bad. I have to keep going and I have to keep pushing myself to write without going back or else I would start obsessing over the details and never meet my goal each day.

However, sacrifices I have made in order to meet my goal each day, include not being able to decide on a setting for my story. A part of me pictures it in the big apple whereas another part of me pictures it in a small town, these two settings would give the book a completely different tone. All I know is my main character walks everywhere, so maybe somehow it could be half and half? But am I really knowledgeable enough about any place that aren't the suburbs I grew up in to write about it.

A second challenge I am hoping I face only because it is only day three and we are so early on in the game is the fact that I do not really have an excerpt I am proud to post yet. Perhaps, if I went back and read my story I might find something, but the fact that I will not allow myself to go back and fix anything is stopping me from looking.

I hope that something I write in the next twenty-seven days will just seem so fun to me I will not feel ashamed to post it as an excerpt.

Help a Nonprofit Literary Organization!

Day two of National Novel Writing Month
Word count: 3644
Novel Title: Fairy Godmothers Inc.

I also learned more about the program of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) itself. It is part of a bigger organization known as The Office of Letters and Light, who much like 826Michigan and other 826's, bring free creative writing programs for children and adults. It also gives money to classrooms for teachers of young writers. I suggest, if you support literacy in anyway you should donate to this company!

You can donate at: http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1891&AID=935&PID=177723

If you are curious about exactly where your donations are going (or skeptical, seeing as how so many people are asking for money these days), you can visit http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/wheredonationsgo for exact details. They even have a pdf chart for you to look at and everything!!!

First Day of NaNoWriMo

The website is not letting me sign on, which I am really bummed out about because I completed my words and even though I started out just babbling in the beginning I think I have written myself to a wonderful story. Anyway, the website will not believe me later but here are my facts.

Word count: 1782
Genre: Chick Lit
Novel Title: Fairy Godmothers Inc.

NaNoWriMo

I pledge allegiance to write a novel....

It has begun, my first year participating in National Novel Writing Month! The goal is to write a 175 page or 50,000 word novel in thirty days, by writing 6-10 pages of a novel a day.

I know I have to get started sometime today, but I have not idea what I am going to do. Should I write the sequel to the Underwater Adventure story that isn't exactly finished itself yet? Shall I whip out my barista characters? Or none of the above!

After all, the point of this is to start writing from scratch...so maybe I should do just that, just start writing and see where it takes me without planning a thing!

Sounds like the most exciting and the most nerve racking thing all at once! Wish me luck!

Follow me or join and friend me on the official NaNoWriMo website.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano

Echo Article #5

New Takes Define Faculty Art Show

A piece I wrote on the New Faculty Art Show.

Blog Colors

I have been trying to change the background and entire color scheme of this blog, but I just can't seem to find one that is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read.

Problems that have arose in my thought process:
1.) I am starting to think black is too morbid and sends out the wrong vibe.
2.) Text that is not black or white seems illegible. My favorite color is red, but I can't find a red that seems less morbid than black, that I like and that can be red on.
3.)I really don't want the colors to be insanely boring and professional either. This is a personal blog and therefore the colors should illustrate something more personable than a professional one.

I tried to Google color schemes and found a couple that didn't work out. I would look off other blogs, but stealing someone's blog colors, really? That's just pathetic, plus a lot of girls seem to have some kind of pink...I detest pink.

Am I putting too much pressure on the whole thing? Is it so much to ask to find the perfect color scheme that inspires me to become who I am supposed to become? Maybe that's the problem I am still trying to find who I am.

Halloween Jokes

Halloween Jokes can lighten the scary mood of Halloween, which is why I always liked them as a kid. I shamefully admit that while I love Halloween, I never understood the thrill of being scared.

Classic joke I learned in ninth grade:
Q: What did the ghost say to the beehive?
A: BOOBEES!!!

Joke good on two holidays:
Q: What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman?
A: Frostbite

Sad but true joke:
Q: Why don't skeletons ever go out on the town?
A: They have no body to go out with

This one is just dumb:
Q: What is a skeleton's favorite musical instrument?
A: A Trombone

This one will make you chuckle:
Q: WHo did Frankenstein take to the prom?
A: His ghoul friend

Awww....
Q:What kind of mistakes do ghosts make?
A: Boo boos

Nerdy:
Q: What is the ratio of a pumpkin's circumference to its diameter?
A: Pumpkin Pi

And for the grand finale:
Q: How do you mend a broken jack-o-lantern?
A: With a pumkin patch!

For more Halloween jokes I recommend the following websites:
http://www.robinsfyi.com/holidays/halloween/humor.htm
http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/jkscary.html
http://www.halloween.com/halloween-jokes-1.php

Article on Forensics

It turns out I freaked out for nothing, I was able to go talk to the forensics team the following night even though I missed their meeting and my article was still published on Thursday. I'm not saying I'm an expert yet, but I do think the improvement in my writing skills shine a little bit with this article.

Article on Forensics Club

My Fortune Cookie

Tonight my fortune cookie said: "A SUDDEN CHANGE IN PLANS WILL LEAD TO GOOD FORTUNE"

I sure hope the cookie is right, desserts are usually deceitful....they taste so good and then they make you fat, but maybe this stupid little cookie with this silly piece of paper in it will turn my bitter pessimism into something good.

In the words of Tony from West Side Story maybe "Something's Coming."

Halloween Costumes

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because dressing up has always been one of my favorite things! (It's the theater kid within me).

Costumzee claims these costumes to be the top 100 most popular of 2010.

I know it might mean I live in a cave somewhere...but I'm not quite sure how the seven deadly sins made it to number one. Though I must admit I do like most of these ideas such as the peacock, Alice in wonderland, Medusa, of course the mermaid and Marie Antoinette.

I am surprised at Moulin Rouge...when did that movie come out 2002? 2003? I love it, but I wouldn't think those characters has that kind of lasting impression, though as a woman saying you are Satine is a way of saying you're a prostitute without actually saying it. ;)

Store bought costumes never tend to fit me right.I know I am not the only one with this problem. most adult women costumes are most suited for the bedroom. I don't say this to be a square, I say this because it's true, if you want to be something regular for Halloween and not something dressed up as sexy, good luck to ya!

Plus when you buy a Halloween costume from the store, chances are if you are going to a big party, someone else will have it, and even worse...they might look better than you in it! So I usually start trying to get ideas with what I have at home. I also like to try and invent the costume, meaning instead of being a character from a TV show, I would rather be something nameless, a role anyone can play.

This year the inspiring pieces I found were the black tutu, black-feather-Vail hair piece, Old blue dance dress and bright red gloves.

This narrowed it down to three options.
1. The Bumble Bee- Black tutu, wings, yellow striped t-shirt, striped tights and antennae- all obtainable

2. Miss America- blue dance dress, bright elbow length gloves, tiara, tights red shoes

3....or for once instead of pretty and cute I thought I would be femme fatale creepy as a black widow...not the spider, but the actual woman that killed her husband. Black Vail hair piece, black dress, black knee high boots, wrist length lace gloves, tiny spiders and a weapon of sorts, complete with fish net webby black tights

The third option has won out and will be my first Halloween debut! However, Miss America is a close second and for that may be costume number two, if I dress up twice this year. Miss America is more drafty though and is more of an indoor costume, so it may all depend upon setting. Hopefully, there will be pictures to come.

WAITED UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE AND DON'T HAVE A COSTUME, COSTUME IDEAS...I found this website amusing as well.

Tonight's Work Daydream

I've been promoted. I am no longer chained to the circulation desk and I no longer need to work circulation. The ora of well I do my job and what a great person has spread so much, that forget the library director it reached and inspired Dr. Duderstadt.

Dr. Duderstadt was so impressed with my awesome organizational skills and beautifully written poetic memos (I've never written any memos, but I could write beautiful ones) and e-mails that he has hunted me down to become his personal assistant.

That way when people ask me where I work at U of M I can say..."The Duderstadt center." and when they ask me what I do, I can reply "I'm Dr. Duderstadt's personal assistant." Everyone campus community or not would be so impressed by that response, I would never have to feel ashamed of what my life has become again...

I wish I could tell you that my daydreams of living an impressive life to make a difference in society haven't subsided, but my dreams have become what they have become I guess.

I screwed up...

I lost my planner this week, I always think I have my schedule perfectly under control, but as it turns out without that stupid book, I forget what I scheduled and I continue to plan things on top of other events with only my work schedule in mind....That being said I should not have been so upset about the typo and thinking the Echo was unorganized, when I screwed up this time.

I accidentally agreed to take an article assignment tomorrow night, when I had a prior committment. I just thought, well I have Monday nights free, but I didn't think about how I do not have October 18th free.

They gave the assignment to me at the meeting today, with the sharp deadline of Wednesday morning (they had not assigned any Life stories for Thursday yet) and I realized my error around 9:30pm and tried to both e-mail and call the editor to cancel, but received no response. I offered to make it up somehow with another story or event, but I don't know if that helps. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. I would not have made that stupid mistake if that stupid planning book, which seemed like such a waste of paper, was not missing!!

What's more is I'm not entirely sure how I fit into the world at the Eastern Echo, I felt like such an outsider at the meeting today and while I ask questions, annoyingly so, I really wish I had someone to take me under their wing and show me the ropes. Instead, I got all tense and timid and my imagination started making everyone look like they were giving me glowering stares. This screw up is not going to help my image.

I wonder if people wonder what a non-journalism grad student, creative writer undergrad is even doing there...I wonder if they are annoyed by my journalism ignorance and the fact that if this were a real paper or magazine then I would have no chance in hell on their staff. I wonder if I've just walked into territory that was already spoken for and I wonder how I can stop wondering all these negative things.

This has not been my week, but I will keep trying-made up glowering stares or not.

Art Therapy

I woke up today and my stomach was turning, I had a headache and dizziness had overcome me in a way where I just wanted to lay in bed.

"You can't do that," my inner voice nagged me. "You have an article deadline tomorrow, you have to work at five, you have things to do."

I rolled over and stared out my window, moaning. Then I saw how beautiful the view of the house outside was and had the sudden inspiration to sketch it.

The inspiration to sketch has not hit me since the summer, but I sat in bed and drew. Tada! Low and behold by the time I was done...no dizziness, no headache and no dreading getting up. I have this sketch to thank for that.

Where the F#@! was Puck!! My rant on Glee...

Did anyone else miss the dreamy and rebellious Puck this week, or was it just me? Am I the only one who cared to see him go?

He was one of my favorite and one of the most colorful characters from the first season. I mean who else can get away with a Mohawk these days? He added an edge to the Glee club, that I'm sorry to say cannot be replaced with the new character Sam.

Which by the way, what was up with that? All of a sudden Sam's on board with Glee club? I would like to see that turn around please. It would've made more sense if he joined suddenly because of meeting Quinn, but nope he just gets introduced like its no big thing, kind of like how Puck going to juvey gets a reaction for only a few minutes. They could've at least shown him getting into trouble on the show.

Then, when researching the topic I find very little Internet concern over the loss of Puck's character. All I see, is that in season three, everyone is going to have to re-audition and Puck or Artie might be gone for good! People if we do not start a campaign to save Puck now, we could lose him!

Don't leave Puck, I will miss your edge.

"Life as We Know It" Really Did Blow It

Life As We Know It trailer

Excited about the plot line and totally stoked to see the beautiful Katherine Heigl (Holly) and the dreamy Joshua Duhamel (Messer) , I saw the movie "Life as We Know it" on its release date Friday, October 8th.

The two stars, who at the beginning of the movie don't get along after a horrid blind date, inherit custody of their recently deceased best friends' 1-year-old, Sophie. They end up living under the same roof, which is a mansion that was owned by their deceased friends.

Sounds like a pretty good romantic comedy, right? The problem is I just told you the meat of what happens. I love sappy, predictable romantic comedies more than most people, but I can usually take something away from them that I didn't see in the previews. This was not the case with this movie.

I would not be surprised if Hollywood wrote this movie in five minutes, or while they were sleeping.

Joshua Duhamel's character is insincere, he goes from not wanting to raise Sophie, to being one of the world's most involved Dad in about 5 minutes screen time.

While I usually love Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses is one of my favorite movies) and the type cast she represents on the screen, a strong, independent, intelligent woman, this movie did not expand her acting abilities.

The reason this move would be worth seeing at all is the social worker, Janine (Sarah Burns). While I do not think her portrayal of the part was realistic of a professional social worker, it was unexpected and she left the audience wondering, what would happen if a social worker really acted like that and told people as hilariously as she did to "get their shit together."

Mermaids

First of all I would just like to give a shout out to my dear friend Robin Bennett, whose own blog Broken Bird inspired this posting of mine and it's a take off on her post entitled: "Brown Chicken, Brown Cow" about her desire to be sexy.

I read this post and very snobbishly and thought, I've never had a real desire to feel sexy as a woman. I never wanted to be one of those long-legged, tight little dress and 6-inch pump wearing girls at the fancy evening party. I never wanted to be the girl to turn heads and be stared at...as an early developer I got too much of that attention already.

Then I took a moment to re-think the situation. It's true I never wanted to be the turning-heads-at-a-party kinda sexy, but I have felt the need to be seductive. I've just wanted to be the mysterious girl that no one notices, or only gets noticed and dazzles people when she wants too...like a mermaid.

Mermaids take to the water and only reveal themselves to sailors, boaters or pirates when they want too, but when they do surface it's such an amazing experience for the viewer that he is stopped dead in his tracks. If he is holding anything it immediately drops and his mouth hangs open, because he just cannot believe this stunning creature exists...which by the way, I am a true believer in mermaids and perhaps their stunning beauty is the reason no one else can believe their existence.

What's more is a mermaid with her long, lustrous hair and flashy fin also calls young men to her attention with her talent and bravery. Sometimes, her singing voice draws men closer and sometimes it's because she saves a drowning man.

So, Robin was right, while her case may be different, every woman has the desire to be sexy in their own way...and as one of my favorite books "A Mermaid's Tale" by Amanda Adams says:

"No man can resist a mermaid."

Magical Fairies

So as mentioned before, in order to make a living while working on my writing career I took a full-time job at the University of Michigan's Art, Architecture and Engineering Library working as a late night technician/information resources assistant. The late night technician parts is just a fancy way of saying I work midnights and like a vampire, I barely see the sun.

I really kinda hate this job for several reasons (one being the unrealistic hours)...but instead of going into those reasons I will share with you the things I think to make myself laugh while on the shift.

I am a magical fairy. Yes, this sounds odd, but let me explain. While I was being trained and my co-worker was listing all the tasks we are responsible for one of the things he said was "So we basically try to fix and watch out for things at night, so the morning people don't knwo how chaotic it was..." I immediately began picturing us fleeting and fluttering around picking up books, shelving them, shutting off lights and making sure no patron was left behind.

Without thinking about it, I actually said "So we're like magical fairies that come in and fix everything at night."

He kinda laughed and agreed. I am so glad he is secure in his masculinity, not all men woul'dve reacted so well to me calling them a fairy.

From then on whenever, I have to complete the dreaded task of searching for a book that no one has been able to find for years, or counting all the people in the building and unjamming printers...I think of myself as that mythical, fleeting creature and feel better.

Update on Typo

I e-mailed the news editor and editor-in-chief of the Echo about the first word in the article saying "his" instead of "this." I received a very nice and polite reply from the editor-in-chief Joshua Coudret.

He said that he understood my frustration, but the good news is this was only a website upload error and the mistake did not show up in actual print...I checked and they were able to fix the mistake on the website itself! This made me feel like a million times better.

He then went on to explain that in the newspaper business errors can be expected because work has to be done quickly. This I knew, but I understood why he was saying it after my harshly worded e-mail. I don't expect all articles I write to be error free and God knows I would never want them published exactly how I turn them in, so I am very thankful for the editors. I was just frustrated because it was the very first word in the article...it would've been different if it was not as obvious.

Which is what he said in the last paragraph, he said that the original draft I sent in was good, but that I may want to research AP style a bit more and I did appreciate his criticism because it will help me improve my writing.

The tips I have gotten from the life editor, Janis Tsai and him have been very helpful and so I will continue to write for the Echo and I hope there is not harsh feelings in the whole situation.

Biology Seminar Article- Disappointed in editor's typo

I decided to test the waters and write a news article instead of writing all features. I wrote about a biology seminar, a subject matter way out of my comfort zone and therefore, I felt least confident about it, so not sure I will be taking on a story like that again.

I am also extremely disappointed that the very first word in the article contains a typo that is not mine. Meaning my name is on an article where they changed the opening sentence I created to one that says "his" instead of "This" and then having this get past the news editor and the editor-in-chief makes me concerned about writing news articles at all for this periodical.

It is still experience, but how am I supposed to proudly display this in my portfolio? I mean its the very first word for god's sake!!!! So let me just tell all of you, my beginning sentence was:

"On Wednesday, October 6, in room 247 at Mckenny Union, Dr. Joan Rose, from Michigan State
University spoke to an audience of approximately thirty students on whether or not we should be concerned with state of our water at the first biology seminar of the year entitled: “Water Quality and Health in the Great Lakes.”

This sentence may have needed to be changed for whatever reason, but if I had started with "This" I would've been sure it said "this" and not "his."

Article: Biology Seminar Article

My Second Article

My second article I wrote for the Eastern Echo was on the movie "The Social Network" and whether or not it effected how students felt about their Facebook accounts. I was able to collect many quotes, but I feel my first article on the art exhibit was more strongly written. I think I am just more comfortable writing about art. However, despite my own negative reflections this article was printed.



The process was different this time, I handed it in to the editor and then it went straight to the copyeditors, so I did not do any editing myself once I handed in the article and it was just a surprise if it would be printed or which parts of what I wrote would be printed.



Here's the link: http://www.easternecho.com/index.php/article/2010/10/the_social_network_may_alter_opinions

Fantastic Ekphrastic Lesson Plan- Continued from Previous Post

Fantastic Ekphrastic! Lesson Plan-refers to previous blog, if you are at all interested:

Fantastic Ekphrastic!
“Q: Tell me, doesn’t your painting interfere with your writing?
A: Quite the contrary: they love each other dearly.”
-e.e. Cummings (poet and author with many awards) in mock self-interview
What does “ekphrastic” mean?
Ekphrastic comes for the Greek word Ekphrasis, which means a dramatic description of visual art. In the times of the classical era or classical antiquity it referred to the description of anything, person or experience. It comes from two Greek words “Ek” and “Phrasis” or “out” and “speak” respectively.
So what? What does that mean to us today?
Now, when we refer to ekphrastic writing or art we mean writing or art inspired by other works of art. Tip: Sometimes it’s fun to go around a museum and make up stories or poems about what you see!!
A Wonderful Most famous Example From classical Antiquity!!!
“Ode to the Grecian Urn” By John Keats- Romantic poet
A less known modern Example:
“Monet Refuses the Operation”
By Lisel Mueller- from her book Alive together New and Selected Poems 1996

Now it’s your turn!
(Students take a moment to pick a piece of art and write about it)

Incorporating Drawing and sketching into your writing
“We should talk less and draw more. Personally I would like to renounce speech altogether and like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say in sketches.” – Goethe- German writer and polymath
*Quick Fire Drawing-draw something you see in the room without thinking too much about it (10 second drawings) Tip: This is easier if you do not pick up your crayon at all
*Add something you imagine to your drawing…could be a character an object, anything as long as it is not really there with your still life
*Write something about what you have drawn
*Draw the next scene of your story

“Art does not reproduce what we see; rather it makes us see.” –Paul Glee- Swiss and German Painter

Sharing time and discussion!!!
(Students share their work and we discuss how writing and drawing can be mixed)

Fantastic Ekphrastic! -Teaching my First Workshop at 826Michigan

Today, for the first time I was the workshop leader at 826Michigan and taught a workshop I designed entitled: Fantastic Ekphrastic! I taught students the definition of Ekphrastic art and writing the first half of the workshop and in the second half of the workshop talked about how drawing and sketching could be incorporated into our writing (thanks, Patty and Phillip for teaching me this at Interlochen, so I could than pass it on to younger students).

I think it went really well and I felt more comfortable than I thought I would teaching, but then again I was teaching about art history, a subject I am very knowledgeable about and writing, a subject I am very passionate about. Not to mention, that many times when I am stuck on what to write about, I do Ekphrastic writing and so I was basically just passing down writing exercises I do all the time.

The only downside is there was low attendance, only two girls that attend every workshop at 826Michigan came and I am hoping if I teach this workshop again that more people will come, and wondering if there is anything I could do to up attendance.

My First Article!

Here it is Ladies and Gentlemen...my first article in the Eastern Echo.

Nature Featured in Art Show

I must admit, I do feel a little sense of accomplishment as a writer, it's not the big leagues but it's a start. :)

How to Become a Writer...or so they say...

So here's a secret I don't like to brag about, I work full-time at a University of Michigan's circulation desk. As you know my dream job is to become a writer and so often when no one is around (and I've forgotten my writing or have writer's block) I daydream about all the things I could do to have my name in print. Tonight, I decided to see what Google had to say about how to become a writer and here's what I found:

1) I did not really find this website helpful because I am already following these steps and they seem rather obvious. http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Writer

2)This site gave a lot of good advice and resources that anyone could use to become a better writer, I'm excited to use the resources and see if they are any good :)http://degreedirectory.org/articles/10_Ways_to_Become_a_Better_Writer.html

3) I liked the honesty of this site, it didn't treat writing as a career like some sort of picnic like many of the other sites do. http://www.jonathancrossfield.com/blog/2008/07/how-to-become-a-writer.html

4) Another obvious answer from someone who didn't seem to have much authority on writing http://www.boundless.org/2005/answers/a0001595.cfm

After these most of the websites get into more specific forms of writing and there are many sites on how to become a technical writer, or a copywriter..different genres like that. Ultimately, I would like to become a novelist and I think the advice Margo Rabb gave everyone at 826Michigan is better than what any of the websites said.

PLEASE HELP! Looking for Critiques and Suggestions on my MFA self-assessment essay

I have completed the first draft of my MFA self-assessment essay for Columbia College Chicago...almost I cannot think of an ending sentence that will allow me to end with a BANG, or a "Wow, how philosophical we certainly need to accept this girl!"

I am calling for your help for suggestions and critiques. This is very important to me and I would appreciate any constructive input...in other words don't just tell me it's bad, tell me what I may do to improve it or what would be an awesome ending.

Again I remind you of the requirements for the essay:
1)2 single space pages (I have about two lines left)
2)Discuss reading and writing background
3)Why do I want to study fiction at Columbia College Chicago and Professional Goals
4)Story about self
5)MA/MFA goals in terms of teaching writing

And Now Here is my essay thus far:

I do not think I am being overdramatic when I say that if someone were to take all the writing supplies out of the world and make it so I could never write again, I would die. How long can a person live without air? I think I heard somewhere it’s about three minutes. Well, without writing it would probably be about three minutes until I fell over dead. Since I learned to write it has not only been my emotional crutch, but it has also been an involuntary impulse and a part of my life that is as natural as breathing.

Just ask my mother if you do not believe me, she’s the one who taught me how to write. We lived in Canton, Michigan on Longfellow drive, which was parallel to Whitman Rd and adjacent to Lowell Street. I am not talking metaphorically, all the streets in my neighborhood were named after poets. There was also a Whittier, Marlowe and Rand, the perfect streets to birth a writer. My mother was a teacher and her kids’ education took priority. She taught my brother and me how to write by our letters off flashcards. Before Kindergarten, I could identify and write every letter in the alphabet. Writing stories is how I would entertain myself, while my mother cleaned the house or cooked dinner. Only, even though I could write every letter in the alphabet, I had no idea how to sound words out yet, so I would constantly be shouting, “MOM! How do you spell….?” with every word I tried to write. Our house echoed with me shouting every two seconds. “MOM! How do you spell ONE?!” And then…“MOM! How do you spell DAY?!” Until I had written my entire story.

It did not come as a shock when my mother signed me up for story time at the local library, probably for some peace and quiet around the house. One story in particular was about a lonely brown bear at the zoo. He kept finding different colors of paint and painting himself with them at night, so the zoo’s visitors would crowd around him the next day, keeping away the bear’s loneliness. The librarian illustrated the story with a plastic bear container, pouring food coloring inside the bear to make him change the color he did in the story. At the end of the story, the bear became a little greedy and wanted to make himself brighter and more beautiful than ever. The naturally brown bear tried to paint himself with all of the colors but, all the colors mixed together just made the brown bear brown again. The next day, the brown bear had more visitors than he remembered ever having before, proving once and for all that the best and brightest color was his natural color all along.

I tell you about the brown bear because I tried on many different colors throughout my life career wise. Kindergarten through twelfth grade, I wanted to be a ballerina or scientist. After that in college at Eastern Michigan University, I studied to be an English or Communications teacher. I soon dropped that cmajor, after a magical study abroad trip in Italy, where I had transformed into an art history major. I was all set to graduate at the end of my fourth year in winter two-thousand-and-seven, when I was up late one night writing in my journal. When the words “I do not want to be an art historian” came out on the page. I stopped writing and was taken aback a moment. “What do you want to do then?” was the next line that came out of my pen. Looking around at all the journals I had filled, all the stories saved on my computer and the desk drawer that contained the manual script I was currently working on, the only response I could think of was “The brown bear is brightest and most beautiful when the brown bear is brown.” Writing was something I had always done regardless and I wanted to be a writer. I tore up all the graduation paperwork and hung the cap and gown in the closet to wait. I stayed at Eastern Michigan University a fifth year to study nothing but creative writing.

That last year at Eastern, I looked forward to my writing workshop classes where we analyzed and discussed the different factors of what makes a good story. I met a lot of uniquely brilliant classmates and professors that allowed me to examine my writing in ways I had not thought about before. However, at the end of the year I was left unsatisfied with my education. I knew there had to be more conclusions to draw about the factors of a great story that I had yet to discover and learn. My writing education could not end there. I waved happily as I walked across the stage at graduation when I received my bachelors, but I knew one day I would move on to earn my Masters of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing. The new problem was I began to drown in all the different application possibilities of graduate school.

Out of college, I worked odds and end jobs at coffee shops and libraries, but often found I was unhappy because these jobs lacked meaning. On my days off, I would work on my writing and find books to read that would improve my craft or help me get toward publication. I came across a book entitled Get Known Before the Book Deal by Christina Katz. She suggested I volunteer at community centers as a writing teacher and go to as many writing conferences as I could, the idea being that the more people heard of you, the more likely you are to get published. It turns out these were the best two pieces of advice I could ever be given, because they led to two very life changing experiences.

The first experience happened when I started volunteering at a non-profit literary center for children 6-18 called 826Michigan. There were a variety of programs this center ran such as after school tutoring, writing workshops and field trips, where classes would come and write a collaborative story at 826Michigan. I started by helping with the writing workshops and the field trips, but that soon changed. One day, when I was helping with a field trip of second graders, we let the students break off individually, so they could each write their own ending to the story that up until this point they had written together. I saw one little boy, Bradley, with his head down on the desk crying. I knelt down next to him. “What’s the matter, Bradley?” I asked. “I don’t know how to write.” He cried. I paused for a moment. His mother did not teach him his letters like mine did? “Why don’t you tell me what you want to say, and I’ll write it for you today?” He perked up and nodded. “I gotta lot of ideas!” Then, Bradley went on chattering about robotic mermaids and spiral spaceships. I wrote as he talked his little heart out. I was able to discuss the different elements of a story with him and his face that was dripping with tears just a half hour ago was glowing now. It was a very rewarding experience and the first meaningful thing I felt I had done since graduation. I told him at the end of our session that if he wanted we had after school tutoring where he could learn to write if he wanted too and I would even work with him. “Okay.” He agreed brightly, but unfortunately I never saw Bradley again. However, that is how I became an after school tutor at 826Michigan and began enjoying working with students of all ages on their writing. I would like to be able to work with more students in the future in order to discuss what makes great writing, because even though it is something that can be considered subjective, I believe there are specific elements that can be agreed upon and therefore need to be discovered.

The second experience was what led me to believe that Columbia College Chicago is the proper school for me. This summer, I attended the Interlochen Writers Retreat and took a four day journal and sketch course taught by Patricia McNair and Philip Hartigan. This writing retreat was one of the most happily freeing experiences I had since graduation. Patty and Philip mentioned that they taught at Columbia College Chicago and I figured that if the courses at Columbia were anything like the course that Patty and Philip taught at Interlochen, than earning my MFA/MA there would be tremendously wonderful. I also learned that Christina Katz the successful author who led me to these experiences earned her MFA/MA at Columbia College and I also took that as a sign to apply to Columbia.

My entire life, since my mother taught me my letters. Writing has been an impulse and I will always be a writer. Earning my MFA/MA would be the next best step for me to explore more about the elements of a great story and learn how to teach them.

Hello Eastern Echo...I just want to write something...

My, my, blogging quite a bit lately...but it's necessary because my writing career is growing little by little.

Today, I visited the Eastern Echo's office. As a current graduate student of public administration I realized that I could legally write for the school paper to add on to my writer's experience. They were happy to see me because apparently they need both news and life writers. I told them I was more interested in writing feature pieces on art and they accepted that.

I have to write three training pieces before I can officially be considered staff. I have my first assignment to write about the Riverside Arts Center "On the Wild Side" Exhibit and with it my first deadline, which is later than most deadlines because the exhibit isn't up yet. I must e-mail he life editor my piece by October 4th and then she will edit it and I have to make my revisions within the next twenty-four hours...wowzah!

It's actually very exciting stuff and I am completely thrilled to be doing some kind of professional writing. It's just in my blood something I have to do.

An easy question I don't know how to answer....Why I Write?

As mentioned before after the writing conference and the conversation with Margo Raab after driving her to the airport I have decided that what I really want is to continue studying writing by earning an MFA and possibly MA in fiction writing.

In life every idea comes from somewhere. It was taking a class from teachers at Columbia College Chicago at the Interlochen Writers Retreat 2010 that made Columbia College the first application I am filling out and sending off. I have completed filling out the basic contact information, transcripts, and sat down today with the intent of writing my self-assessment essay. most colleges require them, even undergraduate and I've probably written about ten similar essays in my life. Each time I always feel like the boyfriend being interrogated by his girlfriend's father asking the question "So what are your intentions?" Columbia College has requested the following information:

1) Discuss Reading and Writing Background

2)Why you want to study fiction at Columbia College Chicago? What are your professional goals? (See there's the intention question!)

3)Tell us a story about yourself

4) Upon earning your MA what are your goals in terms of teaching at the secondary or college level? (Intentions again! Goals and intentions--one in the same when talking about graduate school)

In my mind this means that the perfect essay to be accepted will be a clever and entertaining piece of creative nonfiction that coincidentally touches base on all of these questions perfectly, but in that case I feel as though I have to pinpoint the very moment I became a writer or answer what should be THE EASIEST QUESTION IN THE WORLD: WHY DO YOU WRITE?

I cannot think of a moment or illustrate when I became a writer because it was never a conscience decision, it was something I always did once I knew how...can a person just be born with the impulse to write?

But the truth is...I don't remember when it started. I remember my mom had these flashcards that taught my brother and me our letters and we learned to write the letters from these cards, but then we couldn't spell and I can still picture the little girl I was sitting at the dining room table trying to write a story without knowing how to spell anything. I would scream to my mom who was usually in the kitchen washing dishes..."MOM! How do you spell..." with every single word I would want to write. So I would shout "How do you spell...ONE?" then "How do you spell...DAY?" It had to be the teacher inside of her that tolerated it, thinking about how her sweet little girl was becoming literate one step at a time.

Now that's a story about how I learned to write, but it doesn't explain my intentions for Columbia College really. I could add on and continue by talking about when that little girl who shouted "MOM! How do you spell...?" all the time grew into her kindergarten nightgown and socks. Rubbing the sleepiness away from her eyes sat at that same kitchen table, but this time she knew how to spell...well not every word, but she was at least learning how to sound the words out. She would be hugging a stuffed animal of choice for the morning, usually her glow worm-but sometimes a teddy- and she would say "What kind of adventures are you going to get yourself into today?" And since her and the glow worm could go no where she would write down everything she imagined would happen to the stuffed animal.

These stories about me learning to write are still not everything I need them to be, I wish I had one solitary story about why I write, so as far as the essay goes I'll have to be stumped for now. In the meantime, here is a list of reasons I could think about my impulse to write:

1)"I really had no choice but to be a writer." -Tennesee Williams
2)"When One is nothing, One invents. It fills a void." -Diane Setterfield
3) Writing is a natural to me as breathing and I do not think I am being too over dramatic when I say that if someone took all the paper, pens and computers and made it so I could never write again I would fall over dead.
4)Writing relaxes me when stressed
5)Writing Energizes me when I'm tired
6)When put in writing things either get dramatically better or dramatically worse
7)There are so many stories in life that need to be told
8)There are so many things we imagine to be true that we can only make happen within the writing world
9)There are aspects of life we fear are true that shouldn't be and we can only triumph over them with the written word.
10)It's entertaining to say what you need to say on paper and have a million people read it, when no one would listen to you tell them.

I wish this essay was as easy as the one I wrote to get into library school, but the truth is it's not because there is not a single story or a single moment that can truly illustrate why I write. I just do it because I have too, and I always will regardless of who reads it or publishes it or if those two things never happen.

Best Advice to become a Writer: Persistence

I volunteered at an adult writing conference with 826Michigan this weekend. I was able to sit in on a short story workshop with Jack Driscoll, a novel writing workshop with Barbra Shoup and a lecture entitled: How to plot a novel (or at least attempt to)? told by Margo Raab. I also had the pleasure of driving Margo Raab to the airport Sunday morning, and I must say she is a delightful person.

All three teachers gave great advice that tied together so well I thought that they had collaborated with each other, but it turns out they didn't and in the tricks of the publishing trade they have faced the same challenges. I think the three of them are so lucky, I would love to make a living as a writer. All three of them said the same thing, becoming a writer is all about persistence.

Margo Raab even connected finding the right places to publish your work and finding an agent that you trust is kinda like dating to find a mate...oh great I hope I'm better at dating for business than for finding a husband for myself. She shared her process of writing a novel, which sounded excellent, though in my opinion there are two types of writers, those who plan and know exactly what they are going to write and those who write as they go along. Margo Raab is certainly a plan before you start writing kind gal. She calls it "coffee shop time" where you go into a coffee shop and try to see the whole novel go through your head like a movie and simply take notes on it, then go back and write it down. I have tried both methods, write as you go and planning before starting. I think that I would get more accomplished if I used Margo Raab's method, but when I was a little kid I NEVER planned out a story ahead of time unless the teacher made me.

Rabb said one of the best ways to write a novel is to know your ending and then start the beginning at the opposite point, this especially will work for mysteries. That is a writing exercise I am not going to let pass me by, because when you think about it most great stories end exactly at the opposite of the beginning. So I guess another good exercise may be to start with a beginning and end at the opposite. She gave 20 general guidelines to writing a novel, which I am not sure I am allowed to post without getting sued...just know it was a very well though through workshop.

Barbara Shoup had similar advice when critiquing people's novels she said "Begin as close to the end as possible," which makes since because if people know what is going to happen within the novel, they'll want to know the rest of the plot as to how the character got to the point they end up in at the end.

A comment from Jack Driscoll's workshop that really stuck with me was when he said "really it's not about reading at all, but it's about seduction." Meaning a writer has to entice the reader to continue to read, they have to like it so you want them to want more. It is so true, I mean isn't that why it is important to put twists within our stories. I've been told that Jack teaches at Interlochen and I wonder if he was at the writers retreat this summer, but I just cannot remember.

So of course there is nothing like a writer's retreat/conference to see people who are living my dream of a published novelist and inspiring me to try and make it happen again. I've started applying to graduate school MFA programs, there is no saying an MFA will get me anywhere that I am not now, but it would be a great excuse to do nothing but write for at least a few years and immerse myself in my dreams a bit longer. The challenges I have come across in applying for MFA programs is #1 I have no confidence in my writing ability right now and I'm really nervous and #2 still screwed when it comes to letters of recommendation since most of my creative writing teachers have left Eastern or do not respond to my requests for a letter of recommendation, but it's got to be possible somehow eventually.

On the ride to the airport Margo Raab told me that it's hard because once she was on an MFA college admission board and it's so subjective what the different people favor. She went to the University of Arizona and it does not sound like she has had much struggle becoming a writer to be honest I don't know if she ever thought about or made a living any other way. Although, once she submitted a piece to the Atlanta Review and they rejected it, only for her to submit it again and have it win first place in the same magazine that had rejected it.

I do not think I will be happy without earning my MFA so here's to hoping I get over the whole nightmarish letter of recommendation nonsense. Also, I would have to find a way to pay for it...Margo Raab had a fellowship, but honestly I read one of her short stories last night, I googled it and it was really good, made me think about how I need to write more in hopes or producing some more amazing stuff.

So tonight, I did accomplish some things as a writer. I wrote a new short story entitled: A Selkie's Lost Love. I am taking the tale of a Selkie and scrabbling it up to match however I feel about love at the time which means I took this Selkie and had her sitting on the shore where no one wanted her skin, which makes her powerless, a very rare thing for a Selkie. The story then trails back to a man who truly loved her and therefore refused to hide her skin from her, meaning she lost him because a Selkie's skin is supposed to be more important than any love she will find, but this Selkie doubts her decision now, but it's too late...don't worry I'm working on the bitterness thing I promise.

When I felt a lull in working on that I remembered what all of the writer's at the conference kept saying about persistence and so I decided to send out as many e-mail submissions as I could find off my submission list. Of course, I still did not get through the whole thing and I was being lazy and only doing e-mail submissions. I ended up sending about ten submissions out total, but while doing so I continued to realize I need to work a bit harder on having more work to choose from to submit. If ever I found a publication where I did not have a piece to fit into it, I went ahead and made a list of prompts.

Finding time to write is going to be a challenge because I just took a full-time job at the library, but hopefully there will be a lot of downtime to work on writing. However, I also am stupidly working on my non-profit management degree, which I am hoping will lead me to a job with a hours at a normal time that also carries meaning. I want to eventually become a grant writer I decided...so I probably should have just taken a grant writing course, but we all know we need to open more options up in this economy and it's something to do while I look for an MFA program. So, I will work, do homework, apply to MFA programs and write on my spare time, I get tired just thinking about all I need to do, but it's gotta be done. After all as I heard many times this week the key to being a writer is persistence...and we all know that persistence is hard work.

My Name is on a book!...in the copyediting credits

A few months ago I agreed to help copy edit a book 826michigan was going to publish of short stories children wrote called "Don't Stay Up so Late: A Treasury of Bedtime Stories written for Children by Children." It was not a hard job to get. I just responded to an e-mail that asked volunteers if they wanted to look over a few pages, but months later after publication I was flipping through the book and I realized I am listed under the list of copy editors and that does fill me up a little with pride and happiness! There is something so permanent about seeing your name printed within a book that people are going to buy and place on their shelves for years to come.

The last time my name was printed in the credits of a book was when I received an undergraduate fellowship in the art history department and was listed under the assistant curators of the Ruth Weisberg exhibit at Eastern Michigan University...I see these as baby steps, at twenty-four my name is printed in two books! It has got to be a sign that one day my name will be printed on a book as an author, right?

Thanks 826michigan for giving me an opportunity that allows me to feel proud of myself.

Inspiration In a Leisure Read

Excerpt from: Fables- 1001 Nights of Snowfall
"What You Wish For"
written by: Bill Willingham
Once upon a time there was a lovely young woman named Mersey Dotes, who was possessed of an unusually adventurous spirit. At an early age, she left her hearth and home to tour the wide and wondrous world. She'd gotten a determination worked deep in her heart to visit every sort of strange land and exotic culture her dainty feet could carry her to. And that's exactly what Mersey did..."I've gone clear around and run out of lands to discover!" "Perhaps my Dear Fishwife can be of some help. She knows a wise woman of the craft."..."Please old witch, turn me into a creature of the deeps, I've traveled every land, and now wish to continue by touring the seven seas!" "As you wish."
The witch transformed her into a lovely mermaid and suddenly she had a thousand new watery kingdoms to explore. But soon after that the adversary's armies cane overthrowing the kingdoms in the sea even as they did those on the land. Eventually she escaped, as others did, to the new world. Unfortunately, once there she had to live out her days in a single small all of the fables who can't pass as human are forced to dwell..."I can't go anywhere, Reynard?" "Sorry, no sweet-cakes. Them's the rules."

Projects

I have decided to break all my different writing down into projects that I work on daily. Meaning everyday, after I journal, write one short story and send out submissions I will start on a project until it is complete to my satisfaction...and yes that means it will take me an extremely long time to finish one project, but a writer is always busy and always working on something, meaning if I feel bored with this one project I am working on I will move on for that day and work on another project on my list, however I will always start by workign on the first project. Let's review (more for me than you) Everyday writing routine:

1) Journal-warm up
2)Write short story- I'm workign on a series of short stories based off of paintings right now
3)Send out at least one submission-I've tried to make the goal 5 or 10 in the past and then I never move beyond this point, because before I send out a submission I will always read it one last time and edit it as I see fit
4) work on project- project list soon to come

I know so far, that project #1 will be a huge way to improve my blog. I will research it and make my blog something exciting that people will actually want to read and I won't necessarily be embarassed to tell people about.

826 Michigan

826 Michigan Ann Arbor has become my new favorite place in the world and I am only a volunteer. It is a writing/tutor center that provides many services to students for all levels of advancement. I only wish that I knew about this place or these services were provided to me as a young'in. During the day this center helps students within their schools with on site classroom help, in the afternoon they provide tutoring in all subjects at their store and in the evening/weekend there is often a fundraiser or workshop. So far, I've participated in helping with their field trip-where the class visits the writing center and also one of their workshops entitled "Famous Women Writers and You."

The experience that 826 Michigan gives these classes when they visit on a field trip cannot be duplicated elsewhere. Roles have been created for everyone to play before the children get there. There is a storyteller, illustrator, typist, and most of all...Dr. Blotch who is the boss in charge of approving everyone's stories so everyone can keep their job. The children start by collaboratively writing a story as the storyteller guides them along..until Dr. Blotch interrupts (through skype...so none of the kids actually know what Dr. Blotch looks like or where Dr. Blotch is located) and Dr. Blotch demands stories from each child. So, all the kids break up and write a different ending to the story they started together. At the end, much to everyone's doubt Dr. Blotch approves all the stories and each child has a binded version of their book to take home. It was something that I found myself getting lost in and I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

The workshop "Famous Women Writers and You" was a little more serious. There were more facilitators at the workshop than there was actual students taking the workshop, but the students were older teenage girls and so we could all relate with each other. The workshop was run by a student from U of M named Amy who majored in women studies and literature. We read and discussed six different women writers. Some of the more interesting discussion questions bordered on why many of their books had been band? and What they all had in common? I learned about an essay written by Virginia Wolfe entitled "Shakespeare's Sister" which concludes that for every famous male writer there is a less credited female writer parallel them. At the end of the workshop, we all wrote and some of us shared our writing. Seeing at least ten aspiring women writers together at a table reading what they had just written to each other was the perfect wrap up to such a workshop.

I look forward to participating in future workshops at 826 Michigan in Ann Arbor. :)

What I've Been Reading to Become a Writer

The first book I read was about marketing and becoming known as a writer to begin with was called: Get Known Before the Book Deal written by Christina Katz, who I have gone so far as to become facebook friends with her. Her audience is mostly mothers who want to become writers, but as a post graduate student I found her information extremely helpful. Her book has caused me to join three different regional writer's associations, start volunteering at a local writing center, and yes, even start this blog. This was no end to her suggestions as to how to put yourself out there as a writer and I must say, even if the name Angela Michelle Scott does not carry any weight yet, I do feel like I am participating in more of the writing community now. If only I could afford to go to conferences as she suggests, but at least now I know to save money for them.

The second book, which I am only about half way through with at this point is called: Getting Started as a Freelance Writer written by Robert W. Bly. I have not found it extremely helpful so far and in general it seems to be way too optimistic. I cannot count the number of times he has told everyone how much he makes as a freelance writer, $600,000, which I have memorized because I think he brags about his success in every other sentence. That is great for him, but please share more details about how you got there and don't start with negotiating fees and fines for writing...because for someone just starting this is way over our head! Finally, on about page 70 it explains to the reader where they may start to look for entry-level jobs, this is the only thing that has proven helpful to me thus far, the rest of the beginning should probably be for a more advanced freelance writer than an entry-level one.

My weekly steps to becoming a writer....

There were a few things I promised myself I would do in order to work on becoming a writer...

1) I would go to more readings from other authors
2) I would become less shy about my writing
3) Join a writing community, so as not to forget how much I love it
4) Always journal, always blog
5) Work on writing...duh

So what did I get done this week?

On Thursday, March 18 I traveled out the the MOCAD- Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit where there was a poetry reading by K. Silem Mohammad, he was described by the MOCAD as "a modern outlaw, a controversial figure crafting art, in the form of poetry and prose pieces, from stolen moments of conversation, fragments of advertisements and procured bits of arcane apocrypha. One of the leaders of the “Flarf” poetry movement, K. Silem Mohammad’s work has succeeded in reigniting interest in the form by inviting equal amounts of praise and scorn for it’s use of phrases and terms culled directly from Google searches and the lowliest of cultural forms. Blogs, chat rooms, and long-since forgotten and discredited texts become finely rendered anti-forms in the hands of the craftsman, Mohammad."

This description did do him justice, in the sense that his poetry produced many shout outs to bands, pop culture and items people would be familiar with a google search. He started his reading by doing a few random poems, including one that was published in poetry magazine, that he himself announced as a random publication. Specifically from this poem I remember the words "Some poems are shaped like trees, kids are stupid," which I was a little taken aback by, but the name of this poem was "Poems about Trees" and questioned why we bothered to write about trees and it is true that kids are known for knowing less than adults and might think a poem is a good poem if it is shaped like a tree. However, perhaps my poetry skills still need work, but I fail to see what poetry magazine saw in this poem as genius to publish it.

He also read a few poems from a book he completed where he took Shakespeare's sonnets and mixed up all the characters and created new sonnets in Iambic pentameter, using any left over letters as the title which he informed us was his way of cheating. I was impressed more with this concept than the actual poems themselves, though I did find he was able to scramble up Shakespeare's beautiful sonnets into words of modern day pop culture, where every poem he read basically had a band name in it. I am a Shakespeare fan, but a friend of mine, named Jon, has me questioning whether we credit people who build off of Shakespeare too much when I told him about the event and I somewhat agree with Jon. If this poet had decided to build off of someone else's poetry would he be given as much credit.

Later that night the group of people at the reading went with the poet to a cafe in Detroit. I sat at the other end of the table from Mohammad, who did not really prove himself to be a people person, and found that much of this crowd were ambitious writers such as myself. One girl that I sat next too, had applied to nine graduate schools and only was admitted to one, which goes to show how competitive the field really has become.

However, my lesson that night was one way to learn the field and make connections within the field is to observe it and I will look for future poetry readings at the MOCAD.

Introduction

Me? My name is Angela Michelle Scott and I started this blog because I tend to romanticize everything in my life, whether I like it or not and it has it's ups and downs. I graduated with a bachelor in arts from Eastern Michigan University with a triple major in Creative Writing, Art History and Comprehensive Communications and Theatre arts...but I feel as though my education really started after graduation day, when I was thrown to the pack of wolves in the world.

I am a writer through and through and even though I'm like the many who hope to become published one day, I would write regardless. That's what real writers do, they write regardless of who's reading, it's as natural as breathing and while our mind wanders we have visions of typing everything out on a keyboard.

I have a strong interest in art and as mentioned before studied art history but just recently, since taking a journal/sketch at the interlochen writer's retreat this summer 2010 have I been playing with different artistic mediums myself.

So, join me on my life journey as an aspiring author and beginning level artist...after all art is my only outlet to express how I see and perceive the world.