A Reflection of the Past Few Months:

There is a group of people, ranging in all ages, that find comfort in either reading or writing

books. It is their safe space, a place they keep to themselves as it is the only place they feel safe

and whole. I am a part of this group. I thought I had learned all there was about analyzing a book

from a writer's perspective but I was wrong. I learned a lot of creative freedom in this course

learning that there are even more ways to be different in the style of writing than I thought was

imaginable. I also learned that even if you struggle with a certain topic, such as research, it is

possible for it to become more entraining and something you can enjoy if you just change the

medium of how the information is presented. I am truly an aficionado in writing fiction but this

course had me hone into it and not let me go outside a single scope, allowing rich storing telling

to pass through rather than multiple concepts and ideas causing the story to be all over the place

and no coherent plot. As I did drafts of these projects, I also received advice from my professor

and fellow classmates. They advised me on where I should change certain aspects of my story or

where to rearrange my drafts so I can more effectively tell my story without compromising the

essence of said story. It allowed my writing to become richer with the advice they gave, using

different words to convey the same things I was trying to say or even getting rid of the words

entirely and allowing actions to speak for themselves. As I would go to revise my projects, it

would become difficult to concentrate on a given topic for a long period of time or even my own

stubbornness of not wanting to change a part of the story for better cohesiveness would take

hold. I would procrastinate to allow my creative mind to come and go as I please rather than

forcing myself to produce a project I wasn't proud to turn in. So some may call it procrastination,

I would prefer to call it taking liberty in my creative freedom to allow my mind to be free. This

allowed for richer ideas to flow to the front of my head allowing me to always have a fresh new
idea to incorporate into whatever piece I am writing. Taking my time is the best thing for my

way of writing.

Speaking on my writing, I take a lot of inspiration from many books because I feel that any

writer derives their work from a book they read from someone else but gave it their own spin.

One book that heavily influenced my character building and story elements such as twists,

reveals, and just sheer connection and emotional attachment created between characters and the

reader, is Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. It is a Korean novel that was translated (unofficially

but by fluent Korean speakers) and is by a duo author that goes under the pseudonym Sing

Shong. This book is about a post-apocalyptic world, and it is sheer perfection. Whenever I write

something, I think of this novel and how it created such an emotional tie to the reader, which I

think is always an essence of a perfect story. Without spoiling the book, it puts a lot of twists into

the book especially ones that if you read carefully or reread, you will notice which is what I tried

to recreate in my Genre Project. Towards the end of it I felt like it was too bland, something that

would turn the events of the book/excerpt around would be something no one could fathom

which is something I did. Another story element from a book that I loved was the story emersion

and intercharacter bonds of Six Of Crows/Crooked Kingdom. It was about a group of

bandits/ex-cons/ragtags that had their own circumstances but all had one goal in mind, complete

the heist. The contrast in each of their thinking but being able to flow properly and it didn't feel

as if two stories were colliding or trying to do too much, it was the right amount of collision that

felt progressive in the story. I think being able to use different characters or having multiple

people within a story helps keep the story forward but not take away from the main purpose, like

how I had the Genre story. The Genre story I am writing is essential for my dream child, it is a
bunch of story elements from the books I love mashed up into one while remaining cohesiveness.

The more I write the more I want to add and change, and one of my future incorporations will be

a mode change, where it be writing style font or just page format to surprise the reader while

having the change also progress the story 10 folds.

I feel like when people hear research projects, it becomes burdensome and it puts certain

stipulations upon it. Although that may be the case, requiring you to change the mode of

transport for said information causes you to not be bound by the same constraints and is freeing.

The 4-page or however many pages it is no longer feels like that, and being able to use video and

audio allows you not to get demotivated. If anything you move to using something or doing a

different slide for example. The freedom to choose whatever to write about also helps you feel

more motivated like I did to actually write something I’m proud of rather than putting words to

paper and hoping it pleases the reader. Choosing to do it on something niche and different helps

me find new sources and jus overall learn more about whatever I’m researching. I did a research

presentation on Japan and the history of tattoos within that area and it honestly opened me more

up to Japanese culture and tradition.

I learned a lot about my writing style but with all the writing I did, I learned that writing isn’t just

entirely for oneself either. It is also about enticing the audience to become invested in the story

without making it a money grab or doing radical things just to eyes on it. A great story is about

character, plot, and ability to connect. I think I would always write solely for myself and never

realized the ability to connect was an aspect but when writing all the pieces I did, I felt that I

needed to make something that the audience could actually sit down and read. By doing that, I
was able to write something more coherent and something truly magical as I wasn't the only one

experiencing it anymore but rather someone else could give insight and tell me how they like

it/predictions of where it is going. Overall I feel like I have grown explosively in my reaches to

become a better writer in these past few months thanks to my professor's guidance and aid.