● Look back at your mid-term story. Compare it to your final story.

How have you

improved? Support your answers with evidence from your work. (Or, to put it
another way, point to the differences.)
My mid-term story was an experiment that I was risking to take. It seemed rushed in it
work as the plot moved along very fast and left stories in the plot that could have been
filled very easily. The main characters were also not actionable; they just had actions
done to them throughout the story. In the final story, this character commits the actions
that help move the plot along. She is the one who decides to run away in the first place,
which is one of the major plot lines. She was the one who decided to keep fighting and
showing her power to those around her. She also chose to stay with Jax as Celina
marked him first, and it was her idea in the first place. Some characters made sense in
the story, and all characters' development seemed complete without holes or gaps in the
first. In the mid-term story, a character, Madgela, had high relevance and a close
relationship with the characters, though she was skimmed over. I made sure that this
was not in the final story. Chelan and Alex were close characters to Celina and instead of
skipping over their relationship, I made sure that the evidence of their closeness was
seen throughout the entire story.
● What moves did you steal from stories that you read this semester? Point to some
moves you made in your final story, and tell me what story they came from.
In the first story, The End of the Civil War Days that we read in class, I was impressed
by the usage of dialogue and the way it was in the story. I had always been scared of
dialogue and how to use it properly but I based a lot of my dialogue in my story off of
this piece. I also used the formatting of this piece as inspiration for mine with the larger
paragraphs but also small ones every so often being in place as breaking points in the
story. I did not want to have very large paragraphs so I based that method sort of off of
wildfire Johnny with the separation in text as well as using Italicized wording to add
separation in time and characters. I had never really seen a lot of that before and wanted
to try it out in this piece. In the Wildfire Johnny, I noted how the author was able to
move the timeline pretty quickly as well and I worked hard throughout mine to emulate
that fast paced, but understandable time line.

● Tell me about your self-concept as a writer. How do you feel about writing? How
 has this changed from the beginning of the semester?
In the beginning, I was ashamed of my writing to be completely honest. I still sort of am.
I love writing, and its one of my favorite things but when it comes to sharing the writing
that is a whole different process for me. Its like exposing myself to critical judgement
that I take personally. I think, however, Lydia Millet helped me to see passed that. She
knew sometimes that her work, even award-winning work could be refined but did not
care. She understood criticism and accepted it because that meant that someone saw
your work read it and took the time to critic it. It was being spoken about. I think also
her confidence in herself as a writer helped me to emulate that. I want to be more
confident so seeing strong women like that in the field really helped me. This last piece
was truly me, all the things I enjoy as a reader wre in this piece so it got me excited. I
think at the beginning of the year, I was not writing pieces that I would like reading
which made me get into my head, however, now I am writing pieces that I would enjoy
reading so I am putting more confidence and joy into it.

● How (and where and when) do you work best on creative projects? Describe your
ideal process & routine. Any changes or discoveries since the beginning of the
semester?
I like to be in a quiet place. I usually like to rent a room in Irwin and listen to music
with limited distractions, just me and the notebook. This was different from the
beginning of the year when I would just do it in my room or with friends, but then get
distracted. While I was actually writing later on, I took what Lydia Millet said about just
sitting and writing of the seat of your pants, and I really enjoyed that take on writing. I
realized that when I tried to plan out the story before, it made me feel trapped and wasnt
as creative as I wanted to be. After this shift in my writing, I could write for longer and
have more expressive details in my work. I would write at the beginning for like an hour
or two and then get tired but at the end, I could write for hours (4-5) and not care. My
hand would hurt, but my brain was still going because it was a creative process for me
rather than a box I put myself into.
● How do you think a "good writer" goes about writing? What does it look like for
that person? (And how has your answer changed since you thought about this at
the beginning of the semester?)
I think a good writer gives themselves pressure. They make themselves write even when
they dont want to. This helps to push past the writer's block. They write from their heart
and emotion and work to express that to readers. Writers listen to critics without taking
them personally and reflect on their work the whole time. They dont just edit words, but
entire phrases or topics, which I learned in the revision regimen. This can completely
change a story for the better and often surprises the writer. I think I realized that to be a
good writer, you have to write what you want to write. If you dont care about your work
it reflects it into the pieces. Now not every piece is going to be stellar but if you care
about your work and put time and effort into it, it heavily reflects in the pieces.
● What's next for you—as a writer, a storyteller, a creative individual? How will you
apply what you've learned in this class?

I have learned to be frank and not to care what people think about my work personally. I
want to improve my work and having people with opinions look at it does not mean that
they are judging me personally for it. I think as a creative person, I will not be the one
who holds myself back because of fear of rejection. This has limited me so far into my
life and as Im getting older, its limited my dreams. I want to use this class as a reflection
that I am good and that their are people out there who care about me and want to see
my success. My writing group really inspired me throughout my writing journey with
their encouragement and their amazing pieces and their willingness to share with me so
I want to keep using that in my future.