Righting Write - Personal entry for your enjoyment

(e.e cummings)

I love writing. I really do. I love writing because i can tell a story. I can try my best to make the reader feel the same emotion i felt. Though writing is not always for the public consumption. I written, and still continue to write, hundreds of poems that no one has read, its not like they are too intense, its just the point of the poetry was my escape. I started writing short stories and poetry when i was about 15 years old. Thanks to the romantic writings of e.e cummings (still my favorite poet). Now i have notebooks upon notebooks (most are not used up) of my poetry and story ideas, ranging from a sentence to a few pages. My poetry was never grammatically correct (as it shouldn't be) but writing at that young age i concentrated more on the idea of capturing the emotion than having sound sentences. So needless to say i didn't do to hot in English class. Wasn't until college when i took a creative writing class where the purpose was emotion, not grammar. I took 2 creative writing classes, one at MCC the other at Fisher and got A's in both of them. Even my boring formal writing classes have improved, B+ in a English response class while at Fisher. Still, when i am writing formal there is this nervousness chugging through me. Common thoughts would be:

Does a comma belong here, or am i splitting two independent clauses?
Am i writing past tense? (tenses were a huge issue in younger grades)
Am i making any sense?
Run ons?

To remedy these thoughts and feelings i bought a book (the elements of style) i subscribed to a grammar help podcast called: Grammar Girls quick and dirty tips.

They help. But my confidence while writing formal is so much smaller than if i were writing creatively. And i notice i have a harder time putting my thoughts on paper if they are more formal based than compared to a story i have or a poem i am thinking about that has an encrypted message against divorce. I get bored when i am writing about something that isn't my own thoughts.

I shouldn't worry. I am taking this class called: Writing About Cities. Its a journalism class where i have to report and talk about changes a city is facing ie: closing of a store or a redevelopment of a street. All the issues where directed towards NYC, something i am not comfortable writing about at all since i don't know the city at all. So, i talked with my teacher and she now wants me to write about my experience getting to know the city. Right up my ally. These were (are) fun papers to write, i am writing creatively again. She said she wants a copy on my experience with Times Square. Getting these stories back and seeing i got all As on them really made me think...

how do i do this for a profession? Poetry? sure, i could write poems for a publishing company, but i don't think thats something you walk into. Screen-Plays? my ultimate dream, next to directing, but again i don't think i can just walk into it (won't stop me from writing screen plays though). Reviews? could be a good bet. Reporting? eh, its more formal, with a sprinkle of creativeness. Song-writing? if only i had a good voice.

At the risk of sounding like some self-help guru. We are young. These years are young. We do what we love. What makes us happy. What makes us grow. Getting those papers back made me realize (even more) that i want to be creative. Now its time to do just that...