On Creative Writing

For my creative writing class, I've been assigned to blog about creative writing.

The only assignment I can think of that's more broad than write something creative is write something about writing something creative.

I'm a very structured person. A list-maker, a scheduler, a closet organizer, a color-coordinated highlighter - the least spontaneous person I know. If you give me a list of instructions, I can follow them perfectly. But if you try to get me to make an important decision? Hope you have a few months.

But when an assignment is as wide open as most creative writing is, I tend to flail around in the land of indecision until I'm so frustrated and close to deadline that I just have to write whatever is on my mind at the time. (Kind of like right now).

So I continuously question why I chose to write a novella for my IPP (independent professional project - a year-long project in Creative Communications where you have to do something creative and get marked on it.)

I'm simultaneously excited and terrified to start my novella. While I'm happy to at least know generally what I'm going to write about (no spoilers here, though!), there will be so many decisions to make in the process, I might go nuts. I'll be worried that one wrong decision will waste hours of work (hours I won't have), or cause my story to take a very wrong turn and compromise the whole novella.

I'm also worried I just don't have the writing skills to write something that will intrigue readers for 70-100 pages.

I'm not just aiming to finish my novella. I want it to be good! I want it to speak to people who grew up in small-town Manitoba. And I want it to be well-written.

So this summer, I'll be reading up on fiction writing. I've heard that good writers are good readers, so I will also look for good examples of the novella, a format I'm not too familiar with. (I appreciate any suggestions if anyone has a favourite!)

September is the beginning of the real challenge. But I do have one huge weapon on my side.

Chris Petty.

I will rely on him a lot for perspective, help with key decisions, and rewrites, rewrites, rewrites. An indecisive person's best friend is anyone with an opinion, and I'm quite sure he will have them.

So with Dr. Petty and my iBook G4, I will begin my creative writing journey this September.

Wish me luck!