For our final project my class spent a month brainstorming, writing, correcting, and developing stories that we wrote about an important moment in our lives. I wrote about my first time meeting a local family that had their father taken away from them due to his immigration status and why that impacted how I see the world now.
Leading up to starting our drafts we did many activities to better our writing skills. The very first activities were writing short prompts at the beginning of class and heading out to the nearest mall to write descriptions based on the people that passed by. We were put in situations where we had to describe every detail of the scene and learn how to be precise with our language. We did many other activities that also put my writing abilities to the test. After doing these activities I acquired writing skills I was able to put to work while writing my narrative.
Leading up to starting our drafts we did many activities to better our writing skills. The very first activities were writing short prompts at the beginning of class and heading out to the nearest mall to write descriptions based on the people that passed by. We were put in situations where we had to describe every detail of the scene and learn how to be precise with our language. We did many other activities that also put my writing abilities to the test. After doing these activities I acquired writing skills I was able to put to work while writing my narrative.
My Narrative
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While brainstorming what I wanted to write about, this story was one of thirteen options. I had comical stories, coming of age stories, and many "sad" stories. I began to write one of my comical stories. After spending two weeks of trashing sentences and not being able to make a story appealing to a reader, I gave up on that narrative.
At this point I was nervous. I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish my narrative on time and if I could be proud of my final product. I waited a day to clear my mind and decide on what I was going to write. By the end of the day I knew exactly what I wanted to write about. I wrote one of my sad story options because I felt like it was an emotion I could express easiest through a writing and be proud of. That same night I wrote up the entire first draft in two hours. The words, descriptions, and dialogue came out of me and I had to get it all down on paper. The next two weeks I spent revising and editing my narrative and asking others to look over my writing and leave me critique. At the end of the fours weeks of writing I ended up with a great piece that I am very proud of. |
On the day of exhibition my role was to sit at a table and encourage visitors to discuss the writing process with me and share their thoughts about my writing. A golden moment of that day was when a sixth grader went to my table and read my writing. I didn't expect anyone to read it, considering the length, but it was nice that he made the effort. After two pages he asked me questions like "What was hard about writing this?" and "Why did you decide to write this?". Our conversation was brief but it felt great to know that my work was appreciated and liked.