Final Reflection: My Final MA of Creative Writing Assignment

 

Slice of Life: Day 12: Final Reflection

Before beginning at SNHU, I never thought I’d purposely become a student again. I had considered it in the past, but finances were always binding (they still are), and my three girls needed my time – which I was happy to do. Outside of family, learning was the most significant reason for not doing it sooner. It was never easy for me. Distractions and procrastination with underwhelming motivation proved to be a troublesome combination. Throw in professors that knew their subject matter, but not the first thing about teaching and, well, the low GPA speaks for itself.

There comes a time when you need to stop only saying what your dreams are and start doing something about them. My girls are a little older and aren’t as dependent, but my list of story ideas was growing. If there was any chance of putting some extra money in the account, leaving the teaching profession early, and above all, living my dream, I had to write. And do it well. A self-published novel - that only family bought – with a cheesy book cover wasn’t going to cut it. I knew I had some natural ability, but every talent needs shaping and sharpening.

Before starting my classes, I met with a woman from church who started a writing class, providing anyone who wanted it time to sit and write. It was the perfect opportunity to commit to my novel, Grace Leads Home – my pride and joy. Whether she saw potential or couldn’t stand another story with an obvious imbalance of telling and showing, she took me under her wing. She prepped me, giving me a running start into my MA program at SNHU. Her lessons on telling vs. showing and point-of-view were already making my novel better. My skills would continue to grow and develop when inspired by her sessions, I registered to get my MA in creative writing. That was the summer of 2019. Ever since, I had March 13, 2022, highlighted. It seemed far away, but here I am, a few hundred words away from turning in my last assignment.

While my reading-intensive courses challenged me – pushing my anxiety to the max - and gave me an appreciation for classic literature I had never read before, my writing classes implanted joy in the depths of my soul. They challenged me, honed my skills and introduced me to techniques I have used ever since and will continue to use for the rest of my writing career.

I have become more deliberate with my words by studying diction and syntax. Word choice and placement make a difference. This has carried over into the classroom, where I pause to show students the word choice by the author. I do this regularly with showing and telling – particularly with Owl Moon. Before reading Jane Yolen’s remarkable father-daughter story, I wrote a boring version and had the students close their eyes as I read it. After reading the real version, we compare the images in their heads. Yolen’s version always wins. Diction and syntax matter.

I’m currently reading Andrew Clement’s wonderful, Frindle – a story about a boy who makes up his own word, causing many problems with his teacher. After taking classes at SNHU, I have a new appreciation for Clement’s book. While it wasn’t a writing class, I enjoyed learning how words form and change. I enjoyed sharing with my third-graders how hangry wasn’t a word when I was their age. But enough people said it, agreed on what it meant, and now it’s in the dictionary. It doesn’t make me suffer from it any less, though.

One of the most significant changes I have made as a writer in the last couple of years is my approach to writing. Grace Leads Home began as a poorly-formatted screenplay, so the outline was created when it came time to turn it into a novel. I just filled in the spaces. What a blast! I was still a panster at heart, writing by the seat of my pants, excitedly waiting to see where the story would take me. When one of my professors introduced me to Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat!, I was transformed. Snyder’s beat sheet changed how I write. The most remarkable aspect is that it still allows the panster in me to fly free. There are just markers along the way. My stories are better because of it. I have applied this approach to all my stories at SNHU and feel confident they are worthy of publication. One of the best things about the MA program, along with preparing me to appreciate feedback and find agents, is giving me several short stories to publish, helping me create a name for myself in the literary world.

Obert Skye says writing is a journey and revising is the moment you meet an old and wise wizard – everything changes. Revisions during my capstone forced me to think about Grace Leads Home more than ever before. At times, I spent an hour on one paragraph and several hours rearranging and shortening parts to help with the flow while maintaining or building character depth and arcs. Throughout my courses at SNHU, especially during the capstone, I was reminded of how effective feedback is. Whether you make changes regarding the input or not, it, if done correctly, makes you reexamine your work. There’s always something that can be better. But if feedback is not taken humbly, someone could have all the writing skills in the world, but their story won’t show it. One of the biggest components of my growth has been the consistent consideration I give to all feedback. My novel is better than ever because of it.

All my classes supported my growth as a writer and learner. But my class about how to teach writing set the course for my remaining years as an educator. Maybe longer. While learning how to teach writing, I had to create a syllabus and detailed lesson plans for a college course on screenwriting – a form of writing I fell in love with all over again because of SNHU. Making plans for a writing course made me realize it’s something I want to do. I’m good at it, and I can help writers of all ages improve their craft. So, I’m thinking of jumping ship. I am considering teaching high school for the next couple of years and for the remaining five – which have to be within the state of Virginia – teaching writing at the collegiate level. SNHU has not only prepared me to become a published writer but has changed the trajectory of my teaching career.

I am deeply grateful for all of my professors here at SNHU. I leave a better writer – my goal from the beginning. And I may have had 4s in my GPA before, but never on the left side of the decimal point. 

You can dream, so (you better freaking) dream out loud!

rg