Sketching

I really thought the Sketching was a helpful read since I consider myself an inspiring writer for future novels and other works of art.  First, the sketching the tree was a cool way of explaining the process of brain storming.  It tells us to go with the flow, and just let the tree remain bare instead of forcing the starting image to becoming a finished planned work of art.

I also liked the parts about how most people are "None writers" and how they feel like everything must be planned in advance.  She believes when authors say everything was pre-planned that some of them, very few are hyping themselves up.  It's best to just write, have some ideas ready but go with the flow and see where the story takes you.
The part where she explained about Ed, who actually travels to his desired location of the story and takes like a miny vacation.  I think it's really cool how he'll go to the area and stand back and analyze life in the enironvment and after everything is done he uses his experiences to help with probably descriptions, people, and areas of what he can picture to place on the page.  I really liked the sketching it influences us to find what works for us individually as writers.

Farewell

Farewell

The perfect symmetrical steel rods with design to keep the rift raft out are still open, with only a few minutes until close.  I exhale with anxiety before entering the fences into the grounds then park soon hoping out of it with a present.  I realize this may be slightly rude but if I don’t do it now, then when will I have the courage?  After entering the foyer of the office, well dressed and groomed people smile while cutting their eyes at the ancient clock on the wall matching the aged decor of the room.

The friendly elderly lady behind the counter asks, “Hello, how may I help you?”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s a little late, I wasn’t aware that you are almost closed…I was just wondering if I could drop this gift off.”

“Aw, what a precious gift?  Yes, of course, but please make it quick.” 

I bowed my head not knowing how to respond but with an intense smile I replied, “Thank you, ma’am.  I’m looking for Winston Barns.”

“Your father?”

“Nah, a really good friend.”

“He’s not ready, yet.”

“It’s okay, I’ll find him.”

The lady types the name into the computer and within moments she prints out a list and after grabbing it from the printers she hands me a map and the list.  She gives a kind feeling just before saying, “Our offices will be closed soon so if you need to come back another day here is my card.”

“Thank you.  I really appreciate this I won’t be long I promise.”

I hurry out of the office; ignite my car knowing this will be the moment of truth.  It’s been a while since that day and my heart is hazy and my mind is nostalgic.  My car departs of the office lot off of the pavement onto the tire-made pathway.  Left.  While staring at the road I focus half my attention on my map starting to feel confused, antsy, and sick to my gut. Left.  I know I must continue because I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to do this again anytime soon.  Left.  I really hope this helps me overcome my regret.  Right.  Around the final fountain I realize I’m approaching where I need to be.  Right there.

My trembling wrist turns off the car, leaving me blankly staring at the clock; the time is 4:55 PM.  So I leap out of the car with fright in my fingertips holding my gift seeing that time has grown scarce.  It is too late to make excuses so I should hurry before the shift will end.  I walk with my gift in my arms staring with my attention on the bare patches of soil.  I see many of fancy entities, but this one isn’t ready.  I continue to search but my mind is grows flustered and racing faster than I can search.  The time is up since it has reached 5:00 PM.  Hysterically tears shed from my eyes when the guilt because if I failed, yet again.  It took me so long to get here and now I have to disappear. 

It’s time to leave before I’m considered trespassing.  I’ll come back to give you my gift buddy…farewell… for now.

Wreck Of Reason

After after a few selections from the Wreckage of Reason I came to a few conclusions.  I felt like it was a mixture of poetry and fiction.  It was very poetic yet some were lengthy with plots.  I really liked the Word.  Throughtout that piece there were a lot of hints to what the writer was walking about and I like how certain words were italized giving the word a stronger meaning.

Even though a lot of them didn't give me a short story vibe like in my fiction 101 Lit class one particular story stood out to me.  More than winter or spring had great dialoque and from the beginging i could get a great feel for the characters through their conversations.  Even thought i thought the langauage was extreme and harsh with the bold "FUCK YOU GOD!" statements I got a feeling from where the tension was clear.

I liked Numbers as well.  It was a quick great read that caaught my attention the moment I started to read it.  And after the readings the words at the bottom gave it even more explanation, but I would is that pushing show vs. tell dealing with the detail in the story?  But I got a good sense of both there was a lot of listing and with those lists i could visualize what was happening.  It was a  good read.

My favorite reading

I found this weeks reading very insightful dealing with a lot of different angles of writing.  First off with the segment of Polaroid I like how the writer used Polaroids somewhat like a metaphor for writing and the process of never knowing how the picture will turn out until its totally developed.  As a writer sometimes I worry about how I want the piece to turn out rather than the process of getting there.  I like "You couldn't have had any way of knowing what this piece of work would look like when you first started."  It's like we put so much on predicting how something will turn out instead of going with the flow and enduring the surprise that will naturally occur. 

In characters sections I learned a different way of viewing how to write about characters.  Give them personality, give them motives, describe them by not only how they look but how they carry themselves, what they own and how they present it.  I really like the point that we all favor at least one of the characters but don't hold back to that person that you love.  "As soon as you start protecting you characters from the ramifications of their less-than-lofty behavior, your story will start to feel flat and pointless, just like real life."  Its like saying takes risks show their good side, show their bad side, give them obstacles because we all go through this things, why shouldn't your characters?

I really like the part where the writers speaks on sharing your work with a friend in this part, "You may need someone else to bounce your material off of, probably a friend or a mate, someone who can tell you if the seams show, or if you've lurched off track, or even that it is not as bad as you thought and that the first one hundred pages do in fact hold up."  Great advice.  I feel like I just write, and write, and write and without any feed back while writing I start to feel self conscience and doubting my work.  I often call my brother to request his options, someone who is blunt and will tell you if your ideas aren't strong enough and maybe take a different angle on your plot before it could be potentially ruined.

This was my favorite PDF by far!

Justin T. Fluellen.

Expression poems

Can you guess what feelings they are?

Can't I embrace positivity?

Times a wasting as I get older.

Is my mind full of negativity?

Or is each day getting colder?

I've learned life only gets harder.

But one day things will get better.

The hall is really dark.

Noises begin chanting barks.

The journey makes the walls quiver.

Thus my jaw begins to shiver.

Time slows when hesistation occurs.

I prefer to turn away, and

Wait until day for the delievery.

Warts boil the skin of my surface.

The reflection of purpose only worsens.

It pierces deep into my reality.

The images blur with every peek.

Memories can only come to mind.

You're gone until the end of time.

Justin's poetry.

Blood Dazzler

I always knew about hurricane Katrina and what effects of it but none personally affected me.  There were a few people from school who were from New Orleans after the disaster but they usually kept to themselves and didn't speak too much on it.  I really like how this poetry book drew me in from the moment it started dealing with the dates and the feelings of it all even before it became a hurricane from just a tropical storm.  People from that city didn't seem to react and run every time a "threat" came their way.

I really like how in "Man on the TV Say" was like a warning to the people but she didn't seem to want to leave but only when he kept saying go...It finally sank in that maybe it time to leave.  I like how she described life in the city before the hurricane and not just all negative vibes.  I even like how she gave you a feeling that she loved her home even the cockroaches that was  within her home.  It's like a story yet poems that tell the tale.

Throughout the Blood Dazzler I seen lots of different structures within the book but not a lot of rhyming.  I see strong language giving me great images of what she wants me to visualize.  I really like she explained situations that were happening after the hurricane.  Living in different city we only heard what the news shared which extremely negative and not that truth of the people's eyes.  Loot was like an experience only someone could know from being in the situation.  I learned a lot from reading this book and I like this one a lot more than the city eclogue.

Sonnets/ City Eclogue

 The week of sonnets

Last week of class we discussed the symbols within poetry.  By analyzing the language used in each poem we could better understand what the author said.  I've never been much of a poet but I've learned a lot by the few works of art that we worked through the period of class.  The language is stronger and more vivid in some poets compared to others such as William Shakespeare.

We spent a rather large portion of the period discussing sonnets.  I learned what a sonnet actually was dealing with the rhyming schemes, format, and structures.  I find it really amazing how Shakespeare could write the stressed differences in syllables.  I really liked the poem 130 how it dealt with almost down talking his mistress yet in a romantic truth.  

The class then shifted from the works of Shakespeare to the more modern poetry.  We read sonnets by Harryette Mullen which was very similar in the confusing descriptive wording but with more terms we use today.  I mean Twinkies and pizza parlors were before Shakespeare's time period and even though I understood the words the meanings were still somewhat confusing like the legendary poet Shakespeare.  Now we are given an assignment of writing our own sonnets for class this week and I think I've done a pretty well job and can't wait to share them with you. 

Also we have read and analyzed the book of poetry by Ed Roberson.  This book was a very different experience for me but a good eye opener.  A lot the poetry talks about nature, values of life, different outlooks on the city life, and sexuality.  I like the spaces in some of the poems like "Engine" how it has the blues separated on its own line given stress to that word.  It's very creative and full of metaphors that make me think beyound the words writen on the page.

After reading through this book I've learnd that poetry most isn't always about the best rhymes, but getting your point across.  You don't have to speak one hundred percent on what is and its okay to leaves the reader confused because they'll seek to reread and get the deeper meanings or potenally gain some new insight that others do not see.  The metaphors are so strong I had to reread a few of them several times just to understand them.  Like I believe "Idyll" and "Standing Strong" had different meanings behind them.

J. T Fluellen's thoughts.

Poetry Packet Response

I'm much of a poet, but after reading the poetry packet it got me inspired to try to put a cluster of words together and see where it would lead.  I really like how the descriptions can really give you images from the words yet still give you multiple reasons behind them.  Some of the poems had different shapes and sizes and angles that intrigued me to think, what possibly could this poem be about before I read them.  I always thought of poetry as rhymes and clever sentence structure but some of them had me thinking twice about the ideas that I had in mind.

Response To Goldberg

I'm really inspired by the writings of Goldberg.  The writings aim, attack, and succeed of explaining writing from her point of view as a journey that can be accomplished by anyone. We're taught in school how to format topics, stay in the lines, and keep to main idea.  Which can often hurt us as free hand writers because when those boundaries are gone we lost all hope.  The author teachers us to keep writing comfortable by learning routines, gaining the right equipment best for you, and exploring different areas to own your craft.  I especially like the part where writing is compared to practice dealing with running.  I feel like everyone wants what final product that's just perfect to show the world but before getting their they often avoid the hard work and time, and practice it takes like an athelite takes to gain their gold medal is finally to the daily commitments a writer needs to endure before the final draft.  After reading these pages of inspiration I woud recommend any up coming writer to take a few minutes out and read these writings.  Unlike most school papers I read, absorb, and forget.  I want to read, absorb, and remember these help tips given.

This is my first blog for class.  I hope it posts correctly.