Writing Styles

For the past several years, the majority of my writing has been in analysis. With the exception of some poetry and other creative writing that popped up in some classes throughout high school, everything  I wrote was critical of someone else's work, from fellow student to author. Especially last year when I took a vigorous analytical writing class, I've gotten very used to writing analytical pieces with a relatively free direction. This year, I've realized that I'm not so accustomed to writing with narrower prompts or creative pieces. Rather than write the artistic work, I've always been on the end of criticizing it in my papers; whether that be in acclamation or denunciation.

Transitioning to this class initially didn't feel any different; the analytical placement essay and self-evaluation essays felt somewhat normal for me to write. It wasn't anything new to me, each of the essays felt somewhat natural to write. As we got into the first essay, however, I realized that the same techniques and styles I used in my analytical pieces weren't going to work at all; the result was one of my first and (thus far) only "artistic" pieces, which to me felt choppy and clunky in my use of figurative language and literary devices. I had seen it done several times before up to that point; I've read some beautiful things that I couldn't even imagine turning out myself, and when I actually tried for the first time to do so, it fell flat as I expected. Though, looking back, I think that's a fair starting point for what I hope to be the first of many artistic pieces of writing.

As the weeks went on and we wrote about the amazing graffiti, then the advertisements, and all up to the narrative we're finishing up now, I've worked on the same skills I've seen other people using. Everyone else in the class uses the artistic writing techniques very well. In many cases, I was incredibly jealous of how well they did, and I tried it out but couldn't seem to get it right. I've seen it so often in things that I've read, but to see the people around me do it to the same degree of intricacy was something new and well worth the experience of the class.

I have a lot to learn about the artistic styles of writing, and I'm glad that was pointed out to me in this class, and I'm happy to have found a starting point. I'm also very happy to have had the pleasure of writing with good writers and reading what they've had to say in their various artistic fashions, as well as receiving feedback on what I need to work on.