Since i began this blog, a few things have happened to me, both personally and as a writer. I have joined a fraternity, broken my ankle, rented an apartment. I have met great writers and poor writers, and developed a passion for poetry. Yes, poetry.
When I started this blog, I envisioned my future solely in the realm of novels. I had grand ideas modeled on novels I had read, on movies I had watched, never stopping to think that maybe, I had a future in other forms if writing as well.
What the BFA degree in Creative Writing has allowed me to do is foster a love for poetry, and to develop a taste for the short story. I credit wonderful professors at Bowling Green for developing thus love. Theresa Williams brings her profound love of language and deep understanding of poets and their bodies of work to her teaching. She allowed me to realize how to approach poems in my own way and appreciate even the most difficult of poets. Dr. Jennifer Chang, who has studied under Charles Wright, brings her love of the contemporary and excitement for young poets into the classroom, allowing her to critique poems as though she were reviewing a published collection. She recognizes the students and engages with them in discussion much in the way Theodore Roethke would, fostering a love of the craft through a conversational manner.
On the fiction side, Dr. Wendell Mayo has enhanced my love for the craft of fiction. His workshops focus on one element of craft, leading discussions and directing comments through that element. Last semester, it was point of view. This semester, it is structure. This focus allows the class to see multiple examples of ways to handle structures. We ask whether a story needs to be changed based on whether that change would better the story and why. I, for one, have learned to refocus my critiques not based on my own preferences, but what would enhance the piece as a whole.
One of my problems with short stories has been trying to end them. Often, I would get to 15 pages or more when I was only shooting for half of that. Now that my journey in this program is almost over, I find myself with the opposite problem. Which is a good thing.
I guess to sum this up, I'm a writer, in multiple senses of the word. I attribute that to my experiences in the writing program. I'm a poet, short story writer, novelist. If you, dear reader, get a chance, I encourage you to do the same. I don't expect you to fall head over heels in love with poetry, but there are elements, such as word choice, that go a long way toward effecting other aspects of your writing.
