Week 8 Reading and Writing

It is always good to take some time to reflect on what you've accomplished, so that's what this week is all about. I can't believe we're already at week 8 of this semester! 

Coming into this class, I was excited for the reading, but very leery about the creative writing. Once I start writing, I enjoy it and think I can tell decent stories, but I have a difficult time getting those creative juices flowing. I have been pleasantly surprised by the fact that I've enjoyed even the writing portions of the class! I do struggle to get going, but I've been really proud of some of the work I've done. It seems silly, but I was so happy when Laura included my posts twice in the daily announcements. My reading notes have been quite helpful, as I've tried to focus my note taking on stories that I think I might like to retell. There's been a couple times where I ended up going back and choosing a different story to inspire my writing, but for the most part, my notes have been effective. I don't have a favorite story that I've told, but I'm proud of myself for drawing from different storytelling styles for each week so far. I've tried some more modern settings, retelling from someone else's perspective, giving background on a story, and so on, all of which have challenged me to think more critically about the stories we are reading. 

One of my favorite images I've used is the one I found of a water nymph, who I named Harponi in my week 6 story, The Hermit's Curse. I knew I wanted a picture of a beautiful water nymph to illustrate this story, but I had difficulties finding one who I thought would be in the east. Most of the pictures I found that were available for use were of blonde women, which I didn't think made sense with the setting of this story. I searched for quite some time before finally finding this dark haired nymph at Pixabay! She wasn't quite what I had imagined, but I thought she fit much better than the others I had found and her eyes certainly seem like those that would be able to capture most men's souls with just a twinkle!

Harponi the water nymph; Image Source

In moving forward, I think I just need to trust myself more with writing. It's important to give yourself creative license and not count yourself out, which is something I struggle with. In moving forward, I want to give myself more space and room to explore!