Alyssa Lerma
I have been writing for as long as I can remember. The first time I picked up a book, I fell in love with being transported to a world other than my own. I saw how authors have free creative choices in how they wanted characters to look and act. The creative gears in my head started to turn. The first real novel I was introduced to was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I imagined the world that C.S. Lewis created in his books. Almost, as if it were a movie right in front of me. I fell in love with the emotions I felt when reading the character’s adventures. With the love of literature, came the love of writing. I had always enjoyed imagining myself into worlds unlike my own. I just never would write them down. They came to me like dreams where I could physically see myself experience a new world.
During the vampire phase of my teenage years (a guilty pleasure), I fell in love with a new series; Vampire Academy written by Richelle Mead. As cheesy as it sounds, it was the opposite of all the other generic vampire novels. I won’t go into details, but my god did it help shape me to becoming a strong, dependent woman. As I was reading the novels, I realized that I started forming these “what if” scenarios in my head. What if the plot had gone into a different direction, what if the characters had never met, what if this character didn’t die, etc. This is how I learned about fan fiction writing. I was too young to understand the writing process. I had no creative ideas on new worlds I could create so I would expand on the world another author had created. I even posted these fanfictions on a website for others to read and comment on. I did not know what would come from this, nor would I never consider anyone reading it. I would receive so many feedback comments and it motivated me to continue working on my writing.
I eventually stopped working on these fanfictions writings because I had just entered high school, which left little to no time to write for pleasure. During my senior year, I realized my writing had come a long way. I learned how to expand on my thoughts and how to be more descriptive in my writing. I decided to go back and read my fanfictions and realized how horrible 7th grade me was at writing. So naturally, I revised them. This was the first time I even considered revising any of my writing. I hadn’t even revised any of my high school essays. I learned how important the revision process was in making a novel from meh, okay, to amazing. I’m no Stephen King or J.K. Rowling but, I like to consider myself decent at writing. The revision process showed me how important it is in all forms of writing. First, I read through my writing entirely. I see what is missing, making notes to where it can be better. Then I apply these notes before rereading again. I look for areas where something may not make sense or needs more work on. After doing this, I read my work backwards (bottom to top, sentence by sentence) to look for any grammatical mistakes. I do this process one or two times (more if I have time) until I believe it’s ready.
As of right now, this writing process only applies to my college writing. I haven’t found the time to do free writing, besides pouring out my soul in a journal. Although that is still technically writing, I do not go through any process in my journal. I write what I think without stopping. This helps me cope with my emotions if I am feeling anything negative. Or I just simply do it to mark an important memory in my life. I don’t ever plan on ever getting published. Mainly because I am so sensitive when it comes to my writing. Any bad review and I shut down. However, I do take constructive criticism for my formal writing. I am always open to someone trying to get me to expand on my ideas and thoughts. Obviously, I am not perfect, and it is hard for me to get my point across. I know I contradict myself with this, but it all depends on what my writing is for. If I am writing for a professor, I’ll take all the help I can get. If I am writing for pleasure and others, my work is my baby, and I would hate for anyone to tell me no. I’d rather my creative writing be for myself and as a temporary escape from my life. It is important to me to create scenarios about what I wish life were like (although, now that I think about it, it’s probably unhealthy to fantasize about a fake life for myself. But what can you do?).
This is key to coping with anything in life a person may be dealing with a need to get away for a while. Writing is an art form and a way of expression. Writing out your problems into a novel for a character to face gives you the courage to become that character. A better you so to speak. A better life for you (or as good as it can get).
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