An Aspiring Writer and Two Hours to Work on A Creative Learning Project…

Okay, let’s face it. I have never been a very creative person. Like, at all. When it comes to being creative, I am fresh out of ideas and knowledge. I’ve always been able to tell you anything you want to know about World War II, but come up with something original? Ha-ha.

But then I got this urge when I was about 16 years old during an American Literature class studying “The Hunger Games”. This little thought popped into my head and started to evolve the more I thought about it. Before I knew it I had created a fictional nation and a set of characters. That’s when I knew I had to share what I had unintentionally created.

I had to write a book.

Fast-forward a little over two years and a few major plot changes later and here I sit about halfway (ish) done with my story. It turns out that I am, in fact, creative. I am creative in the fact that I can come up with these wild stories. Now, I’m not saying it’s a good story (time and literary agents will only tell), but it’s my story. I love to read and write, and that’s what makes the headaches of writer’s block and not thinking I’m good enough at it worth it. Surprisingly enough, writing has shown me that I am creative at many other things too. I might have to sit down and brain-map it or something, but hey, eventually that creative thought comes out. Furthermore, being creative is an integral part of becoming a teacher; you have to be able to come up with creative ways to help kids learn in a way that fits them. So in a round-about way, becoming a writer has also helped me find out who I am as a future teacher, and that is a teacher who might have to work at her creativity, but also one who is willing to do whatever it takes to have her ideas take shape.

Additionally, one thing that I definitely want to get out of this project is learning how to become a better writer. Even though I’ve been writing a couple years, I still have so much to learn. I eventually want to become a published author, and becoming a great writer is a necessity to have that goal accomplished. Sometimes only just sitting down and writing away will help you gain experience, other times you have to go out and seek advice from authors via blogs and other social media.

Finally, as a teacher- in- training, one major thing I have learned is that self-reflection is so important. Looking into the advice and knowledge of others has really helped me be self-reflective and evolve as a storyteller, and I hope that evolution keeps taking place.