I started writing creatively with poetry during middle school and continued developing my writing throughout high school. I eventually had a class with a professor, Jas Obrecht, who helped shape my understanding and love of the form. After that class, I decided that Creative Writing was what I wanted to follow and pursue. Since then, I have branched out to multiple genres past the already broad genre of poetry. I began writing short fiction, and more recently have delved into writing plays. The program so far has been a new experience for sure, although not quite what I expected going into it. I have learned a lot in different ways than I anticipated, and I’m excited to continue doing so and to see myself through to the end of the program.
Genre, to me, isn’t much more than a simple categorization system. It is a way to easily partition pieces of writing into separate groups in order to understand their content or structure quickly in a recognizable way. When genre becomes more specific, it is merely another branch on the literature tree that the idea of genre initially sprouts from. Literature itself is always the trunk, each piece of writing just finds its way from there to its preferred leaf.
After exploring genre as an idea and as a constraint, I prefer to not limit myself to a particular genre or set of genres. When I write, I like to try new things in form and content to see what fits me or my piece best. Experimentation in my writing has become more important the further I get into the program. Having all options available for my writing leaves me free to truly write what I want to write. Without the constraints of preferred genre or genres, I am free to create as creatively as I wish.
CRTW 300 