Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!
I have to admit I was tempted just to jump in and start posting without an introductory entry, but in the end I felt it was important to give myself some context. Some of that will come in a later entry - you'll see what I mean when it comes - but in the meantime, here's a mini-lowdown about me:
My name is Anna. I currently live in Massachusetts and I graduated from Wells College in May with a bachelor of arts degree in English with a creative writing concentration and a minor in psychology. I mainly write poetry and creative nonfiction, though I've written a couple pieces of fiction I'm happy with, at least at the moment. I'm living with my family right now, which is both wonderful and difficult for many reasons. I'm applying to graduate school now so that next fall I can enroll in a program to get my MFA in creative writing. If I'm not accepted anywhere I apply - which is a real possibility - I don't have a plan B yet, so keep your fingers crossed!
My ultimate aspiration is to teach writing in a prison. Right now I'm working with an organization that does writing workshops for incarcerated women, and it's slowly changing my life. That's the cool thing about life-changing experiences - you never know when one is going to pop up, and every time you have one, you think something like "Okay, THIS is the Major Event in my life. Nothing can compare." And then something else happens, and thus repeats the cycle. For me, I thought college was my life-changing experience - and it was, really - but now my life is being changed again by the women I'm getting to know. They're beautiful, smart, brave, creative, and unique, and the fact that they are currently incarcerated is no reason to believe that they can't make valuable contributions to society.
Getting off my soapbox now, promise.
So, this is a writer's blog. My writing is ultimately going to live here, and as I work on my graduate school applications, I'll be writing more and more. Sometimes I'll post finished work; other times I'll post works in progress. I might go days or weeks (hopefully not weeks, because I'll have deadlines coming up pretty soon) without updating and then post several entries in rapid succession. Such are the habits of a writer. And a procrastinator. I'm both of those things.
And now for the million-dollar question: Why do I write? There are a lot of reasons, but the main reason is that it's how I feel I express myself most effectively. I can do with the written word things that I can't do anywhere else. When I write, I'm no longer self-conscious, awkward, or anxious. I can take the time to think about what I want to say and what each word means. I can take myself to places and explore parts of myself that otherwise I would have trouble finding. I said it in my "about me" section and I'll say it again: I write to sustain my soul. When I write something I'm particularly proud of, it gives me a great sense of achievement and happiness. There are few other things in my life about which I feel that way.
I think that's a good amount of information for a first blog post. You'll learn more about me as I post more of my writing. I'm going to wrap this up with a few ground rules:
-I hope this goes without saying, but this is a public archive, so you never know. Please DO NOT use my work for ANY reason without asking me first. This includes copying it in your own blog, distributing it for monetary gain, using it in academia, and publishing it. And please, please don't claim it as your own. Plagiarism is so lame.
-Unless otherwise noted, all of my writing is work in progress. Please just bear that in mind.
-I readily accept and value feedback; it helps me develop and strengthen my writing. However, please be mature and intelligent about the comments you give. Saying things like "This sucks! I hate it!" or "This is the best poem ever!" doesn't help me. If a piece doesn't work for you, that's fine and I respect that, but I want to know what specifically doesn't work - and, on the flip side, what specifically DOES work. I may express views or opinions you don't agree with. Again, that's fine, but please remember that disagreeing with an opinion is not the same as having an issue with the writing style or tone of a piece.
-On that note, I am a woman who loves women. Everyone is entitled to their own values and opinions on the matter, but rather than leaving a nasty comment about a piece that addresses the topic, just...don't read it. I believe the universal law of fanfiction applies here: don't like, don't read.
-I reserve the right to delete any comments that are offensive to myself or others.
Okay! I think that's everything! (Another thing I can do with writing is be a lot more authoritative than I ever am in person!) Now that the obligatory introductions are over with, the "real" stuff will come very soon! Have a wonderful day/night, everyone, depending on your time zone!
No comments:
Post a Comment