2007-2008
'I nervously float through the doo as everyone around me is buzzing secrets, lies, gossip-they overwhelm me'...that sentence used to make me vomit. Writing used to be something I dreaded, but now it's one of my daily habits.......I really found who I am through writing...I am a writer.
Ashley Newton
It's crazy to think that a piece of paper and pencil can make you feel better, but it can! Writing helps you say things you can't speak out loud. I have learned to no longer hold back!
Meggie Keiser
Over the past two years, my writing has evolved into an entirely new style. I no longer write things just to get done, but really think about what I write. I have grown from a fast and careless writer to someone who takes their time and chooses each word carefully. I no longer like contained prompts, but ones that let my imagination run rampant all over the place. All in all, my growth as a writer has made me think more outside the box, and not to be confined.” Tim Purcell 2007
“Writing is an art. You need the right color to paint the perfect picture. My words are my colors and their growing number makes my work deeper, richer and beautiful. I now know that a work of wonderful words is a work of a writing artist.” Vera Kohl 2007
“I am proud of my writing, but I find that for me to really write well, it has to be something I’m interested in or care about. Otherwise my writing sounds hollow and meaningless. I sometimes feel that school restricts you too much by having you write about things that don’t matter to you. I have become a much better writer over the years; I am able to express myself in a more eloquent way, but I still would like more freedom with my writing…”
Hillary Purcell 2007
“I have learned that writing does not have to have a system. Sure, it’s supposed to, but how true and genuine is something if you revise it, change it, and set it on a one way path? Plot, characters, climax, solution? Forget that. How about Life, Emotion, Thought, and Reality? Sounds a little more plausible. Write from your mind and soul. Do you revise your feelings? No, that’s just silly.
Teddy Murphy 2007
“ …through writing, I am finding part of myself that I didn’t know was there….”
Sarah Bessey 2007
“One of the greatest skills that I have learned in the past two years is that I have to be free when it comes to my writing. I naturally over think everything to the point where a simple task becomes nearly impossible. I’ve learned to let my ideas flow and to go with my instincts. I will carry these techniques with me for a very long time.”
Taylor Fields 2007
“Back in the days of my last year in the elementary school, writing had no meaning to me. The confinement on what we were forced to be writing about was a hindrance from freely expressing my true thoughts. Every new assignment, I had to really think about what I wanted to write about. Now, in my 8th grade year, writing isn’t as much of a job anymore, but more of a hobby. I enjoy the liberty we’ve been given and I try to use it to its full potential. Words flow through my mind like a river, but now there is no damn to stop it.”
David Finn 2007
…”If I am able to write about what I care about, I can make masterpieces of imagination. This class has unlocked some of the chains that have held my mind…”
Sean Mathews 2007
“Two years ago, I came to the junior high not knowing that writing sets me free in a way that nothing else does. A bird flies when released from its cage. I fly when my pen touches the paper. Now words speak to me and I only direct them to form something that lets me be me. Two years from my first steps in this school and I know that I AM a writer to the very bottom of my soul.”
Sarah Sylvest 2007
“….In junior high, I have had the chance to express my feelings and really be independent in what I write. I have learned over the past two years that writing is not all about grammar or the topic you have to follow; it is actually about taking out what is inside you and putting those thoughts into words onto paper.”
Clair Spatt 2007
“ …I am a professional who really cares about what comes out of my pen onto the paper….I ask myself how can I make this more meaningful to me?.....”
Kelsie Rutherford 2007
“When I started out as a writer, I was unorganized and sloppy. I had no supportive details and my writing was a mess of ideas that weren’t very good. Now that I have progressed with my writing, I can honestly say that it is better. I now use the right format and have the ideas and details organized. I have learned a lot in two years. I used to say ‘give me that perfume’ now I say ‘I was swarmed with scents of a tropical nature as I reached over to grab some scrumptious samples, I found myself trapped; unable to stop.. wanting more.’ I am now proud to write!” Stephanie Allen 2007
“….I have learned to pull readers’ minds into my writing. Thinking about what my reader wants and capturing that is key. I will use this method the rest of my life..”
Mackenzie Saffin 2007
“If I could talk to my teachers in the past, I would just have to say ‘Why?’ Why did they let me write and turn in papers with no purpose or supportive details? I have learned to focus on my purpose as a writer and think of my audience.” 2006
“I feel my worst writing occurred when I was given a particular topic about which to write. My mind was not permitted any freedom. When I started to write, my pen felt as if I were lifting a sledge hammer. I know now I have to find a personal connection or it won’t be effective.” 2006
“You can be taught grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, but to be a real writer it has to come from the heart. It has to be the real you, no matter what it is about.” 2006
“Like most people, I write best when I am writing about something I care about. I don’t really care about the inner conflicts of Johnny Tremain. Maybe I should care, but I know I am not always going to be writing something that interests me.” 2006
“My writing ability has changed dramatically… I wrote things like it smelled good and it tasted good. NOW, I write things like the ‘crippled old man with rose red scars on his wrinkly face mocked absentmindedly in his grandfather’s 100 year old rocking chair as quiet as a dead man.’ I am proud of what I write and proud to say no one writes like me.” 2006