Journal Entry 11

HOORAY! I did well on the poetry assignment, that fact alone has given me a new braveness in the script writing process. I decided that writing an Episode of Friends would really do the show no justice and well I would not want to systematically destroy the humor that Friends has graced our lives with. After making this decision I thought about a show that I used to watch with my mom. It was called Sisters, I LOVED IT!!! SO I thought maybe I can write my own show about sisters who have similar humor to that of the cast of Friends but I can draw from my own life and use some of my memory bank to encourage the show. SO here it is a tv show called "Product of Divorce" I have decided to name th epilot episode "Happily Never After" I am having fun with it alothough I still have a great deal of fear that I may never actually make millions and have the next hit TV show...kidding (at least about the next hit TV show part.)

Journal Entry 10

Ah the text book, an instruction manual on writing. I like the way I can use it for a reference when I have a question about style or some other writing issue. It is a little dry to read but hey its a text book. The poetry section really was a great guide for this last assignment. I loved reading all the poems and learning about ways to make words art. I read the poem The Afterlife and I really enjoyed it. I rather liked the lines "How easy it is to say good-bye now to what was once firm and dear, and to that word forever." I guess this poem touched my heart as how I hope it is for people when they move onto the next life. I want it to be easy, or at least I want to believe that it is easy for people to let go of forever and the ties of the flesh. I read this poem over and over again just getting lost in the words and letting mkyself wonder. I was amazing to really see the beauty in the words and in their meaning. I have taken a new approach to reading poetry and I have this text to thank. I appreciate the art and importance behind each word and the way the words lay on the page.

Journal Entry 9

I decided I truly enjoyed the poetry assignment. I am waiting for the grade still and have been trying to think if I could have done anything better, revised a little more or just tried a different style. I guess it was just time to put the "pen" down and submit. I did however find that poetry was enjoyable, especially when you really try to make the words a visual instead of just formed letters. I am trying to think of new ideas for the next assignment of the Script. I am terrified of this assignment. I keep thinking I want to try and write a script from Friends but I think that trying to maintain the amount of humor in this show would be difficult and I would not want to slay a wonderful show with my attempt at writing for it. Perhaps I will try and write something and let someone else read it to give me sme direction. I really want to be able to write a script that is funny and meaningful yet in the line of friends or Seinfeld, about nothing but really its just everyday life and the funny happenings that drive our life force. I am struggling even with a concept. I hope to log an idea the next time I have a journal entry.

Well my poems are done and submited. I saved and resaved then started over and finally decided that I wasn't listening to my inner voice. SO I logged my initial ideas and let my heart take the pen and started to write. I am happier with the selections I posted especially a poem about a friend who committed suicide and how he held his dark secret of deprssion in until it finally caught him. I talked about an animal that passed and my past as a swimmer. I attempted a "patriotic" poem which was short but I think relevant. I also created a poem about being a mom, I hope the layout of the words catches the attention of a mom or really any parent. I clustered words to encourage faster reading and made caps points that can be taken as a shout at perhaps a child as instruction or the internal dialogue of the mom as she runs around all day. I really had fun with this assignment once I let my pens guide be th experience of my heart.
I hope the reader (s) enjoy. So far the people I have shared these poems with enjoyed them, but they may be biased since they understand me.

I have found that I am more interested in the Lamott book than the text book.
I do enjoy some part of the text I think there are great examples of work in the book. I have enjoyed the poetry sets, especially "A Secret Life", everytime I read it I get a new meaning.
I found chapeter 29 bery interesting in how to use th esound of language. I guess I under appreciate the art of language. Words are fun to play with especially when you have to really organize howthey are placed and try to encourage the intended meaning by placement. I really like the section on sound as meaning. I never really considered sound to have meaning but the deeper I dig into sound, it really is amazing how different words evoke different meaning. SOme somes are abbrassive (for example the "f-bomb") it is an abbrassive sound and is offensive in sound. But take rainbow, it evokes thought of sweetness and laughter.
I still think I prefer free verse poetry and the idea of visual patterns. I overlooked the importance of this until I started to work with my poems and read them out loud. Each time I changed the visual distribution I found that I liked the poem better or hated it and would have to reformat it.
Back to Lamott, her book is an enjoyable read and I find myself waiting to relax and read it. I have never felt relaxed when reading a school book, so this really takes the cake for me.

Haiku

I have made some attempts at Haiku and I think I really enjoy this particular style. AT first it seemed a rather large and impossible task to even attempt, but I really enjoy the process and the thought that has to go into each Haiku. I will really want to revise several of my poems at this point especially after having gotten into more of the reading. I never realized all of the elemnts that poetry really has to offer. Poetry is much more sensory, and I really enjoy making a meal of these words.

On another note, I was reading about dialogue in Bird by Bird and I really took alot from that chapter. It is true that when you don't "feel" a characters voice it ruins the book. I hate being disappointed by characters. When you are enticed by the internal thoughts it is unbearable to realize that the character is a mere shadow of what you thought and it takes every perception you had and preformed notion of where the story is going and flushes it straight down the pot.
I really think this will be important when writing scripts.

Journal Entry 5

I am having more a difficult time with poetry. I follow the stereotype of poetry having meter and rhyme. I do enjoy Haiku, but I find it very difficult for me to find the right syllable count per line to convey my thoughts. I am thinking that freestyle is going to be best suited for me however, in my efforts I am still falling into the meter trap. My mind is becoming blocked on the creative edge because I am so concerned with the outcome. I have re-read Ann Lamotts chapter on perfectionism in an attempt to let go of the fear of perfect compeletion and allow for a shitty first draft to apear. I think I am very "a" type and giving up control to my pen is very difficult. I like outlines and linear learning, I am again baptized in fear of failure. I have a notebook with blank pages starring at me and it is intimidating. I can't get what is in my head to read properly on paper much less at this point in the form of poetry. SO here is to a really shitty first draft and sevaral more shitty first drafts to follow. I am going to finish up on my attempts and leave them for a while and come back to them to see if I can gain a new perspective and a fresh way of creating poetry from my ramblings that are far from poetic.