Here is a autobiography I wrote about my writing skills for my Writer's Craft Class, good.. idk mehh?
Sarah Gabert
February 22, 2012
Writers Craft
Autobiography
For me the ability to write is a blessing. The way I am able to analyze my feelings, decipher my problems, and let my emotions effortlessly glide out of this ball point pen is a wonderful feeling. I love writing, all types of writing, short stories, novels, persuasive papers. However my favorite form of writing is poetry. Through this unique code also known as literature, I can express my feelings while also concealing them. For when I write a poem I am able to open up and release a little bit of stress, worries, frustration or whatever I am feeling at the time and generate a code, a code of words that only the most vigilant can decipher. This ability has saved me from a myriad of mental breakdowns, for the reason that every time I write a feeling of serenity washes me. I go from one jumbled basket case to a Zen master, for when I am entranced in the hypnotic process of writing, there is no stopping me.
It may seem like I was born with this uncanny ability to write beautiful words that make your jaw drop and leave you gaping in awe, but no. No that is not how it began, it began and then it ended and then it started again, my journey as a writer was a precarious one. Let’s a take a trip down memory lane to the exact point in time where my writing career began, learning how to write. Let’s start from the precise moment I grasped a yellow, wooden, No 2 pencil in my hand. My skill was manufactured in Texas, Austin, Lake Travis Elementary, actually Mrs. Stewart’s kindergarten class to be exact. Ah kindergarten a better time. A time of innocence. In kindergarten I had fun learning how to spell words and write the alphabet. The teachers didn’t care if I knew how to hold a pencil, because my reading skills were at a 5th grade level. I was reading the Magic Tree House series while my peers read BOB books. Kindergarten was a blast, however, 1st grade not so much. Maybe it was because my teacher was straight out of teachers college and inexperienced in her field, or maybe it was because I was abnormally smart for my age. Who Knows! What matters is the year of 1st grade was the year that I became ashamed of my literary skills. Every day when it came to reading time my teacher, Mrs. Grace, would single me out. She would ask me since “I was so smart,” as she would say, “to stand up and read to the class.” I was kind of a shy kid in the first place so the sudden spot light and all the unwanted attention were not really appreciated. After a few times of that I remember that one day I ran out of the room in tears. I had never felt ashamed of my literary skills before so this anger and frustration towards me was a wake-up call in my innocent little kid life. Ever since that day I decided that in order to fit in I would keep my literary skills a secret from others at school, I just wanted to fit in and be accepted.
In 2nd grade I was blessed with a wonderful teacher, a great class of kids. It was in this class that I received support and attention that eventually coaxed me out of my newly built shell. I was able to regain bits of my diminished self-confidence. During reading time instead of being picked on for my high reading level I was asked to help, assist my fellow peers when they got stuck on a word or had trouble understanding what they were reading. I no longer felt alienated from the rest of the class I felt special, I felt extraordinary.
In 3rd grade my reading skills sparked a new found skill, creativity. With this creativity I would write wild stories, stories about Kings, Queens, and magical fairies. I loved writing, writing became my favorite hobby. Diaries, journals, and notebooks galore! Since then I’ve had over 30 journals. My teacher at the time, Mrs. Monshogen sponsored me for a program my school held called GT (gifted and talented), a program where I could let my creativity shine. At first I was intimidated, being the only girl was scary so my shyness started to kick in, but soon enough I got to know the class of five nerdy boys and could act like myself around them. In GT we learned how to write in cursive, cursive letters basically murdered my mind. Not only was I horrible at creating the loopy writing (possibly because I hold my pencil differently than others) but it also put a tight strain on my creativity. Writing in cursive no longer let me release all of my creativity, because I hated writing with those loopy letters, would get frustrated, and wouldn’t be able to finish my piece. However, GT wasn’t all that bad. I wrote a play about termites, where I starred as the main actress (termite), that experience was a boost of self-confidence.
Let’s fast-forward now to 7th grade, Mr. Riley’s class with my best friend Marissa. There was a lesson on poetry, I was always jealous of Marissa’s writing she was able to write deep poetry about simple objects yet make them sound extravagant. I was only able to write kiddy stuff, descriptive and fun. However even though I couldn’t write deep things, my poem about Halloween got accepted into the middle school book the “Tiger’s Eye” for best poem of the 7th grade whereas Marissa’s didn’t. The poem was a rhyme scheme about the journey of a tricker-treater up to the door of a house, my teacher and everyone loved it. I was so proud that I could use a higher vocabulary while also keeping up the rhyme scheme. That was a highlight of my writing career.
Another highlight happened in 8th grade. I had written my first deep poem with a hidden message behind the words. In the poem I compared life to a wilting flower. I received an A+ for this and got to paste it on the bulletin board of success. I also got to use my rose drawing skills to decorate it, which was awesome! Every time I’d pass it in the hallway I’d brag and point it out to whomever I was walking with. Later on that week I was doing some internet surfing and found this website for poetry contests. Filled with excitement, I took a chance and submitted my work on “The Rose”. Five days later I got an email saying that I had won! I was overjoyed and told my mom, I remember getting sad when I saw her shake her head in disappointment. She told me that it was fake, and they were just trying to sell me something. I knew she was right but still I wanted to believe, because knowing that my poetry was good enough to win a contest made me feel proud.
I haven’t written a meaningful poem since 9th grade because I haven’t had time in my crazed live to take some time off, sit down, and focus on my writing. I’m looking forward to being able to harness my creativity skills and take some time to focus on my writing in Writer’s Craft. So that hopefully I will have a good idea of the writer I want to be in the future. In five years I would like to be able to incorporate writing and literature into a career that also includes travel and marketing. By taking this course, Writer’s Craft, I hope to achieve that goal.
