Winter Break is Here! Which means....

...the Write-A-Thon is soon to appear!  That's right, everyone! I'm back with a vengeance!  So stay tuned because the Second Write-A-Thon is going to commence on Tuesday, February 28, 2012, starting in the a.m.  Details about the Write-A-Thon will be outlined tomorrow (I have a few things to go over and set up). 

As for normal life, I've adjusted my schedule to better fit my needs this semester, and I am finding myself getting things done, enjoying myself more, and (gasp) reading more.  Yes, I have enough time to read while going to school!  Last semester, my reading time consisted of biology textbooks and French verbs.  This semester, I'm reading short stories, poems, novels, and yes, the biology textbooks.  On top of it all, some of it is purely for my enjoyment, which is very exciting to me.  I'll admit, I'm easily excited about these things, but what's so bad about that?

My daughter is doing well.  She is walking now and is definitely a mischief maker, like her Mommy was (and still is).  She loves books and plays with and looks at them far more than any of her other toys combined.  She gets read to a lot as well (there's a surprise) and she definitely has favorites.  I just wanted to share that with you all because if you love books as much as I do, I know how proud you can be to see it passed on to your children.  I am ecstatic!  I can't wait for her to be a little older and then I can begin to read her fairy tales, chapter books, and all the wonderful stories I grew up on intermixed with all my new discoveries of late!

In writing, I've been focusing more on my Creative Writing class.  I turned in a poetry portfolio this past Tuesday consisting of five poems and a one page reflection of what we've learned about our writing this semester.  I was honest and up front about everything.  Although I will admit, I was rather embarrassed when he had us read our reflections to other classmates.  When it comes to reflections and assignments from professors that I look to for an honest opinion, I tend to be rather straightforward in what I am requesting by way of feedback.  So when I wrote the reflection, I talked about my struggles with self-confidence and in wanting to get published eventually.  Reading it to my peers, I felt a little egotistical indicating my desire to be published (though for the life of me, I'm not sure why that would sound egotistical) and then more than a little uncomfortable sharing my problems with confidence. 

However, I was pleased with my five poems that I turned in.  Only one was written before the semester started (which he had mentioned we could do for the extra poems that we turned in that weren't assigned), but I did edit it.  It's a poem I rather enjoyed writing and re-reading.  I especially enjoy it with its new editing as well.

I lightly edited Not Important and I heavily edited Dear Left Fallopian Tube.  The results were nice, but poetry has always left me feeling on uneven ground.  It seems that the least amount of time I spend with a poem, the better, and I feel there's something not right about that.  Again, it could possibly be my insecurities.

Now, though, the class is moving into short fiction, and already I am feeling more comfortable.  I wrote a few micro-fiction stories that were less than 55 words.  I have another assignment to do this next week (I may use it as one of my writing exercises for the Write-A-Thon) which is going to be fun, but I'm most excited for the third fiction assignment, which I am already thinking about as well. 

For now, I'm going to go stick my nose back into my book.  Just remember, keep checking in for the details of my Write-A-Thon next week, and also stay tuned for more blog updates with lots of interesting topics and discussions. 

Please comment below if you have anything you would like to ask or share with me or my other readers.  I welcome it!