Assignment 0

I'm a sophomore this year at SLU and I am studying psychology, which I will declare as my major. Psychology fascinates me and so far I've loved every class I've taken on that subject. I hope to work in that field some day either as a clinical psychologist or as a forensic psychologist. I find myself to be very intrigued by criminals and their actions, but I'd also like to help people so I haven't exactly decided which direction I'd like to go with my life, but I'm positive that it will involve psychology. I love learning how and why we do what we do. The mind is so powerful and seemingly limitless.
I'm from Woodbridge, Connecticut which is a small suburb outside of New Haven. I grew up around Yale University sporting events (especially hockey). Because I live in New England, I obviously experience all four seasons at their finest. I'm not a big fan of humidity and unfortunately we have quite a bit. My hometown is small enough that news travels frighteningly fast but big enough that you need a car to get around. We don't have sidewalks which has always been a turnoff to me and I'm not sure we lack them. I always wished growing up that I could just go for a walk and not run the risk of being hit by a car, or that I could walk to a local coffee shop or something but that was never an option. The area surrounding my town is rather rural; my relatives own and operate a farm down the street. However, I live about ten minutes away from the Boston Post Road which is an endless road full of commercial stores and restaurants and anything else anyone would ever need. My high school was regional; it includes three towns. Fortunately for me, I lived in one town and then moved to another without having to change schools because they all funneled into the same high school! My high school was not very diverse, yet it was well-recognized and is one of the best public schools in the state in regards to academics and athletics.
In my spare time I participate in a variety of activities. I love to attend hockey games and I was the manager of my high school team. My dad and brothers have played my whole life so I was born and raised in a rink. I also love doing crossword puzzles. I haven't tried extremely complex puzzles yet but I thoroughly enjoy the puzzles at the back of People Magazine. I feel like working on those puzzles is a great way to keep myself distracted and relieve stress if anything is troubling me, and it also keeps me sharp. Another way to stay sharp and entertained is reading and I love to read. As I mentioned earlier, crime is a fascination of mine. I enjoy reading mystery novels and trying to solve the crime before the author spells it out. I also love a good romance novel to make my heart smile. Shopping is always fun as well and getting dressed up for any occasion is always very exciting. I don't have many other hobbies besides spending time with my wonderful friends and family. I love people who make me smile!
For the most part in my life I have had positive feedback on my work. This may sound innocent and possibly ridiculous but my parents have always been a huge fan of my writing. Since I was a little girl they have loved everything I've written. My mom has always encouraged me to write and she has been a great influence. All through elementary school, teachers have made it a point to compliment my work and even recommended me for certain awards and entered my work in contests. Once in high school I received some negative feedback from teachers. I think during the switch from fiction and expository writing to persuasive and analytical pieces I began to receive criticism. I struggled at first with the new styles of writing but soon caught on to the different styles. Negative feedback can at times be discouraging, and I think I did become discouraged in my high school years about writing. It lost its appeal and became less fun and more work which I am hoping will change.
My all time favorite author is Jodi Picoult. I've read all but one of her books and I devour each one. I think she has a brilliant style of writing. I love the way she incorporates real-life dilemmas and accurate historical facts into her fiction. She also uses flashbacks and multiple points-of-view to keep the reader interested and show how every character is feeling. I'm never bored when reading one of her novels. I also admire how much research goes in to every page of her text. At the beginning of every book she lists her acknowledgements and it goes on forever because of how much work she goes through to get her information.
In my eyes, good writing keeps you interested. A good piece of writing will keep you thinking long after you read it. Good writing speaks to you and the characters come alive and live on inside your mind. Structurally, I think varying sentence beginnings are important to keep the prose flowing nicely. Also, vivid descriptions and picturesque settings bring scenes to life. Good writing is more than just words on a page, it is a moment in time captured by words and played inside the mind of the reader.
In this class I hope to actually learn the techniques of writing fiction. I have always been interested in the way in which authors work symbolism into their writing and I would love to learn how to do that. I'm also curious as to how authors drop hints and leave pieces of a puzzle throughout a novel and make everything work out and fit together in the end. I would obviously also like to learn to become a better writer and especially work on my revision skills. I did not do too much revising in high school for some reason, and it is a skill that I have had to learn in college. I'm sure we will be doing plenty of revision in this class so that will hopefully become second nature once it is over. Another technique I'm interested in is fully developing characters and making them come alive. After completing this class I hope I will have the skills to write my own works of fiction some day and also have a greater appreciation for fiction authors that I read!