Under a Starry Sky

I do my best thinking at night. Be it schoolwork, personal projects, or self reflection, my mind is at its best when the sun is long since set. When I turn to deep thought, to personal experiences, to emotion and feeling, I am reminded of the night sky: only under the cover of darkness can the brilliance of the stars shine through. And while not a universal theme of the works in this portfolio, the stars in the sky hang in what I consider the most pivotal parts of these works.

But the stars did not hang themselves, nor did the moon crown herself queen of the night sky. Indeed, God, in His infinite benevolence, freely created man in an act of love, and built the world for his enjoyment. The Author of all, the Lord is more inspiring than any Muse. My love and devotion to Him, however far from perfect, also forms the cornerstone of these poems. Themes from addiction and despair to hope and redemption, fictional characters like Marcus and Lygia, real people like Callina and the Blessed Mother; these all are inspiration centered on the Divine.

In creative writing, man is challenged to create art, to facilitate an interaction with beauty, with only his words. This was my main goal for this class: improve the power of my words. This took many forms: word choice, plot devices, believable characters, realistic dialogue and situations, story structure and composition. For poetry especially, word choice and concise composition became central areas of focus.

I benefitted greatly from my workshop group, and for that they have my true gratitude. I felt that I received from them quite a bit in the way of advice and guidance: advice on the tone and flow of plots,  the situational awareness of the characters, and making my dialogue more believable. In trying to repay them for their aid, I found that I most often able to offer advice on word choice and grammar.

Perhaps the easiest piece for me to write was Play Ball. The opportunity to reflect on the origins of a precious treasure of mine, on a beautiful memory that sparked a lifelong love for baseball, was a welcome opportunity for me: everybody should take a drive down memory lane from time to time. You'll be surprised how things change with time. The hardest piece to write was, by far, "Callina". It is one of those pieces that expresses an emotion you didn't even know you had, a single treasonous thought that your heart holds so close you forget it's even there. I was surprised at how hard it was to compose, and, as though it was real, I found myself going back for edits, and more edits, and more edits. "Callina" is also probably the piece that I am most content with the outcome, with Sky coming in close second.

If I have learned anything worth repeating to new writers from this class, it would be the following: you must be honest with yourself. You must be willing to sabotage yourself, to rat on yourself, to expose those moments of your life when you should have, could have, done better. For it is in the mistakes of our past that we build better futures, and it is in being honest with ourselves that we become better.

So relax, lay down, and read the stories written in the stars.

Word Count: 570