Who am I (as a Writer)?

Who am I as a writer?

This is the question I was asked to reflect on, but I think a better question would be, “who do I want to be as a writer?”

My writing, for many years, was predominantly either academic or intended for my eyes only.  I wrote the essays I was assigned and scratched down a few lines of poetry to hide away in my drawer, but rarely did I pen anything more ambitious.  Only recently has this begun to change.  In high school, I was involved in the International Baccalaureate program, which required many pieces of self-directed writing across all subjects.  I was given many open-ended assignments, such as evaluating a controversial decision in history, creating an artist’s statement, researching a mathematical concept or theory, and conducting and reporting my own experiment in biology.  Because they were so open ended, these assignments allowed me the freedom to explore areas that I was interested in, and consequently resulted in the pieces of writing I am most proud of to this day.  This, more than anything, helped me develop my voice and figure out who I want to be as a writer.

“So who is that?” you might ask. Well, I’m not entirely sure yet, which is part of what I hope this class will help me discover.  I have found that my values as a writer line up closely with the seven habits of the mind we discussed in class, particularly curiosity, openness, and creativity.  In my writing, I love to explore new ways of thinking and learn as much as I can about novel approaches I can share with others.  I especially love creativity in writing, whether in poetry, prose, or academic writing, where I can think outside the box and find new ways to present ideas.  All seven of the habits listed have some bearing on my writing, but I feel these three describe my style best.

When considering who I am as a writer, I feel this connects inextricably with what I choose to write about.  I am interested in many areas, which has made settling on a major a rather daunting task, but the common theme among them tends to be improving understanding to promote harmony.  That’s nice, but what does it mean? To put it more simply, I like to help people understand themselves, their world, and each other, by explaining things that they may experience but are unaware of, like gender roles, quasiplatonic relationships, or introversion/extroversion (this last link is actually to a post from my other blog).  I am very interested in psychology, feminism, philosophy, art, gender studies, Doctor Who, and just things that are unconventional.  I think uniqueness is one of the most beautiful things on earth, and I want to celebrate it in all its forms.

So, I hope this class will help me grow as a writer and continue to find my voice on issues I am passionate about.  I expect it will give me more tools to use as I learn to become not just a better writer than I am, but the writer that I want to be.