Work/ School Balance

As someone who’s working a lot and going to school and trying to maintain a home, things tend to get put on the back burner. For me, it’s writing. One thing being a creative writing major does is force you to write. Well, I have a writing assignment due at the end of the month, which isn’t that far away. So guess, what. I get to stretch my writing muscles and write. The question is, what am I going to write about? It has be to something I can research, since that’s what the class is about. That’s something I’m going to have to mull over today. What am I going to write about?

I have come to two realizations today regarding being back at school. The first is that when I write, I don’t exactly share it. I mean, I write my blog and I write novels, eventually publishing them, but I don’t see people after reading them. There is anonymity to it. Someone buys my book on Amazon and I’ll most likely never see them. Well, I have to write to workshop with my classmates. People who sit in a room with me once a week will read my work and critique it. They will tell me what they think I can do better. I’m in no way saying it’s a bad thing. I’m saying it’s going to be hard. I’m opening a piece of me to people I barely know. I don’t even know the names of a lot of them. I have to do this a total of five times this semester. I’m scared.

The second thing I realized is that I’m not special. I’m not the only person who’s been published. I’m not the only person who has written a novel. I’m just another person in the class who likes to write…who’s at least 15 years older than they are. I’m fine with it. I like being surrounded by other writers and honestly, it’s nice to not hear “oh, you’re a writer? What do you write? I’ve always thought about writing a novel. How do you do it?” I don’t like the spotlight on me. I don’t mind answering the questions, I don’t mind talking about it. I just prefer to stay in the background.

One thing that’s surprised me is that I’m more vocal in the discussions than I ever thought I’d be. I think some of this has to do with how small the classes are. When you have a class with six and one with 11 other people, it’s not as intimidating as raising your hand and speaking out with 30 sets of eyes staring at you. I also like the discussions and the debates. They get a little boustrus, nothing out of hand, but it’s interesting and I enjoy it. Normally, I’m the one who’s quietly hiding in the corner, praying the teacher never calls on me. I’ve contributed a lot to both classes and the more I contribute, the more I enjoy it.

I was talking to a friend of mine who finds it odd that I like school. I like sitting in class and talking about our reading. I like talking about my writing. I like being with like-minded people. I think that is what’s going to help me succeed. Enjoying what you’re learning and being active in your education helps you get more out of it. I absolutely love it, at least so far. I don’t know what the rest of this degree is going to be like, but I really like it so far.