Only when we let our fire die can we let Christ do His best work.
Book and Design for “Timelines”
As a professional writing major at my college, seniors have to compile their best work from over the last four years into a bound, designed book. It’s been a project I’ve been waiting for with bated breath ever since I learned about it. Older students told me as a sophomore to save every paper I ever wrote, keep teachers’ notes, and to be thinking about a theme that can tie everything together. Back then, I couldn’t imagine picking out a theme that could encompass all my writing: after all, I liked to write about different things, and some of my stories were vastly different from others. But as my senior year came upon me, I found the perfect theme. My stories revolve around either hope or memory. Many of them look to the future with either a warning to society about our faults, or an expected adventure just out of reach. And when not writing a social commentary on America’s morals, I’m pulling nostalgia from the cracks of my mind. I thought “memory” and “hope” were much too generic for my theme, but finally it hit me: I also write about time. Time looking forward to the future or back … Read More
The Writer’s Block Syndrome
This past month, I’ve been struggling with severe writer’s block. I almost never succumb to it’s cold, calloused embrace, but this month has been a doozy for my writer’s mind. What’s worse? I had a paper due; a long paper. In an attempt to conquer this…impediment…I wrote this short soapbox rant for my nonfiction class: Today, I have a problem. A real, big-time problem. It’s a problem every writer faces, a problem every writer fears. It comes with no warning, but strikes a quick, agonizing blow to your self-esteem, your peace of mind, and your overall sanity. I’m talking about writer’s block. The wicked, wicked illness of every writer.
The Dyslexic Superpower: Why Our Uncanny Abilities Aren’t Weaknesses
Every hero needs a weakness. Reading and writing just happen to be ours. See dyslexia as a superpower instead of a disability in this article.
The Harvey Underground Church (Personal Narrative)
This was a personal narrative for my college creative writing course. I wanted to describe the several nights my cousins, brothers, and I played an intense game of “Underground Church” in my grandma’s yard in Harvey, North Dakota. Lights in the dark void hovered five feet off the ground, rotating in long, haphazard arcs like small, drunken lighthouses that sliced the night as a sharp blade. One of the lights haunted an old shed, the holder of the flashlight tromping around and pivoting his weight, as if he had nothing better to do than to stand alone in the sea of darkness. Our soft thuds of sneakered feet were too quiet to alert our hunters. We weaved in and out of trees, our powers of invisibility only compromised when we broke into an occasional pool of house lights. Dark paths, hidden holes, and dangerous strung clotheslines were determined to slow us down, yet we pushed on in a subdued rush. As my cousins and I tore blindly through the darkness, we knew we were in huge trouble—bigger than we ever had been before. What awaited if the searchlights caught us in its glaring eye was only up to the imagination: … Read More
How Healthie is the Selfie? (Op-Ed)
I wrote this Op-Ed piece on a whim when I learned about a potential cash prize for best entry–exclusively for teenagers. I worked on the paper on and off for about a week before submitting it just before the deadline. I didn’t really expect much to come of it, but that Saturday I woke up to check the announcements, and to my utter surprise, I found that I had tied for second place. I read and reread the gushing comments from the judge, all day feeling like the most accomplished person in the world. This was the first piece I ever won a cash prize ($50) for in a writing competition. Here’s the original article on my Write the World account: How Healthie is the Selfie? And here are the judge’s comments about my piece: Write the World Blog *Scroll…scroll…scroll* The Instagram feed is long again after a day of my social introversion. Not surprisingly, the feed is composed of the same generic content: selfies, food, throwbacks, selfies, Starbucks, transformation pictures, selfies, sunsets, hospital pictures, pets, weekday crushes—and did I mention selfies? This international, social networking phenomenon has deluged the internet as quickly as a flash flood. The question is: how healthy is the … Read More