From numbers to letters

“I hope someday to write something worth plagiarizing” — RE:BOOKS

By Maya B.

In high school, I took a creative writing class called “The Writer’s Craft.” 

I got a B. 

I’m going to shameless;y namedrop: Farah Heron, the author of Accidentally Engaged, was in the same class.

Anyway, maybe Farah remembers why I took that class because I certainly don’t. 

My high school curriculum was mathematics heavy — I took every math class possible in hopes of getting into the highly desirable math program at the University of Waterloo. Writer’s Craft was the antithesis of mathematics. Maybe I thought it was a bird course. It wasn’t. But it was fun. 

Fast forward a couple of decades, and I have just signed up for an elective humanities course at Seneca College in Creative Writing.

I never thought twice about taking this course. I’m in my second semester at Seneca College, taking a diploma program in Office Administration. While there, I knew I would take a writing course, no matter what.

I jumped headfirst into Executive Editor at RE:books and was very hesitant when Rebecca asked me to join her team to write about books. I dabbled at writing for a few years but never showed anyone my work. I even made a list of novels I’d love to write and started writing a couple of my own but was never all that serious about it.

Even though I was extremely motivated to sign up for this creative writing course, I’m unsure what to expect from it or where it may lead me. 

My initial thought behind taking a creative writing course is that I have developed a love of language and writing through helping Rebecca read books and choose recommendations each week. 

Words are powerful ways to convey messages and tell stories. Storytelling itself is an art. A story is like a painting — it has a purpose, a message, and leaves an impact. 

That is what I want to do. I want to paint a picture using words and have an impact. (So, yes, I guess I *may* want to write a novel! Who knows?)

To do that, I figured I needed the right tools. Unlike math, art is subjective. But like mathematicians, artists need the tools to achieve the desired objective and the know-how to exercise them. This is why I’m taking this creative writing course – to obtain the instruments and the skills to use them.

I haven’t seen the syllabus for the creative writing course yet, so I don’t know exactly how this will happen. I assume that I will have to write — a lot. 

I’ll probably have to write in my voice and someone else’s voice. I will presumably have to write to convey feelings and to awaken certain emotions in the reader. I will almost certainly have to write in multiple different styles for multiple different kinds of readers. 

The only thing I’m sure of is that I’ll be writing more than I have even in the last few months.

I do have some reservations, though.

I am very good at taking constructive criticism, and I don’t get offended easily. But I am apprehensive about losing my love for writing like the idiom “too much of a good thing” suggests. 

I’m also fearful that I won’t be good enough. Not good enough for RE:books (sounds of Rebecca scuffing in my brain at this thought and telling me to re-read her article on imposter syndrome and “How to Write Your First Book,” which you can read here!). Not good enough to write a novel. And most importantly, not good enough for what I perceive as good enough (and that is a mighty high standard if I’m completely honest). 

But I am not one to back down from a challenge, and I am not one to walk away from an opportunity that most likely will benefit me in the future. So, we’ll have to wait and see. 

We’ll also have to see what impact this course will have on my writing. Maybe one day soon, I’ll be able to write something and show it to someone with pride.

In any event, I’d like to invite you on this road with me, where I will be able to share my challenges and achievements and my thoughts and feelings throughout this journey as an adult taking a creative writing course.

xo

Maya B.

P.S. Rebecca told me she got her first C-minus, ever, in her first-year journalism class in university, yet she still made a career out of writing. This should give us all hope!

P.S.S Speaking of “art,” you must check out this Q&A with a nail artist who paints books covers on her nails. (Yes, book covers!) From Manuscript to Manicure?