It's been awhile since I've written creatively. In fact, it's been awhile since I've actually written. School and work have put my passion on a hiatus, and I've recently had the misfortune of realizing that I'm losing my skill. This needs to change.

After I graduated in May, I decided to continue on with school and pursue not only another Associates (in Business Administration), but a Bachelors in English as well.

Because of this, I will be taking classes that require me to write! This semester I am still at WMCC (it's convenient! and inexpensive!) and am enrolled in Writing the Short Story. Our first class was today.

I felt a little awkward. It seemed as though my creativity has run dry, as I honestly had difficulty coming up with ideas of what to write about. In middle and high school, I was incredibly dynamic in my plots, and I'm sad to have lost that. Hopefully it will return.

One quality of myself that has not been lost, however, is my sensitivity. I can take constructive criticism, but not while I am writing something. I feel as though writing a story (or anything) is like being pregnant: You don't want anyone to see the product until it's done. When I'm writing, I alter my words so many times and move commas around quite often. Because of this, it always makes me feel awkward when a teacher reads over my shoulder. (In high school, I told one teacher to back off or I would stop writing. Fortunately we had a good relationship.)

Today when I was writing, a classmate kind of read my sentences mockingly. I know he's just a silly goose and not being malicious in anyway, but it still hurt. When I finished my piece it was completely different than the one he had read.

Whenever I write, I imagine what I want to convey, then think about how to phrase it, what techniques to use, and how to "spice up my punctuation". There are so many thoughts processing inside my head, that the first draft I write is usually terrible. It may include what I envisioned for content, but it certainly doesn't read very snappy.

Therefore and in conclusion, I think it should be against the law for someone to read over one's shoulder while writing, and that first drafts should be kept locked in a safe. A piece of writing is intimate to its author, therefore causing them the need to perfect it before allowing it before critical eyes. Call me sensitive, but I'm sure other writers will agree. (Back me up, guys!)