Neil Peterson

Creative Writing

Mrs. Mounts

1/25/19 and also 6/13/19

On the Topic of Focus and Improvements

Hello Mrs. Mounts. You asked us to write a two page essay on how we think the

creative writing class has helped us improve our prowess as writers. I will be doing that,

to an extent. It is true that the Tawas Area High School Creative Writing Class has

helped me to hone my skills, but it is also undeniably true, that it has also contributed to

stifling my focus and dedication to writing. This is in no way your fault. It is entirely,

however, the fault of both myself and the environment in which the class takes place.

There are some within the class who do truly seem to enjoy writing. There are

others that quite obviously do not. They seem to have taken the class entirely as an

“easy grade”, and it shows. They do nothing all class period other than talk. This is not

only detrimental to their grade (presumably) but it is definitely distracting to those

around them. I have found that I excel in more focused environments. I am able to

drown them out with the use of music, but it is, at times, an unavoidable distraction.

This, in tandem with your temporary replacement, greatly decreased not only the

quantity, but I feel also the quality of my work. Recently, I have been able to focus more.

This is in part, due to your return to the classroom, but also due to my own increase in

dedication. In its own way, the arrogance of my peers has helped me to focus on

working out my own problems. It is still an irrefutable truth that the ideal working
environment for me would be a quiet place away from the current classmates within the

class.

I would still like to focus on increasing my skill in what I focus on in my writing. I

feel many of my sentences are unimportant to the story, though this could be remedied

with more time for writing. I would like to work on plot-progression and core story

crafting. I feel the topics we have covered thus far in the year have been well explored.

In no way do I mean to slander you or your teaching Mrs. Mounts. I believe that

no other teacher in the high-school could provide a better class, and I have been very

happy with what I have produced within the class. The only unhappy feelings within the

class stem from those who would take it with no respect for the actual class.

An Addendum:

Hi Mrs. Mounts. I am adding on to this essay now at the end of the year. I still

agree with some of the stuff within it. But now I have Creative Writing 2 to look forward

to! And it is basically what I described as my “ideal working environment.” I am very

excited for next year, and everything that I will get done within it. This has been one of

the best classes of my highschool career. I would say that it is tied Literature Analysis

for #1. Which is cool because I took both of these classes my junior year. Hopefully A.P.

English will be as much fun as Literature Analysis was, because I know Creative Writing

2 will be much more fun than its predecessor.

I would say that my experiences in this class have definitely helped me to

improve my writing and my outlook on my writing. Now I am writing another sentence.

Oh look here comes another sentence. Hahaha, my sense of humor has obviously

improved also. And now I have reached the three-page minimum. I am done! Yahoo!