English Conference II

Session 4: Panel 8

This session included two IUP undergraduate students who shared their creative writing pieces with the audience. It was interesting to see this writing style because it is much different from what we are focusing on in English Research Writing. The first presenter read her piece entitled "Silence", which was about the loss of the author's father at age eight. She said it was very emotional to think about and write, but she wrote it not only for herself, but for others who didn't have the opportunity to meet her loving, caring father. The author said she has yet to share it with any family members because she wants to possibly further expand the piece and wants to wait until it is officially complete. An interesting question was asked during the session of "How do you know when to write for yourself and when to write for an audience?" The presenters and fellow professors answered by saying you can originally write for yourself and then get others to peer edit and critique your writing to see if it has the possibility of sparking readers' interest. The second presenter read a handful of her creative writing short stories and poems on a wide variety of topics. She didn't have a central theme for all of her pieces. She stated that she gets her ideas from visual cues in everyday life which help her start the piece, even if that item plays no important role in the story. I found that very intersting because all you need is one simple "old brown building" as the presnter stated to get the ball rolling, and before you know it, you have created a work of art.