Blog 21-Craft essay

Craft Essay
For the past three months, we have evolved as writers within the creative non-fiction genre. I the beginning, it was just a class to take with the hope of earning an A and learning a bit. However, the realization that there’s much more than that struck almost instantaneously.
At first, my writing was solely regarding the world of sports, soccer to be particular. My goal is to become a soccer writer within the near future after graduating college. Blogging, watching games, analyzing, and thoroughly describing my views and thoughts on the game is what soccer writing is all about. Making the switch to creative non-fiction for the class room was a bit difficult after an entire summer of sports writing. Every story was written from my perspective.
My first creative non-fiction piece was about the time I experienced my first car accident. The goal of that particular work was to tell the story from start to finish. No imagery or philosophy was intended to be written. I explained in chronological order what had happened at the time. The intended audience for that piece would be people who have had similar experiences that could relate to me. The story was written in organized form, moving from one paragraph to the next. It was directly to the point from start to finish which allowed it to develop along as it went.
Next up was the story on the family business. Transition swayed throughout the entire piece as there would be dialogue and description playing off one another. Whether it was having an issue with a customer or not wishing to follow my parents’ orders to make two pizza pies, it was all clear. It wasn’t as organized as the first piece because of the transitioning. Some paragraphs would be longer than others. The idea was to give my ideal audience of people who have worked/owned restaurants the first hand experience of what my family and I go through. However, for this story, I may have not put it in the best order. I could have made it a tad more exciting if I didn’t rush through writing the piece.
My third and fourth pieces were about the inside of a packed stadium at a live soccer match and travelling to Turkey respectively. Both were organized in the same way as the first one. The Field showed my experience at my first ever showdown between Turkey and the USA. I would transition between game play and the dialogue occurring with me and the other fans all around the stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The audiences that I would imagine enjoying the read are fans of international soccer. The language and dialogue within my story are what occurred at the game. It’s an experience I will never wish to forget.
The travel piece on the differences between Turkey and the USA is probably my favorite one of all. I wrote it out straight through for the rough draft. From playing video games in the United States to kicking a rubber round ball in the dirt, the differences of these two nations are certainly there. For the revised draft, I took my time and made a few changes here and there to make it even better than it was. For people who would like to find out what it is like to travel to Turkey, that story is a must read. The imagery, metaphors, and easy description mixed altogether are what defined the piece.
Throughout this semester, I experimented with different types of stories in different ways. I really had to force my way out of my comfort zone in order to do the job right. The language was all straightforward within all four of my works. I wrote the stories and descriptions the way I know them. The ethics of my representations are certainly acceptable. No one was intended to be offended by any of my stories. They were written for the purpose of learning and enjoying the words on the screen.
My process definitely changed and grew throughout this semester in the ways that I learned more about organization, imagery, ethics, craft, and of course the idea of focus. The last one was difficult because I usually like to jump around to write the story as the thoughts pop into my head. However, I learned how to organize my thoughts and write them down as they fit in the best order.
Writing creative non-fiction has been a wonderful journey for me to take part in. From beginning solely as a sports writer, I grew into someone who can write about different, new, and interesting subjects that will not only attract sports fans but people who deal with everyday situations. Owning a restaurant, watching a sporting event, traveling, and experiencing accidental events are all parts of my life that I was finally able to write about. Even if it is just a tiny bit, my writing process certainly did improve throughout the semester as I was finally able to shift from sports writing. The tools I picked up in this class are ones I will never forget. Thank you for reading.