CREATIVE WRITING - MY CREATIVE WRITING JOURNEY

 Creative Writing 

Tutorial Assignment 13 / My Creative Writing Journey

Last Creative Writing class with Dr. Haniz

For the longest time, writing has instilled this permanent fear yet awe within me. The trivial fear of not being able to rise to the level of proficiency and talent as my peers and world-renowned authors all around has stumped my growth in writing further back in my younger days in school. To be able to read and imagine the books will be just as enough for me and there is no need for me to learn how to write or create, I thought after having several harsh criticisms throughout my days pursuing A-levels in English. Funnily enough, writing chased after me. No matter how hard I tried to wretch myself away from writing as a whole, be it journaling, essay writing, musings, poems, or short stories, to the point where I was willing to fail my English A-levels, writing has become my solace and safe space.

Initially, I chose another module as my free elective but like I have mentioned, writing chased after me and decided to reroute my academic GPS at the very last minute to Creative Writing. It really did not feel right when I chose the other module but boy, am I glad I took this module instead. I recalled staring at the Zoom waiting room, feeling extremely intimidated and praying that this module would be nothing as harsh as my time in college. Once I saw Dr. Haniz, I knew this was going to be one heck of a fun module! Her presence and way of teaching put me and many of my course mates at ease and often leaving us feeling refreshed and eager to start our work after class. Confession: Ayu and I often fangirl over text whenever Dr. Haniz shared her experiences in the journalism industry. It was very very hard not to fangirl, trust me. 

At times, creative writing did get intimidating, stressful and do not even get me started on the writer’s block. But my oh my, when your brain starts to flow with ideas and your hands  starts itching to type, you know for a fact that it is going to be a long and good one. Some days, there were no ideas, no lines. Nada. Zero. Gone case. Some days, there were great ideas. Sun is shining, and non-existent grammatical errors. It compensates you know, that is the beauty of this module - expect the unexpected. 

On top of the three major assignments - newspaper feature, profile feature and the magazine website, the weekly tutorial exercises were what intrigued me and frankly, challenged me the most. These exercises were often random but still according to the lessons of the week and too short for a detailed draft/planning. So I had to make do when the time came. As an aspiring writer, these were moments I dread and live for the most as they dared me to be braver and explore beyond my current writing style. Be it the structure, tonality or even perspectives. 

There were many moments where I became emotional and unconsciously biased. Sometimes, even stubborn or ignorant as I just simply refused to believe what I discovered through researching. It was hard not to get affected and be as objective as I could, especially for issues I feel so strongly about. As the assignments and exercises progressed over the weeks, Dr. Haniz continued to remind us to be mindful and objectivity does take practice. Yes, it does get easier over time because ultimately, I reminded myself that I was already voicing the issue through my words. I would like to think that us writers, no matter how big or small, are nature’s human amplifiers. Nothing will amount to how loud our words can travel throughout the world. 

One of my favourite memory during this module was when we had a class together with Amnesty Malaysia where we met three representatives who kindly explained their purpose and our task. We wrote letters to three different groups of people advocating for social issues within their country to show support and love. That activity in itself was so pure, so inspiring and absolutely so wholesome, it showed us how powerful our words can be. How powerful writing can be as they are not just words strung together, but they hold meaning and personality. In other words, I learned that writing gave me an identity. The creative writing module helped me recognise its significance in my life, and to no longer run from writing but rather, embrace it as it has become a part of me.