Indian Epics

For this last post, I thought I'd write about all of the writing everyone else has done! Normally for online classes where you are required to read and comment on the work of other people, it ends up being an endless drudgery of reading the same content regurgitated in different ways from readings or assignments. I thus had a bad association with online classes, and when I saw that a good portion of the grade relied on reading and responding to the writing of others, I was dreading it. BUT. Everyone so pleasantly surprised me. This class is unlike any other I've taken in many ways, but first and foremost is the level of creative license we are all encouraged to take. There were endless avenues to pursue, endless ways to convert something ancient into something new and modern and relevant. It consistently blew my mind to encounter the creativity of everyone in the class, and how they related these stories to things they cared about. It has truly been a joy to read all of ...

This class has been surprising in so many wonderful ways, but I think the best of all for me as I reflect on the stories I've written in this and past weeks is that I discovered I can write creatively. I took writing classes throughout high school, but only a Business Writing class in college. I definitely more readily enjoy more analytical writing, but I think that's only because I haven't had very many creative writing outlets. With Laura's encouragement, I was somehow able to relate Wonder Woman, a modern superhero (and quite frankly a most deserving icon) to ancient Indian folklore. And it was fun! And I was kinda good at it! No one was more surprised than I was. I had major writer's block at the beginning of the semester, but reading so many creative, interpretive stories by our classmates showed me that you can really do whatever you want with creative writing and it turns into something fun to read once you start having fun writing it. Choosing to write abo...