Back in the (Journalism Class) Saddle

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Hi Readers,

I finished my news reporting class a couple weeks ago but between then and now I have not stopped writing. Let's talk about that in a moment; I have a quick update on my life for you first. 

This term I'm starting a new writing class while on this saga to become a better writer, my current class is called 'Feature Writing'.  I'll be learning to add a little more pizzazz to my stories as well as developing techniques for writing endings that wrap my stories utp with a nice little bow. Developing my writing skills is important to my professional and creative goals of becoming an interesting and captivating storyteller, so this won't be my last class, it's my last class at least until fall term 2023. 

I'm really interested in learning to write in a creative and expressive way. I have a few goals I'd like to accomplish in this class, the first being able to effectively write a story with a non-linear structure.  Think Tarantino's 1994 film 'Pulp Fiction' where the story is jumping from one storyline to the next and ultimately all timelines converge in the end. 

I want to learn to paint a mental image with my words. My favorite writers are able to create a scene so rich that I can see it perfectly in my mind's eye. Tommy Orange did this beautifully in his novel 'There There'. There's a bit in the story about the character Opal and her remembering living on Alcatraz as a young kid in this rebellious group trying to claim the island. The way Orange writes about Opal's experience, you can almost feel the mist in the air and the dankness of the cell where they'd bed down for the night. 

Lastly, I want to develop a bit of poeticism in my voice.
I think I'm good at writing something that is straightforward, but it'd be nice to sprinkle in a little metaphor from time to time. 

I feel like I've improved a lot as a writer in the last 14 weeks. I've written about eight stories with another one in the works right now. And if you look back at my blog you can find most of them. The ones I'm most proud of aren't on my blog and have been the most real journalism I've experienced to date.  

In mid-March the college I attend announced a huge budget cut eliminating the faculty librarians, the computer science and criminal justice departments, and severally reducing the Adult Basic Skills program. Since you last heard from me, I have published two stories on the topic and am currently finishing up a third. They were published to Linn-Benton Community College's newspaper, The Commuter, and I have provided links to the stories below. 
Thanks for checking in to see what's new with me - I hope you circle back around soon to find the stories I will be publishing in the next 10 weeks. 

--Kacey

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