Matti Guillette

       In writing this essay, I have noticed some skills that I would like to further develope and I have also discovered some of the skills that I am getting better at. One thing that comes to mind when considering what I have improved on, is knowing the right moments to be descriptive and the moments where you need to be more condense. Because I was given a creative writing prompt, I was encouraged to use pretty descriptive writing. However, because this essay was for scholarship, I did have a word limit of 500 words. I really had to focus on what descriptive writing I wanted to keep in my essay and what writing sounded overdone or too conspicuous. A piece of advice that I was given that pushed me to revise my essay was to let go of the insecurities that I have about my own writing. Unfiltered and raw is what grabs people’s attention, not something that sounds artificial. One sentence that I think showcases my growth in creative writing would be, “Orange like ripened mango exposed in the soil, it’s flesh feeding the roots that created it.” I like this sentence because it is short and condense but still creates an image in your head. When reading over one of my early drafts, I noticed that some of my writing felt forced. Some of the writing was almost too descriptive. I am learning how to show and not tell without sounding like I am trying too hard.