
CREATIVE WRITING
at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco
Welcome! CW develops the art and craft of creative writing through instruction, collaboration, and respect. This blog showcases STUDENT WRITING and how to APPLY to Creative Writing.
Category: Creative Writing Classes
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I do the “I can’t believe it’s already/only been the first week of school!” thing only ’cause it’s true. Both ways. It’s already been the first week of school: five whole days passed, memories of it were not a blur and can be willed easily into definition, my relative time has changed. It’s only been…
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by Avi (’15) As the school dwindles to the last weeks, I can sense a feeling of despair in the eyes of my classmates. It’s funny how when the end is so close, it seems so far away. With this despair can come the lack of enthusiasm, or the feeling that “class doesn’t matter anymore,…
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by Mykel (’14) There’s a feeling I like to call “end of the year nihilism,” and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. For someone as lazy and evasive as yours truly, heaps of final projects and tests often result in what the experts like to call a “fuck-it-all coma.” I’m trying to avoid…
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by Mollie (’13) The first time I read a poem into a microphone on the SOTA main stage in my sophomore year, my voice squeaked and quivered, my face grew pink, and my hands moist. This was not what I was expecting—no, I expected my voice to radiate around the auditorium with the gumption of David Sedaris and…
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by Hazel (’13) We recently finished our Poetry through Jazz unit in Creative Writing II. It was a new approach in that it gave our writing a historical context, both in terms of subject matter and style. But the one thing that will really stick with me was something that Justin (our artist in residence)…
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Anyone I’ve known who has ever attended the CSSSA program has LOVED it. Just loved it. I was talking to a SOTA parent whose daughter attended the Films Studies program and he said that she was so ecstatic about the experience that she didn’t want to return a second summer because she didn’t want to…
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by Avi (’15) Ever wonder where your characters live? Where they walk their dog? What their neighborhood is like? Who their neighbors are? A sense of place makes a story believable. Setting is immensely important; where a character lives greatly influences their actions and thoughts. I like to visualize the town where my characters are…
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by Molly (’15) There is a mess of pillows in the Creative Writing room. They are solid-colored squares and circles of red and black, and are indisputably chic. They are often used as headrests during Sustained Silent Reading and can also be used as devices to hide Colin with when Heather takes attendance or to…
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by Amelia (’13) As a Creative Writing senior, I’ve had my fair share of rejection emails from publications I submit my work to. Without fail, they open with a seemingly cheery “Thank you Amelia!” before the ominous “but,” and to polish it all off, “we could not accept your work at this time.” I remember…
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It’s a contemplative day in life when you realize you don’t have abs to spare. Or any abs at all. When you’re just a squishy tummy that cats like to sit on. A squishy tummy with a brain, because while I may not have abs to spare, I certainly do have ABS to spare. A.B.S.,…