To the future group of Professor Penner’s creative writing course, I hope this message finds you all doing well.

By the time that you read this (if you ever read this), it will more than likely be the start of a new semester. You’ve found yourselves in this creative writing course, and you may or may not know how to feel about it. Don’t worry about it, I was in your position once as I was skeptical joining this class at the start as well.

But where are my manners? Please excuse me, my name is Wilbert. I was in the creative writing course with Professor Penner in the 2021 spring semester. I’ll be transparent here, we were asked to write a letter to the future group of this course. Just take it for what it is, and hopefully you’ll get some insight about the class you’ve managed to get yourselves into.

There will be a number of weekly assignments that will need to get done throughout the duration of this class. If you’re used to writing papers that are 5 pages long, then this class will be much easier than you’d think; you aren’t expected to write anything extensive so you can drop that weighted thought if you’re carrying it. The name of the game is to develop on your creative writing ability, and possibly open up on experiences you may have a hard time expressing with vocals.

For example, one of the few things that will require to open up on an experience are the memoirs you’ll need to write. The memoirs are very specific memories in an individuals lifetime, and those assignments allowed me to reflect on my ability to tell a story. My ability to provide supporting details lacked, and writing the memoirs definitely showed that. I needed to be able to express a previous experience to the rest of the class without have a list of questions that could’ve been answered in the memoir you know? If you struggle with the same thing I did, then this will be a stepping stone for you. This assignment will set you up for future assignments where the details matter.

Another example of assignment that needed the attention of detail were the short stories. The short story assignment was ‘basic’ on paper and seemed rather straight forward. The assignment was to take a previous experience and fictionalize it into a short story, or make a short story of your own. The best stories are the ones that don’t lack in detail, but just have the right amount to not bore the reader to sleep. The names, the actions, the dialogue, the transitions in thoughts, it’s all important to create a smooth flow of work on the page. Personally, I was never able to tell a story well. My first story came back with critiques (which are mandatory by the way) and those helped me find the flaws I couldn’t initially see.

It sounds odd going through all this online, but communication is key as always. Not everyone will excel at online learning, and that’s completely understandable for the vast majority. If you’re confused about anything throughout the course, ask a question during the discussions. There weren’t that many questions asked throughout the duration of the class that seemed out of the ordinary during my time with Penner; professor Penner is pretty clear on what she asked of us. As long as you’re trying to be involved (and she’s always open to hear your thoughts), then you’ll be just fine. You’ll see how open the professor is to conversation, so take advantage of that if you need the assistance.

Now, as a result of this lengthy semester, I’d say my abilities have sharpened enough to progress onto future writing projects. I’ve gotta admit, I don’t write that much to begin with. As a mechanical engineering major, I do a heck of a lot more designing or mathematical problems in general. When I do manage to write a paper or so it’s usually the lack of detail that cost me. I more than likely won’t have critiques in the future to polish my work, so I need to try and get it the right the first time. I’ll apply the lessons I’ve learned in this class to future writing assignments/projects/pieces where it’s needed.