Marcus's Leavitt/Hoiland Post

1.    The author mentioned different methods of her writing, like using poetry forms to provide a different style of reading. If I remember correctly, she created the story in this form for a couple of reasons: 1. Because that’s just how the story ended up as she started writing it. 2. Poetry allowed her to write about difficult moments without being too graphic or specific. 3. The form created an interesting connection between the reader and the story – it was a truer form to tell the story. It made it more real. As for morals and LDS angles of her writing, she demonstrated the reliance of miracles. The author mentioned that many of these young girls turn to Christ because they have literally nowhere else to turn. She used this fact to increase the addition of miracles to the story. However, the author leaves it open ended, because she didn’t want the ending to be too glorious – many of the times, these young women only live up to 5 years once immersed in drugs and prostitution.

2.    “…A pretty useless word, really, but the fact that someone took the time to teach it to us, to say. it over several times until we got it and the Remy held the snail up to his eyes and said snigel means I will cherish that word as a passed-on treasure until I am old and forget all my words.” (Pg. 10)

I really liked how this part stood out among others even though she is very descriptive in her details throughout the book. She used a simple word and phrase to create an entirely new meaning which produced a deep reflecting moment. It is details like this that I would like to remember and put into my own writing. As I had mentioned before, writing boldly helped me remember details I had forgotten, but by replicating this style and approach, I think details will come back to me and I’ll be able to write them in a unique way. There are simple things in life that can have a great impact, and it is important to show that in my writing. At times I want to focus on this big moments, but the little ones pack a big punch as well.

Cassie's Bold Writing

I used to write very consistently and boldly in my journal. It was such a great way for me to sort through things. I have not done that in a really long time and as I did this assignment I kind of realized why I stopped doing it, but also why I need to challenge myself to resume.

It can be really scary to wade into thoughts that I'd rather ignore without an expectation of figuring out those questions. But that is also very freeing. It's a wonderful thing to not have to search for if I'm saying something wrong (that would be misunderstood, or that I'll change my mind about, or that is hyperbolic, etc.) and just be able to say what I feel as I feel it. I thought this would feel more like opening a wound, and it did for a time, but I did actually find some clarity as well. As I was writing, I realized that there was an apology that I never gave someone who I owed it and I saw a little clearer how I had hurt them. Apologizing actually drastically improved our relationship in just a couple of days. I was not expecting that, and I don't expect that from future bold writing. But I think I have more confidence in my perspective as I write now and in the clarity being totally authentic without expectation can allow. 

Cameron's Bold Writing Blog Reflection

My attempt at “bold writing,” was not literary as it too involved a sequence of questions. I appreciated the fact that I didn’t have to worry about an audience when writing, defining terms unknown to an audience, expounding on ideas that I’ve been mulling over for months, etc. It felt good to write freely, but as I did so, I found my mind slowly wandered to deeper, almost scarier issues and questions that I didn’t know I have been struggling with. It’s interesting that the Church, which has become such an integral part of my identity, makes it difficult to question discrepancies within the religion even through a lens of faith. Perhaps, I complained a little too much at the beginning, however, I’m grateful that this assignment had a 1000-word minimum limit. Having a goal to write more helped stretch my vocabulary, ideas, and restitutions. Though this journal entry sparked questions, I can’t say that writing a 1500-word journal entry has allowed me to sort through all struggles with the particular issue, but it has helped me reflect and re-center the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions that were prevalent. For me, I think that finding some type of restitution was crucial, to keep writing, not just to list the issues at hand, but to look at things from an alternative perspective. Keeping an open mind, of course, enhanced my understanding of the issue.

Julie's Bold Essay

Writing my private bold essay was a relief for me. It gave me a chance to wrestle with some of the doubts and worries that I have about the future, and gave me permission to not feel guilty about having some of these doubts. As I wrote this down I thought about the recurring theme in life that you won’t solve your problems unless you have the courage to face them head-on. It is essential to give validity to your feelings, to not dismiss them as stupid or something that will just fade away. Writing them down is a great way to do that. If you’re not willing to take the time to address those feelings, you won’t acknowledge them and resolve to tackle them head-on.

Maybe that’s why feelings can be an abyss, something dark and scary to enter. In this exercise I learned about my own tendency to push some of my darker fears/feelings away in hopes that they will go away. But at the same time I learned about the courage that writing--not just writing, but writing with authenticity and honesty--gives me to face those feelings.

Siera's Bold Essaying

In my personal essay I focused on trying to write through one of the paradoxes that exists in my life right now. Writing out my thoughts and feeling about things is not a new thing for me. It really helps me process my thoughts. This time in particular I felt like it allowed me to untangled my thoughts and view them side by side. What I thought was paradox, became a lot more connected as I looked at them in this way. I felt like I could reconcile a lot more of it. I still have questions, but now I feel like I have an idea of what to look at in order to find answers. I didn’t feel like it was hard to be bold in my writing. One thing I do find myself doing though, is sometimes I try to resolve my issues to quickly. I don’t allow myself enough time and space to reside within the problem.