Storytelling Assignments: Words That Fill Me with Dread

Because I prefer to begin things on a positive note, I'm going to start with the parts of the class, and the assignments, that I'm really excited about.

This is me excited (Flickr)

I like the way the class is organized. So far, everything that I have started out confused about quickly began to make sense. Although it's extremely new to me, the blogging is already starting to grow on me. It's been really neat to look back on my posts (even though there are only a couple) and think that not only are they not totally embarrassing, but I'm actually kind of proud!

I am really, really looking forward to the reading. I am taking both Myth-Folklore and Indian Epics, and I honestly can't decide which stories that I'm most excited about.

There were quite a few extra credit assignments that looked enjoyable. The Wikipedia Trails assignment was particularly appealing, since journeying into the depths of Wikipedia is something I already do when bored (that and TV Tropes).

But, there's also some dread...

This is me panicking...(Pixabay)

I have never done any creative writing before. I am a voracious reader, and it always confused me that I never had a drive to write. As I looked over the information on the class, I got into a conversation with a good friend who probably knows me better than anyone. I told him that I didn't know if I was creative enough to do the storytelling assignments, that I didn't even know how I would approach writing, and how I've always found it odd that someone who reads as much as I do never had the urge to write. He told me that I'm not a creator, I'm an absorber. I started to be offended by that; everyone wants to be creative! But as he continued explaining, I realized that he was right. He told me that I absorb everything around me, like a sponge. I take it all in, analyze it, organize it in my mind, then use it. But, like a sponge, I don't want to give up what I've absorbed, not without outside pressure. He told me that a lack of creativity isn't a problem for me. The roadblock is my unwillingness to share the thoughts and ideas that are constantly racing around in my head. So, this semester's challenge to myself is to figure out how to express things that I've never expressed before, and how to overcome my aversion to publicly exposing my mind. I think that I'm looking forward to it...but, there's also the dread.