Creative Writing Practice #3 - Conflict

                My heart was about to leap out of my chest as I opened the intimidating door. I now found myself in the head office of the music school I had always dreamed of attending. My goal was to play piano for a living, and this was an experience of a lifetime. It was my only chance with a musical future, and I do not know what I would do if I didn’t get in.

            “The Professor will see you now,” a dull woman said from behind a too small to be comfortable desk. She gestured to a large door that I assumed was where the Professor’s office was. I took in one big breath before entering the place that could make or break me.

            “Take a seat, Miss Casson.” I heard from the professional lips of the uptight man sitting behind a massive desk. “Now, I understand you were hoping to audition for our academy, is that correct?”

            “Yes, sir,” I replied confidently.

            “Well I’m afraid that is not possible,” he spit out the words like watermelon seeds.

            I stared at him blankly.

            “The amount of work you have done is impressive, but you have not taken your final exam with the Royal Conservatory.” He said almost in a boasting way. “Without a certificate, your work means nothing.”

            I felt a pile of rage and anger fill up the pit of my stomach. “Are you honestly going to let a piece of paper determine what I can and cannot do?” I was almost shouting. “A single piece of paper from a tree. You’re going to let a tree be the boss of me? That’s not right. You don’t know what I’m capable of doing. I have been playing for 15 years!” I was now standing and leaning over his desk so we were now face to face. I have never been angrier in my life! “And you won’t let me audition because I don’t have a piece of paper signed by some preppy, uptight woman with a professional signature?” I was surprised by my outburst. I was usually so shy and quiet, and I never fought back. I quickly sat back down in the chair and tried to hide my embarrassed face. “Sorry,” I quietly mumbled as my eyes dropped to the floor.

            An eerie silence filled the room. The Professor seemed to be shocked and his wandering eyes seemed to be in deep thought. He got up from his seat and walked over to a vintage piano that seemed violently out of tune, judging on the layer of dust covering its body. He lifted up the key cover, and calmly said, “Play.”

Creative Writing Practice #2 - Character

                Fumbling through my big black bag, I finally managed to pull out the key to my small condo in the middle of downtown Toronto. I gladly accepted working overtime at the small local café down the street, without thinking about the music class I now had five minutes to sprint to. College tuition had been put first on my list of things to pay off, so sadly I could not afford a car. Unlocking the door, I scurried towards my bedroom so I could change out of my work clothes. There was no way I was going to class with a frilly white apron and a name tag with “Ava” written in a romantic font.

            “Hi Sam, hi Ella!” I said to my two turtles who were blankly staring at me from their glass cage. They were the only family I had in Toronto, and cared greatly for them. I always wondered what they thought of me since I was always flying back and forth from work to class. They never really got a chance to see me without a stress line painted across my forehead.

            The apron got stuck when I tried to untie it, so I tried pulling it over my head. I was in such a hassle that I knocked my glasses off my face and tripped over them, only to leave me face down on the hard wood floor. I laughed at myself through my clumsiness, and pulled myself off the floor. I threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, having to cuff them since I was so short. I found a pair of sneakers, and tied up the laces quickly almost tying my fingers in with them as well.

            I ran out of my bedroom and over to my piano where I had yesterday’s theory homework scattered everywhere. When I was little, my mom forced me to take piano lessons. I always dreaded my lessons and rarely practiced, until one day when she took me to a music store and told me I could pick out anything I want. I picked out a Coldplay sheet music book, and absolutely fell in love with my instrument. I then realized playing piano was my one and only passion. So right after high school, I packed my bags and moved across the country, by myself, to Toronto so I could attend an arts school.

            Not even bothering to look in a mirror, I ran out the door and down the street hoping to catch a bus so I wouldn’t be as late. I was on my way when I ran into someone, and my sheet music and homework flew everywhere. Oh, just great!

*Change in perspective*

            I was late for class and running to catch a bus, when I fell in the path of a girl running in the opposite direction. I knocked her to the ground causing all of her papers to fly everywhere.

            “I am so sorry,” I mumbled offering her a hand up. She had a petit frame, and I was pretty scared I had broken something since I was the stereotypical football player towering over six feet with muscles galore.

            “Thanks,” she said blushing and not wanting to make eye contact.

            Her long, black wavy hair was blowing in all directions, as well as the papers. I noticed she had thick glasses on with vibrant blue eyes hidden behind them. I was getting distracted from the simple beauty of her presence. I woke myself from my trance and began to pick up the papers that surrounded us. I glanced back at the girl, to only see a small tear escape her eye as she organized the sheets in her hands. I quickly rushed to her side with the rest of the papers, and brushed the tear from her eye. Her skin was icy cold, but the burning from her cheeks was still present. I could tell she was very shy, but there was something about this girl that was so interesting.

            “I’m Liam,” I said looking down into her breathtaking eyes.

            “Ava,” she replied.

            She quickly walked away taking her papers, and also my heart as she scurried to the bus stop.

Creative Writing #1 - My Bedroom

                My bedroom is definitely not like something you would see in a home décor magazine. I feel like if I did have something like that, I would be scared to touch anything since it’s all so polished and put together. So I guess it’s alright not having the fanciest setting. I don’t have to worry about keeping it in order and feeling uncomfortable.

            When you first walk in through the tall door, the first thing you’ll probably notice is my un-made bed against a lavender wall. The contrasting black and white bedspread is never placed on it properly and the violet and white pillows look like they have been thrown out of a hurricane that flew over my bed. Beside it is a wooden nightstand with a white vintage lamp resting by the wall. I usually have my phone playing my favourite Beatles or Ed Sheeran album, and a cup of peppermint tea (my addiction) to sip on the refreshing taste and leave a slight aroma in the air. On the same wall, there is a huge window ledge seat that is piled with pillows, blankets, and even a velvet, soft bear I got on my first birthday. The area is painted a dark shade of purple complimenting the lavender, and making the white lace curtains stand out. A small wooden bookcase is placed right beside it making it the perfect reading nook, and it’s defiantly my favourite part of my room. I have a lot of floor space, covered in soft white carpet, which is often a dissaray of dance shoes (which I trip over too often), pillows that never made it to my bed, and my school bag that always finds a new place to hide. On the opposite wall facing the window ledge, there I have my large closet that I always keep closed in fear of a clothing avalanche if opened. And lastly, like any other teenage girl, I have a desk as a makeshift vanity cluttered with makeup and miscellaneous beauty products. Below it, there are lots of burn marks on the ground from many times of forgetting to turn off my curling iron before going to school (oops), but the mess of random hair tools seem to cover it just fine! 

            My bedroom is surely nothing out of the ordinary, but I love it just the way it is. Small, comforting, and a relaxing place to be.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Book Cover

 



 

This week, we have to choose a Book cover that we thinks best represents the novel, and his is the cover I like the best.

First of all, in the background, it is night time and the majority of the story happens at night hence the title “A Midsummer Night’s dream”. So, I would imagine A Midsummer Night happens during the night. All of the chaos that happens in this novel is in the forest at night. I don’t think the story line would be the same I it happened during the day. Probably no one would be sleeping, so it would be almost impossible to put the magic flower’s nectar on anyone’s eyes.

Second, the illustrator chose to put trees along the sides of the book to represent the forest. The forest is a pretty big part in the plot. Most of the events happen in the forest, and I could only imagine the characters trying to do the same in the middle of a town. Also, the forest is where the fairies live, and they probably would not be a part of the story if it all took place in the city.  

And lastly, in the middle of the page, with what I think are two fairies, is Nick Bottom. Bottom is a very important character in the book. He is a character that is pretty stupid and thinks highly of his self, and he is unaware of the donkey head that is now in place of his human head. He looks to be in a sort of rowdy mood which makes sense because he and his “crew” were practising a play and he tends to get a bit excited and loud because he wants to play all of the parts.

This is why I think this cover represents the book well. And on top of all of this, it does not look intimidating like the other covers with fine works of art on the front. A simple picture is all we need.



Connection to A Midsummer Night's Dream

                Once again I have changed novels from my last post, if you would like to read about it click the link below. It is “The boy in the Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne, and it is about a young boy living in the time of WW2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_in_the_Striped_Pyjamas

 

            In my Novel, there is a character named Pavel who is greatly similar to Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Pavel is a waiter who works in Bruno’s household, but has been forced to live in the concentration camp not far away from where Bruno’s family lives. Pavel was a doctor before the war, but has been forced to serve the family. Being in a concentration camp was very hard on him. He was weak, thin, hungry, and could barely do his job because of how little he was getting. Through all the pain and work, he still manages to do as he’s told, and respect everyone around him. Helena is not in this position but has the same type of personality that Pavel has. She is madly in love with Demetrius and it is very painful on her because he does not love her back. She would do anything for him and respects him greatly. As much as she wants to just throw herself at him, she does as she is told. If Demetrius told her to leave him alone for a while, she probably would despite how much it would hurt to.

            Both the characters are experiencing pain, one physically and one mentally, and they both hid it inside and follow their orders. Both of them have such strength not to break down and do what they really want, but they have too much respect and care. Both of them should be acknowledged more for all the trouble they are put through.  

My Spring Break

My spring break isn't really anyone's ideal break from school. Instead of sleeping in until noon every day and hanging out with friends, I will be working my butt off preparing for the Meridian Arts and dance festivals. The Meridian Arts festival is a music festival outside the city, and I will be performing three piano pieces. One of them happens to be a ten page version of Prince's "Bohemian Rhapsody" which takes six and a half minutes to perform, and the other two are classical pieces which I will have linked below. I will have to spend about three hours a day practising, and spending time performing in front of others so I will not feel as nervous on stage. Also, my dance company decided to run classes all throughout spring break so I will have all of my afternoons and evenings taken up. I am performing in three group dances (which are lyrical, hip-hop, and tap) and I may be possibly be bringing my tap solo to perform as well. On top of all this, my parents are going on a 5 day ski trip without any kids. I guess it’s not so bad having all these classes and practises, because at least I won’t be sleeping my whole break away. And it may be a lot of work to do, but it will pay off in the end.

This picture represents my spring break very well, although the festivals aren’t until mid-April. I get really bad stage fright and I hate being the centre of attention so of course performing or even thinking about it makes me really scared and nervous. Performing has never been easy for me, and I will try my best to conquer it before the festivals. In the picture, the boy is hiding behind the cutrain and that's basically what I will want to do instead of be on stage, but I guess this will be something I have to do

Bohemian Rhapsody (I can't find the exact cover I'm learning, but this one was pretty close)  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1OaxzqXoY8

An Ancient Tale by Bohdana Filtz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhITpt26RKw

Arietta by Evard Grieg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdrMCAymlfk



 

Connections From My Novel

Since my last blog post, I have started a new book called "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini. To read about the novel, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_Kind_of_a_Funny_Story

One of my friends can connect with the main carachter Craig. Craig suffers from depression and does not live the ideal life style of a typical teenager. He has struggles everyday by trying to keep his emotions together and deal with life. One day he gets so fed up and he feels as if suicide is his only way out of his struggles. He decides to phone his local Suicide hotline and they tell him to check into a hospital. My friend went through almost everything he went through. She has never been completely put together in her mind and her struggles sometimes overpower her thoughts. She does not feel good with her image and always questions her presence on this earth. And just like Craig, she keeps all of her pain bundled up inside herself. Both of them are so inspirational because they both manage to pull themselves together and take on the battle of a new day. The quote from the novel "I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare." proves how brave the two of them are. Nightmares are terrible experiences, imagine living them every day.