I Always Do, Play Blues, Writing Doubts, Maxine Hong Kingson

I recently wrote a play entitled, "I Always Do" for my Creative Writing class and I have to admit, writing it wasn't as difficult as finding the confidence to show the class what type of a writer you are. I remember the first day of my Creative Writing class, we all listened to Professor Starkey lecture about the syllabus. I was uncomfortable because while this was happening, I was scanning around the room to observe the many unique faces questioning what their thoughts would be about me, or specifically my writing pieces. After the lecture, Starkey made us find a partner and ask a few questions to them, which later lead to introducing them to the class. I remember one of the questions was, who is your favorite author? I lied to my partner and told him I didn't have one because I didn't want my classmates to criticize my taste in books. I shouldn't have not cared from the beginning and focused on my writing even if it meant people would hate it. 

For this play I literally went through four ideas imagining what my classmates would think about the dialogue when it’s acted out. One day I thought about writing a real life experience, well 70% is real, and I started writing away. I finished the play that day and it was ten pages. I kept reading over and reading over again, but I didn't like it. I felt like it wasn’t finished.  

Maxine Hong Kingston

The week before my play was due; I went to see Maxine Hong Kingston’s reading at the Garvin Theatre. It was incredible. Maxine is known for writing the Memoir, Women Warrior. What was so unique about this novel was how she incorporated Chinese folk tale into her life stories. She read from a few other novels that helped us understand the horrors of the Vietnam war and how peace is more powerful than war itself. There was a brief question and answers after the reading. One of the questions asked was, "how do you know your finished writing a book?" in which she responded to "My publishers have to take the books out of my hands because I always feel like I'm not finished."This made me feel a little better about my play, but also my other writing pieces. 

One of my loves is my guitar

After the reading, I approached my Creative Writing Professor and told him that I was extremely doubtful about my play and how terrible I thought my idea was. He said that I would be fine and I shouldn't feel so much pressure about it. The morning of my play, I was a nervous wreck. I felt awkward and shy telling my classmates what my play was about, but the excitement began when I said "Okay you can start" to my actors. When they performed it, I was speechless because my characters were brought to life and exactly how I envisioned it. If my actors are reading this, seriously you guys were amazing thank you again!  I was very anxious about having my writing displayed for criticism, but I can't let that affect me. One of my good friends once told me, "An artist never burns their work if someone doesn't like it," there's always going to be critics, but they can't stop you from doing what you love. You have to have confidence in yourself.

-KIKI REYES