School books and poems.

So, my writing class.

Every Wednesday evening, from 7-9PM, I head to the University of Toronto (affectionately known as, “UofT”) for my Generating Stories class. Well, before I head there, I battle suburban traffic from work into the city, make a pit stop at Starbucks (an Americano and a yogurt or some sort of sugar-laden oat bar) and then proceed to get lost on my way to class. It never fails – there are too many buildings! Oh, and for the last two weeks I’ve had the pleasure of getting not one but three (three!) parking tickets. Awesome. But it’s all worth it when I stroll the halls of the old university and finally walk into that classroom.

I feel whole again.

My worries, my stresses and my job all pick me apart, day in and day out. I’m sure many of you can relate. But when I set foot inside the classroom it’s like getting my second wind. I’m reinvigorated by the idea of transferring my feelings onto paper.

My notebook is the best mirror I’ve ever had, even when I haven’t always loved what’s looking back at me. On those days, I read my words out loud to get the full effect. It’s always cleansing. Never fails.

In my class, there are a few “characters” who help set the scene:

My professor - says things like “cool” after each piece we read; two years ago, he was a student himself – we’ll call him Dr. K
The stockbroker - talk about using both sides of your brain – we’ll call her B
The professional procrastinator (his words, not mine) – we’ll call him A
The gentleman – older, quiet, polite.. we’ll call him M
The musician – sits next to me; is taking the class so he can write better song lyrics – we’ll call him Ex
The kid – in the tenth grade and attends an all-boys private school; positively adorable – we’ll call him Jr.

There are more people in my class – all lovely people with amazing abilities to paint pictures with words – but these people above just, I dunno, stuck out my first day of class. They’re the people I look forward to the most.

Tomorrow will be my third week in the class – there are only five classes in total. It’s bittersweet, really, because it’s a great group. Each week, my professor writes a famous author’s quote (sometimes two) on the blackboard. It never ceases to hit me right in the heart, even if I’ve heard the quote before. My dream is to someday have someone write my words on a blackboard, just like that.

The first day, Dr. K asked everyone to introduce themselves – you know, the usual ice breaker-type exercise – and when it came to my turn I just said, “Hi, my name is Sandy. I’m a magazine editor by day, which might sound well and good, but lately I just don’t care for what I’m writing about. I’m here because I want to learn to love what I write.”

This year, part of my journey to reinvention is learning about who I am, not just as a gal turning 30, but as a writer, too. (fact: It’s hard for me to call myself “a writer”… anyone else have that problem?)

*Tomorrow, I'll post this week's assignment, just like I did last week.

Tagged as: creative writing course at university of toronto, generating stories