Mikaela's Creative Writing Blog ❤️

  My Submission Journey to The Quill Submitting a creative work to a literary journal was a challenge. For this assignment, I chose The Quill , Butler Community College’s literary magazine, which showcases poetry and short fiction from the Butler. Its focus on local voices and creativity made it the perfect choice for my poem, “Sound Riot.” The Submission Process Submitting to The Quill involved: Researching Guidelines : Submissions are sent via email as a Word document. While a cover letter wasn’t required, I included one to practice professionalism. Formatting the Poem : I carefully edited my poem for clarity and flow. Writing a Cover Letter : I introduced my work, explained its themes, and expressed enthusiasm for The Quill . Final Submission : I emailed the poem and cover letter to the faculty advisor, ensuring every detail met the guidelines given.  My Poem: “The World is Straight Hell” This poem heavily critiques systemic injustice, societal apathy, and superficial acti...

  Portfolio Submission General Reflection on Growth This Semester This semester has been transformative and difficult for me as a writer, particularly in my understanding of sound, imagery, and revision. At the start of the semester, my creative process was just me writing without an end goal in mind. I would write based on ideas that felt meaningful, but I struggled to convey those ideas with clarity or a purpose. At last though, I learned to approach writing with a more critically, focusing on stuff such as sound, structure, and imagery to enhance the core message of my work. In poetry (which I liked the best), I saw significant growth in my ability to use sound devices like alliteration, and rhythm to amplify meaning. For example, in my revised poem Sound Riot , I focused on using sound to create a provocative and confrontational tone that matches the poem’s critique of societal systems. In fiction, I learned to ground abstract concepts in sensory-rich details, as seen in ...

Revision I wanted to revise this poem to sharpen its antagonistic tone, enhance the use of sound devices to amplify its core message, replace abstract imagery with vivid, concrete details, and ensure the poem's message is loud and clear. This was my original poem:  Sound Riot The world is straight hell      The press don’t want to hear your story      [LA1]   They keep us as numbers in excel     [LA2]   commit crimes? Them laws are written in a spell,      Prosecutes more worried about their glory     [LA3]   But who’s worse? Which admin can we compel?    How much drugs “we” gotta sell?    Sheeple people, Pigs and people, Screw the category [LA4]   , Politicians lie but who we gonna tell?   We all know activists will dwell,    Burned by laws in fire like a holy matrimony   The facts are buried but who the hell wi...