Book Review - Kafka's Metamorphosis

                 

                       This week's assignment is a book review, so I picked out Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis to read and pen a review on because frankly it's relatively short. This book has been lying idly on my shelves for years without being read. It has been pushed down on my reading list time and again as I buy new books that further caught my attention. Upon hearing of this assignment, I instantly thought of this book to read.

                  A brief background on this book: It was written by Franz Kafka, one of the most acclaimed novelists of the 20th century. This book was originally written in German, so I am reading an English translation of his work. He is renowned for writing works with bizarre and surreal elements infused into them. Metamorphosis itself is ingrained with these elements as in essence, it tells a story of a man who metamorphosized, or in other words, transformed into a giant insect overnight. The story unfolds further with his plight in losing his job and his family's alienation and poor treatment of him due to his grotesque transformation. 

                 Honestly, I was utterly engrossed while reading this book as it evoked a myriad of emotions within me. Although it may sound like a philosophically-driven, complex story (which was how I initally perceived it to be, and made me defer from reading it at first), it is actually straightforward and simple with intricate layers of emotion being conveyed to the readers. The main focus of the story, essentially, is his isolation and alienation from his loved ones and the world at large, which anguished him throughout, and led to his heartbreaking demise. The writer paints the pictures of the scenes with clarity and fluidity that absorbs the reader into believing and engaging in this unrealistic setting. The style of writing adopted by the writer is also simplistic which enables smooth, continuous and effortless reading. Overall, a thoroughly compelling read that, maybe, I should have visited sooner. 

             Till next time,

Ways to improve my writing

                 I think the best way to improve my writing is by consistently writing itself. Maybe I can start by composing short passages and eventually move on to longer, more complex compositions. I should also study up on more vocabularies especially verbs so that I can express actions animatedly and realistically. Besides verbs, I think familiarising myself with more adjectives is also crucial. Knowing a vast expanse of adjectives may help me picture the scenes livelier and vividly.

               Apart from that, I shall read more to expose myself to a wide variety of genres, literary devices such as metaphors and analogies and writing styles. As I gain more of these knowledge, I think it will help in making my writing more interesting. I believe that we shouldn't only read literary works but also other types of writing such as magazines and journal articles. Writing is not only confined to fictional or persuasive writing but also other types of writing.

              I have read in a website that we should keep notes on the conversations we overheard, characteristics of the people we encounter and simply just to write down our inspirations and ideas when they come to us. I think that this is something I should really put to practise. Last but not least,  I usually write in the morning or afternoon or whenever I'm free or inspired. 

These are some of the links of websites that I have found useful in improving my writing skills:
https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/how-to-improve-writing-skills/
https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/how-to-write-a-good-sentence/
https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/how-to-use-metaphors/

                 
 

Reflections on the second day of writing class

             Come Tuesday, and it is another day of creative writing class. Today, we learned how to apply pre-writing strategies in the process of writing. Dr. Sheena instructed us to choose one of the strategies that we learned in class, and we did an exercise on it afterwards.

             I teamed up with Zainatul and Athirah who happened to be conveniently seated on my either sides. We decided on 'The First Day of College' as our essay topic, and proceeded to draw a mind map for it. It was fun brainstorming and reminiscing about our common experiences of the first day of college which happened to be orientation week. It's quite amusing how though we're different, we felt the same way about many things that had happened during that week.

             I think implementing a pre-writing strategy is useful since it helps us organise our ideas and provides a clearer, fuller picture on the elements that we should be writing on. It can also serve as a guideline for us to follow in case we lose track of or forget some of our ideas.

              I am used to immerse myself in writing without brainstorming beforehand. I reckon that is the reason why I always hesitate when writing as I often struggle to grasp for ideas to write. Now that I've learned this invaluable skill, I am going to apply it whenever I am set for a writing task.

Till next time,

The kinds of writing I like to do

            I like to write short contemporary poems rather than conventional poetries. I have written several verses involving my life experiences and how I felt in certain stimulating circumstances. Nonetheless, I wasn't consistent in my pursuit of writing. For me, writing takes up too much of my energy and sometimes the inspiration to write doesn't come naturally to me in the course of writing something. I also find it difficult to organise my ideas as they appear at random and not in sequence. And, when these thoughts and ideas appear, quite often I do not know how to turn them into words. So, usually I end up giving up on writing altogether. 

                    I have also realised that I enjoy writing non-fiction factual or maybe academical works. I think my style of writing is more suited for these kinds of works as I think it comes across as too rigid and formal for fictional writing. I discovered this passion while I was doing my assignment in the previous semester. 

First day of writing class - reflections on me as a writer

                   As a writer, my strength lies in my ability in writing with relatively correct grammar and in detecting the grammatical errors that I may have made during the proofreading process. One of my weaknesses in writing is the incapability of constantly churning out ideas to write for various subject matters. I also find it difficult sometimes to recall suitable words to be used in specific contexts. Writing for me requires a lot of time as I can't express my feelings or thoughts directly from mind to paper. I am also lacking in experience in writing as I have never written for my own pleasure or leisure. Most of the writings I have composed so far have mostly been academic obligations. 

                  Presently, I would read more books in order to expand my vocabulary and familiarize myself with various writing styles.