Date of Award
Spring 5-11-2022
Degree Type
Capstone
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Professional Writing (MAPW)
Department
English
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Andrew Plattner
Co-Chair
Dr. Bill Rice
Abstract
My capstone project, Batter, is a collection of creative writing pieces, consisting of short stories, flash fiction, and two creative nonfiction essays. I decided to do a portfolio because creative writing is simply what I enjoy the most and have been intrigued by since I took my first fiction writing class at Kennesaw State University. Composing stories, imagining how characters could behave believably, their problems and their solutions, all of it combined gives me a sense of creative determination that I have not found in any other area of work or craft. I believe I’ve been rather lucky because working on most of these stories almost felt like no work at all. When I’ve produced a story that I believe in, that is when I know I’ve composed most diligently, regardless of if it were difficult to construct or not. What I aim to portray from this portfolio is strong writing, believable characters, stories that are simple but share a large, perhaps personal truth that we can all relate to.
My advisors, Dr. Andrew Plattner and Dr. Bill Rice, steadily and patiently worked with me to revise and polish the fiction and non-fiction pieces presented in this capstone. My project was originally created to be a portfolio of my best creative work so that I may use it to apply for creative writing PhD applications. However, it is now a gentle yet nudging reminder that my writing is never actually done and never really perfect. This realization, perhaps from some literary spell or curse, I can’t determine which, only pushes me to write more.