During middle school and the early years of my high school career young adult novels such as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, If I Stay by Gayle Forman and anything written by John Green help shape my love for fiction. I enjoyed novels that captured the woes of adolescence because at the time I could relate and understand the characters. But as time progressed and more iPhones got released, the way I read fiction dwindled down to nothing but a trickle. I honestly cannot remember the last time I ever read a book or held one in my hand. I personally think reading will never be the same for me again because my phone has become an extension of my arm and I never put it down.

I would rather be on social media talking to friends rather than reading a book. Social media and technology has caused me to become disconnected from literature and from people. Through the duration of this class I was able to see that fiction hasn’t changed in the sense that it reflects the world around us in some aspects. Even though it can vary from having some realistic qualities to being completely unreal, in some shape or form is embodies something we have seen in our everyday lives. Although I have become disconnected from reading fiction, fiction has not disconnected itself from the world we live in.

Taking this fiction class has allowed me to start reading again and to try writing my own fiction stories which is something I have never done before. Some of the stories we were assigned to read and analyze long or confusing. I could not understand the author’s choices as to why they would put their characters in certain situations or why some events that may seem miniscule are actually important and play a major role in carrying the story and hold a deeper meaning.

I had always considered myself to be a decent writer, I can write research papers but I have never tried to channel my creativity onto paper. This class has taught me techniques to enhance my writing for example, the importance of imagery helps set up the world around the character and creates visuals for the readers. Through the things I’ve learned in this class I have discovered that I can write pieces outside of the research sector and write them pretty well (in my opinion).