Presenter(s): Sarah Weishaupt
Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Hennion
Oral Session 4 DL
Creative writing is unique in its ability to give form to our immersive inner worlds: it is the only art form that can give a direct voice to thought. In “The Hollows of the Heart,” I explore my experiences with mental illness and relationships through metaphor. When I conceptualized this piece, I endeavored to incorporate several themes, such as addiction, loneliness, and self- control; I constructed narrative elements in the vein of speculative fiction, also known as fantasy, to represent those themes within the story. However, through the revision process, I found that these themes and metaphors got muddled together, and that the story improved when I constrained it to one or two metaphors and ensured the plot was cohesive. In the end, the act of transforming my feelings though metaphor and sharing the product with others helped me clarify them and find closure.