"Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat" - Robert Frost

Okay so, I am studying Creative Writing and English Literature at University and I'm not going to lie, I only applied for it because the UCAS deadline was two days away, I was rejected by London College of Fashion, and I had to quickly choose a University and a course that I wanted to do. So, I thought, I'm good at English this sounds perfect! But alas, here I am, a week into my course, being told that by December I am to write ten pages of a stage-play and thirty lines of poetry. And never in my life have I dreaded something so much! In a mere two weeks, I have realised what an absolute moron I am for not reading the course structure properly and putting myself in a position where I will really struggle with a year thats (in theory) supposed to be really easy! Nice one Paige.

I can deal with the stage-play, because it actually sounds quite fun. Part of the coursework is to go and watch a new play in London and give a presentation on the effectiveness of the writing, which lets face it, sounds fun! Everyone loves a night out at the theatre in London - and I can just use it as an excuse to get really drunk, isn't that what freshers do? But poetry, ah poetry. Now, simply put, I am not good at writing poetry.

If I am given a poem to read, I can take it apart and spend hours trying to withdraw every possible meaning, but trying to gain inspiration to write a poem of my own is proving to be quite difficult. I have come to the very sudden realisation that I am a reader, not a writer. Many will argue that they walk hand in hand, if you have a passion for reading then you must automatically be acquiring the skills that you need in order to write, merely by analysing the works of other writers, but I disagree with this. I think that in order to write well, especially write poetry well, you need to be passionate about life and be able to dissect your surroundings and find beauty in everything which then becomes inspirational. I do not have this skill, and I feel inferior sitting in a class amongst people that clearly have the potential to be amazing writers. Now, I may have the potential to become an amazing reader, with persistance and the development of my analytical skills I will gain a deeper talent for writing analytical essays and evaluating other peoples work. But what good is this in a poetry lesson? Where do I find inspiration? And most importantly, how do I produce a poem when I'm not a poet?

Although, clearly, my poetry class is causing me countless internal battles, I am really enjoying the English Literature side of my course. I have my first lecture on 'The Canon: A Short History of Western Literature,' which sounds really interesting. I received an e-mail a few days ago that instructed me to take out a library book and read an essay called 'Monuments,' which I did, and already I'm reading things that are so thought provoking! The essay basically explored the paradox of a poet being both alive and dead at the same time. Very Schrodinger's cat-ish I know. But it was an interesting thought because it meant that in death, a poet (or any writer, at that) leaves behind a monument, their writing keeps them alive. Using Shakespeare as a specific example, it was his poetry that thrived when he was alive, his plays were very undervalued. Now, if you ask any GCSE or A-Level student, they would be able to name you at least four Shakespeare plays and maybe two of his poems at the most. Three hundred years later and Shakespeare lives on through his work, you can't escape him! He's left, right and centre if you're an English student. As readers, we become Shakespeare's tomb, his monument. It was literally the most interesting essay I have ever read, not that I've read many.

And so, this blog will be an update of my uni life. I will feature some book reviews, film reviews and anything that takes my fancy really! The blog world is my oyster.

xo