ProfessionalPiece1

      "In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you have to write with. But I would rather have it bent and dull and know I had to put it on the grindstone again and hammer it into shape and put a whetstone to it, and know that I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well-oiled in the closet, but unused." (Hemingway vi)

     This passage from a preface to a collection of Hemingway's stories reflects my writing style in that Hemingway states that he would prefer to "[have] something to write about" that is rough than to have something well-polished but devoid of content. Hemingway's comment parallels my struggles with prompts in that they restrict creativity, the only time I can get really excited about my writing is when it's a subject I feel strongly about. For example, I felt rather well whilst writing my personal essay, but found the "Nick as a code hero" prompt for the Hemingway essay to be dull and uninteresting.