First thing: Introduction

Hello there!

Here's one more blog by Amelie's Journey, the name by which I sign all my posts on the Internet.

As you can see on the right side, my name is Adriana. The choice for Amelie Poulain as a reference reflects how, since childhood, I used to interact with the world by movies and books. At the time I published my first blog, I was still touched by Amelie from The Fabuleaux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001). I could relate to that amazing character, her way of thinking and conducting us through a story that is a delight till this day. So, Amelie is now the name and face of my posts in the blogger platform. 

A life (and a house) full of Amelies (and cinema)

Writing 3 Experience is a portfolio in the form of a blog created as an activity  proposed in Expressão Escrita 3 (Writing 3) by Thiago B, the teacher. The discipline is part of the curriculum for the degree in Translation (English) at the University of Brasilia, Brazil. Teached in English (not in Portuguese), the  main subject on this semester is how to write academic essays, with the presentation of its many techniques, structure and rules, and some grammar topics as well. 

Since the first class, though, Mr. B. has emphasized how one important activity in his class is to develop an awareness to who we are as writers, what is difficult or easy for us (if an easy aspect in writing  would be possible...) , what is our writing process.  For this, the student have to create a portfolio, in the form they like. After six or five blogs (I actually lost account of how many), I thought: And why not? Here we are, then, Amelie and Me, in one more blog adventure for those who are not sick of us yet.

At each class, a question or a sort of challenge is presented to us, students, in order to think about our writing experience. In the first class (August, 19th), Thiago (we don't really call the teachers by the last name in Brazil) presented the idea of a portfolio, saying how the goal is for us to talk about our background of writing and, mainly, about writing in English (the students are native in Portuguese).

I know this post is getting way too long, but here goes the first assignment, presented in the first class: the student's background as writers.

My writing comes from my love of reading, and I love reading stories. Fiction is my love in life, whether through movies or books. That's the reason why, since the first time I enrolled on the university for a postgraduate degree, my goal was to research the role fictional narratives have in the formation of the subjectivity. Even in my first undergraduate course (History), cinema figured as an important source of research and a way to thinking many historic aspects. Going back a little  more, movies and books were my guides in life since early childhood, and I don't see myself researching other subject, in different areas and with various purposes.

Fourteen years ago, the journey in post graduation started with a master degree in Education, studying how a movie theater can be someone true home. The way I see the world today is a result mainly of my experiences in movies. I got my degree in 2007, with a dissertation that, if it is not what I would have presented today (it got old, and so did I), it is still close to my heart, an important achievement in my life.

Following this first attempt at a academic research, I tried to continue my research in the doctoral studies. The same subject, Education, the same object, movies, now with a more focused eye to fictional narratives, mainly the ones that are a cultural phenomena, such as Twilight and  Hunger Games. It bothers me how academic environment refuses to study this kind of cultural productions and its role in the life of readers/viewers, as if only what is considered "good art" has a place in our lives. It is the contrary, actually, I think: the most popular films and books are an important part of the way we see the world, specially for the young public - but not only them. An education that not take that on account is basically outdated and not really attentive to the needs and the reality of the students.

Because of my research at the time, I started a blog to publish my first experiences in writing fiction, as a way to understand "from inside" what I was talking about. The idea came to me at the end credits of the movie 2012, another one about the end of the world. They are so many, with different tragic events that try to destroy Earth and humanity... I thought how it would be if the world actually ended, and all the actors that worked on those kind of flicks met around a fire in a land turned deserted for some reason. And so, there was Os Degraus de Amélie.

I've learned a couple of things from the experience: One, I'm definitely not a patient writer (despite being an easygoing reader and viewer, open to long, slow books and movies); two, stories have their own lives. All those testimonies from authors and screenwriters about how a story takes the wheel over them is not a silly remark. They really have their own will, and characters usually go to a different direction than the one intended first by the author.

If you'd check out my stories in Degraus, a warning: they are very simple, a comment about a movie or a story or the remembrance of those two. Don't expect much. I had fun writing them, I hope you'll enjoy the experience of reading it as well.

It wasn't a surprise when I wasn't able to conclude my research. Despite it's being a qualified project, I didn't get my degree. The 279 pages text is at the bottom of a drawer, waiting for me to finish  or burn it - I haven't decided yet.

With a sudden halt on my plans, I saw myself without a platform to write about fiction, movies and books. This ways, as a sort of challenge, I created One Movie a Day with Amelie, on which I told about my experience of seeing at least one movie per day for the duration of a year. It was a great and enlightening try.

Strand - a dream bookstore 

Going back a bit (once more), here's an advice: I never really had a formal education in English before this college experience with Translation. My first  foreign language at school was French, and  only at fifteen I had my first English classes. Every year in high school we've had the same lessons, so it wasn't an advanced course, only the what we needed to know to pass the exam to enter college. At UnB I've had more English classes, but my real teacher on the language was books, movies and TV shows, specially Friends. In 1999, I spent 40 days in Vancouver for an immersing English experience. And it was that.

However, it was in 2005, when the first Fnac store came to my city, that I was able to improve my English in a more efficient way. I started to read fiction  in only in English; imported pocket books were very inexpensive. This way, I could read books that weren't translated to Portuguese. That was my real English class.

It is a sort of learning that's still going on. I'm aware my English is very flawed, a sort of a mutant experiment. I'm always trying to reach the level of my fellow classmates, being specially shy of speaking in class (my accent is worse than my writing). Even so, It's actually nice for me writing in English, like I could have access to other ways of thinking about things. A different language is definitely a way to a diverse form of thinking. 

To short an already long tale, as a writer, I'm a good reader. That's the most important part of my writing, as it was during my work as a text editing. It doesn't matter if it is an academic essay, a blog post, a fiction short story, a dissertation... what my experiences and dreams as a reader will always be an import part of it. 

But that's not all... Much more is yet to come. Stay tuned :)

An ideal writing set: good coffee, cookies, music that helps to focus and, the most
important, a working notebook (mine is a constant challenge)

PS: The idea here is to post after every class in which there's a new reflexion about writing, as proposed by Thiago. Because it took me too long to start, the next week there'll be post every (or almost) day (I hope so), until I cover the last classes. 

PPS: This blog desing is very busy, but I like the image of a background of memories behind the writing. I'm waiting for Thiago's feedback though... Maybe the reading will be a bit unconfortable the way it is. Let's see what happens next, as it is a try.

PPPS: I mentioned three blogs: As Viagens de Amélie, Os Degraus de Amélie and OMAD. There another two: an attempt to follow the experience of challenging myself in 1001 Movies with Amélie (an idea for later, maybe... I have  not been able to follow it up) and the Portuguese version of OMAD, Um Filme por Dia com Amélie (I'm way behind the translations, btw).