The Complete Works of Christine Graves
A categorized view of my work on Medium
One of the first things I learned from being on Illumination is that it’s important for writers to have a way to showcase their work. I’ve been watching the way other authors, such as Dr Mehmet Yildiz and J.A. Taylor, have put their portfolios together and came up with something I think I can be proud of. I invite you all to take a stroll through the world of Christine Graves.
I’ve been writing on Medium for almost three years. Between May of 2018 and December 2020, I’d written over 200 articles, stories, and poems. I spent more than two weeks putting this list together and realized just how much I’ve grown over these last few years.
I’ve written a lot of creative non-fiction on this site. As I was putting this list together, I found that I needed to sort my articles out into different sub-genres. My most prolific topics are all about the realities of life in general.
I love the fact that on this platform, I have the ability to write about anything that comes to my mind and get it off my chest. Sometimes the masses come and read, sometimes they don’t. Either way, I release a little more pent up mental energy.
Though I’m no expert, I do have around 40 years of experience as a writer. I was writing before the Internet age and know the anxiety that comes with snail-mail submissions. I’ll never say I know exactly what I’m talking about, but I love offering my advice on the writing process.
I know what’s worked for me, what hasn’t, and love passing that information on to those who aren’t quite there yet. I’ve never had any formal writing education, but I am a graduate of the school of hard knocks.
I’ve always been known as being a bit sarcastic. No, I know. I’m shocked too, but it’s what I’ve been told. I have a weird sense of humor and I’m not afraid to use it. I’ve always believed that the best way to get out of a bad mood is to find something to laugh at.
Not everyone gets my sense of humor, but I’m okay with that. However, I do enjoy knowing that I made at least one person smile in this world. If I can make at least one person smile each day, I’ve done my part in making this world a better place.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always had an overactive imagination. I started creating “characters” as a little girl. Some might call them “imaginary friends”, but I created entire worlds around each one. I was writing before I knew how to write.
I love being able to invent whole new worlds, new identities, and new situations. I enjoy inventing people and places that no one knew existed and giving them a voice in the real world. Sometimes, it’s as if those characters are talking to me and demanding to be set free.
I also love writing poetry. However, this is something I find hard to show off. I had a bad experience as a poet and I still have issues with letting others read my work. I write mostly rhyming poetry and have been told that it’s “unprofessional” to do so. But I’m working on getting past that.
I have to remind myself that I write these mostly for myself. This is how I release my expressive side, and it shouldn’t matter if others enjoy them or not. This is something I do for myself and that makes it okay.
This is an ongoing list and each page will be updated as time goes by. I see no end to my writing on this platform any time soon, even if I’m only doing it to keep my creative side going.
I invite you all to stop by and check out some of my work. I hope to keep growing as a writer and to continue to find ways to express myself in the written word.
© Christine Graves 2021
