the writing process

I am supposed to be writing a story for a friend of mine.  It was asked that I use vivid details to really bring the pictures to the mind.  However,  I have yet to really start on it.  I feel like school work is sucking all the juices from my creative brain.

I did write a couple awesome paragraphs for my English class though.  Is it wrong that I am so tempted to post them here?   I think I may infact do that.  The first paragraph was supposed to be about an even that only lasted a short time but will never leave you.  I wrote about my first time riding the city bus here in St. Louis.  The next paragraph was supposed to be a persuasive paragraph to get someone to stop doing something.  The second one I wrote about why pregnant women should stop smoking.  I think I am going to turn that one into an essay as there were a lot of facts and angles that could be taken. 

Anyway.   Here they are, if you feel so inclined, please let me know what you think of them.

Paragraph one:

My first experience riding the city bus was enlightening to the difference between urban and suburban areas. I never realized how many people in the city rode the bus every day. I assumed that everyone had the ability to drive a car.  I was shocked when at the very first stop five people got on.  The next thing I took note of was that the affluence of the neighborhoods gradually changed as the bus moved from one street to the next. The difference wasn’t just in the houses, but also the businesses and the streets. The shops started out well cared for and open for business. As the bus took us farther into the city, the shops became dilapidated and often vacant. The communities mirrored these shops.  It looked as though the population was demoralized by the amount of trash and graffiti. The buildings looked sad and droopy in contrast to the buildings in the more affluent suburban areas.  I have realized that living a sheltered life has left me ignorant of life in the city.

Paragraph 2

Pregnant women should stop smoking. Smoking during pregnancy can cause low birth weight.   A low birth weight is anything under 5 and half pounds. Not only is smoking unhealthy for the smoking woman, but the nicotine and carbon monoxide go straight into the blood stream and that means it goes straight into the baby’s blood stream.  Carbon monoxide is deadly as it takes at least 2 hours to clear your blood and this is based on activity levels. So one should think about the effects it has on the fetus.  These two toxins are among 4,000 others that include lead and cyanide.  The mother should also consider that smoking is linked to many forms of cancer.  What mother does not want to be there for her children?  Chances are that if they continue to smoke, they are going to die from this horrible habit.  The sad fact is that the mother risks the chance of giving birth to a still born baby because of her smoking habit.  It is clear that smoking and pregnancy do not go hand in hand and therefore mothers should stop smoking as soon as they can.

For not having written a paragraph for a class in a long time, I am pretty proud of these two.