my approach to writing is like my appraoch to life

As I constantly say, as I've written about so often, my writing technique is analogous to how I approach life.  I recently had a story workshopped, and my instructor's only criticism was that I wasn't taking a risk at the ending.  I was successfully building tension, but it wasn't culminating into anything.  I wasn't letting the characters fully release themselves, confront one another, or reach a cathartic point at the end.  It was all this build-up and a confusing, muddled ending with the steam being slowly released instead of the piece exploding into something magical.

I went home with a pile of commentaries from my fellow classmates and I thought about how sometimes I fear risk in life.  How controlling, worried, conscious I can be.  How I can refuse to submit or feel, even though I want to, but am terrified of not knowing the outcome.  And how in this way, I'm denying myself some of the most wonderful elements of life.  Sure, some of the awful too, but it's these vicissitudes that are inherent to the nature of the sentient beings' experience.  They define human nature.

I recently read a piece by my friend.  I loved it.  I felt like the author was so honest, so confident, so willing to take risks.  These characters let themselves fully experience every bit of their emotions.  I thought to myself, yes, this is life in its raw form.  This is art is in its raw form.  It's expressing pure, unadulterated emotions, sometimes in explosive manners.  It's absorbing.  It's shocking or exhilarating or painful but it's extreme and unrestrained.

Onwards with the writing samples....