For this blog I read these three texts:
Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product (Don Murray) Against Vanity: In Praise of Revision (Mary Karr) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life | pp. 28 -34 | Short Assignments & Shitty First Drafts (Anne Lamott) The post is about me meeting some authors I learned about in English Composition I class who give me advice on my english assignment and writing as a process. I woke up. 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday after my post-class nap and started to get ready to go to work. I put on my uniform and headed to my overnight mall security job. I didn’t really do much since my shift started at 8:30 and the mall closed at 9. I only had to do real work for a solid 30 minutes then I got to sit and watch security cameras until the shift was over at 2:30 A.M. I had a few hours so I decided I was going to go sit down at the coffee shop and get some work done. I walked in and saw some people that I recognized. They didn’t know me but I recognized them from my English professor’s lecture from earlier in the day. It was Don Murray, Mary Karr and Anne Lamott. I went over and introduced myself and asked them for some advice since I had been stressing out about my narrative paper that I had to complete. They told me to sit down and they would be happy to help. “I have a narrative paper due in two days and I want to get it done overnight so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Can you help me with where to get started?” Don replied to me, “Not overnight, for writing is a demanding, intellectual process; but sooner than you think, for the process can be put to work to produce a product which may be worth your reading.” “Okay, but I really want to get this assignment done. I want to have the best paper written as soon as possible.” I said to him. “When we teach composition, we are not teaching a product, we are teaching a process” “Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness.” Anne added, “This is not a bad line to have taped to the wall of your office.” “I think I understand.” I responded. “I usually spend hours writing my papers and always end up with mediocre work, and my friends tell me that they are having the same trouble.” “Good work only comes through revision” Mary said. “Revision is the secret to their troubles—and yours” That was something I had never thought about. I would always write my papers and then just turn them in without even reading over them to make sure they made sense. “Why would I want to write in the first place if all I’m going to do is go back and change it later? I feel like I would just be losing time.” “Every writer I know who’s worth a damn spends way more time ‘losing’ than ‘winning’” “And when I write I can never see the big picture. I think that’s why I put off writing for so long. I know where to start, I just don’t know where to go with it.” “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” said Anne. “Thank you guys for all your advice.” I told them. “I really have to get to work” They wished me good luck on writing my paper. As I was leaving Anne said one thing that stuck with me. “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird”
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Shawn AtkinsI use this blog to complete my assignments for my English Composition I class. ArchivesCategories |