Writing for fun?

Here is a touchy subject for some people, myself included. I don't write for fun nowadays. There were times that I wrote for a fantasy forum back in high school. It nearly consumed me for 2 weeks. I couldn't wait to think something new up that would happen to my protagonist. I still have that writing. I love to look back and read it. I come across so many sentences where i say to my self "did I really right that?" I think it can be beneficial to read some of your own work that was created for pleasure and not for a grade. Its almost like examining a hobby, and we all know how insightful that can be.

Meaningful Writing

I don't know about the rest of you, but I tend to write significantly better writing when it deals with something that is meaningful to me. I'm certainly going to be much more into what I'm writing about if it relates to music or food (both of which I'm very fond of!) versus the Spanish Armada (sorry to any Armada fans out there!) I feel like I've felt this way ever since I began writing, from my first piece of academic writing to the writing we have done in our journal entries. When I am given an assignment that relates to me, not only am I much more into what I am writing about, but I also tend to have much more to say, and end up writing a far more satisfactory paper than that of a not-so-interesting topic. Of course, writing is about focusing on a variety of topics, and not just sticking with what I like to call "comfy" topics that feel good to write about. Writing is about having different experiences, and realizing that variety improves the quality of ones writing. However, you can't beat that feeling when you've been assigned a paper, whether it be expository or research, that feels like it was created specifically with you in mind!

Student issues about writing then and now

One student wrote that she knew more about school writing during her senior year than she does now. This comment does not surprise me because she and you have changed situations, and along with the change in situation come changes in requirements. Think about this comment and we'll talk about it in a short class discussion on Wednesday, October 24.

A little something..

Writing seems to be something one does not actually “know” about. It is more of a habit that needs to be nurtured, trained, and guided. I feel the more one “knows” about writing, the less one will succeed. Sometimes, with “knowing” comes a loss of creativity.
However, the books we have been reading for class are not squelching my creativity. These memoirs and works are advisory pieces that do not blindly lead, but instead give insight into what variables the authors have found make a difference in writing. Through the author’s lifestyles, ideas, and past errors, it is easy to see what has had the greatest impact. After reading these works, I am thinking about what I do pay close attention and what I do not, which is an interesting discovery to make. Also, I think this discovery can lead me to my strengths, which as a writer would be the topics I could most successfully write about and in the greatest detail. It then allows me to notice my weaknesses, another potentially beneficial awareness because the next step is to strengthen these weaknesses.

Beginning

I can simply say that I hate writing the beginning of a story or topic. Where do I begin? What words do I use? All the thoughts that run through my head and all the doubt will drive me up the wall. However, I know that I have to eventually get started with it and somehow make it all fit into the main idea. After pulling my hair out and finding sleep to be more important, I come back to the problem and sit there. Think of something emotional, I tell myself. This will cause all sorts of words to flow, words I would not have thought of before if I were treating the paper as an ugly monster that needs teeth to be pulled out. In my experience, emotions can cause opinions to surface and make words find their way onto paper. These words can form sentences that show a deep belief and confidence in what is being stated.
The emotions that are thought of don’t have to be positive they can be quite horrible. It really all depends on what I am writing. If I need to write about a movie based on the issues of El Salvador in the 1900s, then I will think of all the horrible events that help me relate to the movie. Of course, if I need to write about my perspective on whatever topic I want, than I am going to think about the wonderful taste of De Luche Ice cream and how much I would love to have that right now. Of course, I start running into problems when I need to write a dull paper on some analyzing perspective that needs specific examples of, oh lets say, the many figurative languages used in a certain paper and how the author convey his or her meaning. Papers with such topics really make me want to pull my hair out. Nevertheless, I still have to write the paper and get it over with (after a two hour nap). Thinking of emotions, however, still seem to help me with such factual papers. I can still find imagery to place in the papers to prove my point, and still jazz it up a bit. Just because the topic may be boring, doesn't mean I have to be. Other than the beginning of a work, I actually enjoy writing quite a lot (Even if I am not the best at it).

writing

For me, writing has never been easy for me. My foundation for writing was not built until High School. My Middle School did not prepare me for writing essays and such. In High School I had to learn quickly the bases of writing. What helps me into becoming a better writer is proofreading and having other critique my work. This helps me to see whats views of my work and uses their advice to better my papers.

Letting Go

In my own experience, the most critical part of writing a good paper is revision. Once I finish a draft of something, I find it helpful to at least sleep on it. Taking a second look at your work requires as refreshed an eye as possible and as a first move, I like to read it out loud, but softly to myself.

Next, I take my pen to the paper (if I don't have a hard copy, I'm a big fan of the highlighting function in Microsoft Word). The most important facet of this process is actually the most crucial I think, to the entire writing process. It is important to streamline a paper, but it is critical to keep your overall goal in mind. So, I find that I benefit more from searching for the best paragraphs, sentences, phrases, and reworking the paper around those.

Sometimes the best pieces of my work are just well written, sometimes they really drive home a good point, and I like to leave the option open that maybe, I could rewrite my thesis based on the direction of one good passage. It's also possible that a favorite piece could make my goal clearer. Whatever I find when I'm revising, I always try to keep my options open and be prepared to take more time and let go of my first draft.

Our Own Processes

After reading Michael's post about his sister's writing I got to thinking about my own. What do you do when you write a paper? If it's an extensive research paper (or anything that is strictly factual) I outline a lot before beginning the paper. I still tend to begin with the same format my dad uses, which he showed to me sophomore year for a paper I had to write on Shakespeare. Usually I let it sit around for a few days with just the thesis at the top and my outline below it before coming back to it, revising and moving on. It helps to have that breathing space in between. I used to be the kind of person who had to sit down and write large chunks of a paper all at once but I am slowly growing into the habit of writing a little bit at a time and reviewing my work more consistently. If I am writing something personal or creative I really spend a lot of time thinking until I decided on a central, stong idea of what I should write. I tend to jot it down on the closest thing I can find with whatever writing tool I happen to have on hand. I wrote the main idea for my senior paper last year on an index card with eye liner because that is all I had in the dressing room backstage before my ballet school's performance of the Nutcracker. This all probably seems very unorganized to some of you but I did recieve an A on my senior paper. I find I need to get down ideas right away or my mind distorts them. Granted that was a rare occasion and yes I went home and copied it into a Word document.

Writer's Practices

Well it turns out my sister is actually in the process of writing a book. If you're so inclined, you might get to read it :) Anyway, when I ask her what she does when she is about to write some of her book, she gives me a very odd answer. She tells me that she thinks about what she is going to write by thinking of something else. I guess its kind of like letting life write the book, or more so that it will be more realistic if she can take something from her life and make that an element of her writing. Its almost like Archimedes's Eurekas syndrome. That is the concept that if you cannot solve a puzzle, the answer will come to you as you engage in an activity that is not related to the puzzle in any way. That practice seems to support the premise that writing has a mind of its own.