ME?"
I went into this week's reading ready and anxious to read the book, but with an ulterior motive: "What can I get out of this to share with a class next year?" Within the first few pages and mentions of B***s*** and F words I realized that wouldn't happen and I'm glad it did. I quickly switched my perspective to a more selfish motive: "What can I get out of this for
Stephen (if he can cuss in front of me, we are on a first name basis) pointed out to me that I have been approaching my writing all wrong. That’s right, ME: The one with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, the one with a Master’s Degree, the one who has spent all these years trying to teach students what “real writing” looks like. I have been doing it wrong. Not all writing, mind you. I am fairly certain I can knock out a research paper, resume, lesson plan, letter, speech, or any other formulaic piece of writing you throw at me. I’m even fairly certain I can do it pretty well. The kind of writing I’ve been doing wrong is my personal writing and creative writing.
Stephen pointed it out when he shared his interaction with newspaper editor, John Gould. Gould told him, “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story….When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.” (57). I realized I had been focusing on telling myself the story. My personal writing is full of tangents, memories, events, and moments I had forgotten or hidden. When you read it, it is evident that I am remembering and re-living it as I write the story. As a result, I lose focus a lot. My mind is a ball of knitting yarn thrown in a basket instead of organized neatly on a shelf. My writing is a reflection of that. I eventually get to a main idea, but my reader has to untangle a lot of excess to get there. Gill pointed it out last year when we were discussing habits we fall into as writers and he said, “Tricia will use a rhetorical question!” I hadn’t even realized I did it until he pointed it out, and now Stephen made me realize why I was doing it. My writing was a journey of discovery for myself.
That’s ok. There’s a time and place for that in a journal or diary. This summer though, I want to focus on my reader’s journey instead of my own. As I write, I want to take the part of formal writing that makes it easier to me and apply it to the rest of my writing. If I know what my reader wants when I sit down to write, perhaps I can get there sooner instead of getting lost in the ‘squirrel’ moments my family and friends have come to accept. So, there you have it. Summer 2015 Goal #1. If I post this, it’s official!
I went into this week's reading ready and anxious to read the book, but with an ulterior motive: "What can I get out of this to share with a class next year?" Within the first few pages and mentions of B***s*** and F words I realized that wouldn't happen and I'm glad it did. I quickly switched my perspective to a more selfish motive: "What can I get out of this for
Stephen (if he can cuss in front of me, we are on a first name basis) pointed out to me that I have been approaching my writing all wrong. That’s right, ME: The one with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, the one with a Master’s Degree, the one who has spent all these years trying to teach students what “real writing” looks like. I have been doing it wrong. Not all writing, mind you. I am fairly certain I can knock out a research paper, resume, lesson plan, letter, speech, or any other formulaic piece of writing you throw at me. I’m even fairly certain I can do it pretty well. The kind of writing I’ve been doing wrong is my personal writing and creative writing.
Stephen pointed it out when he shared his interaction with newspaper editor, John Gould. Gould told him, “When you write a story, you’re telling yourself the story….When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story.” (57). I realized I had been focusing on telling myself the story. My personal writing is full of tangents, memories, events, and moments I had forgotten or hidden. When you read it, it is evident that I am remembering and re-living it as I write the story. As a result, I lose focus a lot. My mind is a ball of knitting yarn thrown in a basket instead of organized neatly on a shelf. My writing is a reflection of that. I eventually get to a main idea, but my reader has to untangle a lot of excess to get there. Gill pointed it out last year when we were discussing habits we fall into as writers and he said, “Tricia will use a rhetorical question!” I hadn’t even realized I did it until he pointed it out, and now Stephen made me realize why I was doing it. My writing was a journey of discovery for myself.
That’s ok. There’s a time and place for that in a journal or diary. This summer though, I want to focus on my reader’s journey instead of my own. As I write, I want to take the part of formal writing that makes it easier to me and apply it to the rest of my writing. If I know what my reader wants when I sit down to write, perhaps I can get there sooner instead of getting lost in the ‘squirrel’ moments my family and friends have come to accept. So, there you have it. Summer 2015 Goal #1. If I post this, it’s official!