After reading all of the comments to this blog, I have to wonder how all of us as English majors seem to think our writing sucks. I find it hilarious that we’re probably the best writers in Auburn (hence the English track) and yet we’re so unsure. We all churn out at least 4 papers a semester and yet can’t seem to make this class work to our advantage. I still agree with my comment that we’ve been so conditioned in writing this way that there it’s getting harder and harder to break out of that mold. I wish I was still the small child who turned out crazy stories of fantasy with a drop of a hat. Now I have to think so HARD, but why? I think it’s because we’re so aware that people are grading us and it has to be really good. And we can’t just think it’s good – everyone has to think its good (or at least the teacher). We’re not just writing for our entertainment anymore, but for the masses and that’s just plain scary. So after coming to this conclusion, I have to wonder if this means that we’re actually writing in our own personal style, using our fingerprint, or are we writing in a way that we think everyone else wants to write? Get my drift? How do we know that we’re truly writing in our own voice when we’re under so much pressure to turn out something good? I think we achieved it in this class. Only because it was so clear that this is what she wants. Our own, personal, messed up fingerprints.
I'll say a few things. 1) I love how this blog turned into everyone admitting how much they hate the way most professors teach us to write and praising how Dr. PD gives us room to breathe. 2) I am slightly obsessed with C. Daniel's writing on this blog post. (Not in a creepy way like my Johnny Depp obsession a few years back, it is healthy). Your words made me laugh. They made me think. They made me mad because I didn't come up with them. Your style is so easy to read and pick through. Anything is parentheses guarantees wit. Your fingerprints are covering your words, unmistakeable to everyone.
I agree that we are conditioned to write research papers for most of our career as students. Being an English education major, we have a little more flexibility in some of our classes. The methods classes, where we learn how to teach, allowed me to branch out from the typical college research papers. In those classes, my fellow classmates and I got to write narrative, expository, descriptive, and persuasive papers. I don’t think we even wrote a single research paper in the methods classes. Did I still learn? Yes, I did. I learned that writing papers other than research papers in college is acceptable. I also learned that I can take different types of papers into my classroom.
With Dr. P’s class, I’ve learned that writing papers doesn’t always have to be perfect. They don’t have to be so cut and dry. They need some personality in them. Papers don’t always have to be boring like a research paper. Honestly, I’ve never found a research paper to be interesting—except for one that I did during my internship. By doing this research paper, I found out that the doughnut was created on my birthday back in the 1800s.
I think maybe my writing fingerprint is using words like ‘and’ and ‘because’ at the start of sentences. It is a nasty little habit that love to sneak in to my academic papers. I feel so rebellious when I do it. Even though, I remember a high school teacher telling me that I could do it in some cases. I probably use it a lot more than I should, but every time I use it, I feel kinda powerful. Especially when I pull it off in front of some snooty professor who is a stickler for grammar and rules. I am going to be a teacher. And I am going to be responsible for making sure my students know the rules of writing. I plan to make sure my students know and use these rules because I do think that it is important for them to be able to use the rules in formal situation’s. But, after they have learned these rules, I want to let them in on the secret. I want them to join the “Writer’s Without Rules” club. I want them to see what writing can be like without all the restraints.
It's a simple concept if you really think about it. How many times have people gotten caught up in the hidden meanings of what other people say?
My guess would be about a million times a second.
I am taking this problem into my own hands and being one less person with a hidden agenda. If you ever want to know what I'm thinking, all you have to do is ask.
bnp0001, let me know where you end up teaching, and I will send my children to you- carry on the message of this class, and spread it to everyone else. This idea that we can write as we want to and be who we want to be is infectious and exciting. It feels like we are breaking the rules, when in reality, such a creative process exists beyond the rules. I agree with Mereidith when she says it is so hard to write as we used to. I have pages after pages of made up stories from when I was a child. I showed them to Grandmas, Grandpas, teachers, strangers in the street. Now, I struggle to reread them for myself. We talk about fingerprints, this little piece of ourselves that proves we have been there. This tiny piece of evidence that belongs exclusivly to us. In college, most of my writing has been riddled with latent fingerprints. Its a chance encounter that my actual tone and voice break through in my academic writing. After this class, I refuse to hide and edit who I am. My fingerprints will suddenly become plastic. You can't mold it to what you want, you can't ignore the tracks it leaves, and you certainly can't act as if it doesn't exist. It will stand out if you want it to or not.
I know earlier I talked about how I feel like wit is one of the things I feel like I do well. One of the things I feel like that is hard for me to write is poetry. It's seems that poetry is almost like a snapshot of life. My mind is so scattered brained at times I feel like its hard to write poetry that is lauerate worthy status. But just because its harder for me to write poetry does mean I shouldn't try to write it. I had a Understanding Poetry class awhile back and was forced to write poems on a regular basis. Maybe I have built up this wall between poetry and should give it another shot.
Perhaps when I am inspired and not with the threat of grade looming over me.
@ C. Daniel McFadden I like your:
1. Try actually voice recording your thoughts before you write. Fear not ye bretheren and sisters of the south in regards to how horrible we fear our voices may sound. The freedom and exhileration experienced doing this is something that borders criminal.
2. Try actually writing your paper by hand on paper.. yes with a paper and pen, on notebook paper
The reason why I like number is that we are concerned about our voice. But by recording our thoughts, we can come back to them later for inspiration. I like how you describe it as "freedom and exhileration experienced"
The reason why I like number 2 is that staring at a computer screen is scary at times. The blank white screen is intimdating. Sometimes its better to go back to the old fashion way of writing on paper.
I think we forget how lucky we are. In a university where you can major in anything, we've chosen to take on the murky, indistinguishable and completely opinionated field of literature. We're so lucky that we aren't restrained by formulas, lab practicals, equations and "set" restrictions. In so many fields of study, it's black- or it's white. But we fortunate few get to dive into the wonderful flexibility of the grey. We take it in, and get to put it back out there with our own completely unique spin.
That's where I fell in love with literature. It is what you make of it. Just as Stephen King said- everyone imagines a different tablecloth: color, texture etc. Sure, a writer can describe things, but your brain always fills in the gaps- and there are ALWAYS gaps. It's beautiful how each person's perceptions, opinions, and personality shape the way we process information. Maybe you're a pessimist and your tablecloth is black, for some reason mine's white lace. Not only do we get to take in other people's work but we get to reinvent it with our own unique fingerprint. Sometimes teachers don't like this fingerprint. And sometimes they love it. But at least we, as english majors, get to entwine a bit of ourselves in our work- and that is an invaluable gift.
So I guess the post isn't about my specific fingerprint, but rather the importance of that fingerprint and it's significant contribution to my love of all things english.
I agree with Noel. We're conditioned to some extent to write these research papers... these dry, mundane research papers. Were a bit like a hoard of Pavlov's dogs..salavating at the notion of APA style citations and MLA format papers. Its what we've grown up with...it's what we've cut our teeth on, it's our bread and butter. So when we are given the oppritunity to write differently we hesitate, we pause
"So you want us to do what??"
Yeah... that's what we all said when Dr. P told us to write without giving us a detailed schematic of how to write our papers... hell thats the real reason people dropped the class after the first paper. We're afraid of change in some ways. I won't lie, when Dr. P assigned the first paper I was thinking.."Blasphamy! You cant write a paper in your own voice! You cant begin a sentence with AND!" but we did...atleast most of us did. And it felt good didnt it?! Hell yeah it felt good. Now I want to write all of my papers in my own voice ( I experimented with it on my Foundations final paper.) we'll see how that pans out.
I had a conversation, bordering on drunken argument, with my brother's wife one time. My girlfriend had given me John Updike's book Gertrude and Claudius, a historical reimagining of the true story that inspired Hamlet. I gave my step-sister (is that what she would be called?)the book because I would much rather read a scholarly paper on the subject than a creative reimagining of it. I'd rather not have that disconnect between what is real and what is fake. No matter how exhaustively researched any book of this type may be, it still presents fiction as researched truth, and I'd rather have the true story. I would rather have only the facts behind the situation, or a memoir of sorts, so that I can apply that truth about the world to my own world-view, and that inspires me to do something new in my writing, because I now possess an idea that I never had before. Case in point, I was playing a video game based during WWII Nazi occupation of France. You play a character very heavily involved in the French Resistance. I had never known much about the French Resistance before and I was fascinated by the storyline. But I soon grew dissatisfied cause it did not give me enough information about what it was really like, so I went out and checked out many books on the subject and became immersed in this world of underground sabotage that was essentially unprecedented in history. I was amazed by the fight against such an obvious evil and the way that people fell to the other side just because they assumed that the NAZI's victory was inevitable. It gave me an idea for a dystopian American future where the same type of Resistance would be neccessary. Where scruples and fear would have to be lost because the evil that would be faced would be so obvious that personal inclinations would go by the wayside, or you would have to fall to such evil. It's not that it hasn't been done before, but now I have my own idea and my own spin on such an idea. If I had read a historical reimagining there would be a much bigger danger of me copying that author's style. Doing research on the subject has given me my own take on it. So my argument would be that there is a place for Acadamia, and academic writing, and it is beautiful in its own way, even if you have to dig for the personal imprint in the work, it is always there. Even if you just have to notice such small nuances as recurring themes in these scholastic papers. Point being, you cannot not write yourself into your work, you will write yourself in one way or the other, exposed for the world to see all of your insecurites, obsessions, and life in general.
I have to admit that this class has rekindled my writing fire, for my own writing and for implementing writing in my classroom. But I had a sad realization today during a vertical team meeting with the secondary English teachers: I am not going to be able to teach this to my students. Ninth graders still struggle with action verbs and commas, so I think it’s a bit of a reach to try and teach them voice (as much as I wish I could). I might have to wait until I go back to school for my MFA or another Masters, so I can teach at the college level where I could do this type of writing in the classroom setting. Students need to find their own finger print and I want to help them do that, but I believe that they have to understand what rules they’re breaking for it to be effective.
I try not to doubt my writing as so many other people have commented (we all think we suck, but don’t). I just needed to refocus. Good writing seems unattainable when you’re out of practice. I just hope I can keep up my own writing even if it falls onto my Post-It reminders and margins of lesson plans. And I cannot let myself forget that I can’t teach it to them (model it), if I don’t do it myself. I want to always be a teacher that enjoys what she does, so if writing is where my heart lies, I must find the outlet for that. Thanks, Dr. P for rekindling the fire.
I think I am hilarious. That’s what I seriously dig about myself, in my writing and in life.
I know what you’re thinking. There goes Aly being all self-absorbed again. Damn right! If YOU don’t think your awesome, how is anyone ELSE going to think so?!?
We all know what we rock at. And each and every one of you are absolutely fabulous. I wish that I could have read more of all of your stuff. I mean it.
Pause to let the fact that I am complementing someone other than myself sink in. Believe it folks.
Here’s what I think. Instead of going through your paper and worrying about what you need to change. Go through and look at what you are absolutely loving. Then tell yourself, dammit! You are fabulous.
Because you are. I know it. And I am tough to please.
After going back through all the posts for this blog, I found that our class is divided. Some of us are scared to death to push ourselves in our writing (I am most definitely a member of this group), while some of us are extremely brave. The brave ones often have their own distinct writing style, and this often includes being somewhat fearless in their writing. This fearlessness allows them to really let others into their writing… it allows others to see into the core of their being. Unfortunately, this is a skill that still requires much work for me. However, I was glad to see that I am not the only one of us that is fearful when it comes to really finding myself in my writing.
Beth’s post was hands down the one I could relate to the most. She talked about in the war of writing, she surrenders before the war even begins. I must admit that I am exactly the same way. I am a people pleaser, meaning that I want to give everyone what they want. This is a character trait of mine that is present in every part of my life… even my writing life. When a professor hands out an assignment for a paper, I hold on to that assignment sheet like it is pure gold. It is my map, my direction for giving my professor exactly what he or she wants.
Honestly, before this class, I never put much thought into incorporating myself into my writing. It really just never crossed my mind. After sitting through many classes with Dr. P, I now realize that what I have to say actually IS important. I have come to the realization that it is well worth it to take the time to construct my work in ways that bring pieces of me into my writing. If who I am is nowhere to be found in my writing, then what is the point of writing at all?
Ugh. After all of the research papers and A's in English... I am now having to write creatively (the last 2 years of my college career). Why was I unable to do this before? It frustrates me to no end that I feel like a bad writer. I try really hard to write well, but most of the time I feel like I just don't cut it. People say it's good... and I hear them, but I don't believe them. I truly am my own worst critic. It sucks. I do like that I am branching out though, and learning how to write more creatively and honestly. Reading what Daniel and Laura write makes me want to strive to be so much better.... you guys rock by the way! I guess the only thing to do is keep writing. Oh, and to read things that are like the way I want to write (learned that in class). I feel like this class has pushed my writing, and it will continue to blossom... I hope. So thanks Dr. P! I'll definitely keep working on being more open in my writing. And of course using footnotes is a must now.
I have to be honest and say that I have no idea what to write on this particular blog the sencond go round. I stick by what I said, blame averting or not. But, so that I am able to only blame the teacher and no longer myself for my redundant collegiate papers, I vow to test my witty, bitchy style on my last semester of English teachers at Auburn this fall. And if it fails, I'm coming after YOU, Dr. P. Just kidding. But then my post will be proven, and we can all rest in my rightness! Regardless, I'll be looking for a writing job soon, and I'm hoping they love all the awesome new tools you've shown us, Dr.P.! I'll certainly never forget you!
I can't wait to see what the final semester brings-- I have yet another writing class and I'm interested to see how much I'll be able to get away with in that class that I feel like I was able to say in this class. I love being able to express myself and I'm going to be soooo sad if its nothing like what I've experienced in 5 short (looooong, exhausting) weeks. PISSED, rather. I feel so passionately about writing.. I never write for me, or for fun it seems but I'm sure as hell about to start doing it. I wanna keep on killin it and I'm damn sure going to try.
This probably sounds really ridiculous, but everytime I hear Bisco's Portal to an Empty Head that's how I feel about writing. Its my portal... though, I think there's a lot more going on than emptiness even if at times it doesn't seem that way. Check it.
Aly, I love your post this time around. (I’ve liked lots of your posts through this class. You ARE hilarious.)
Okay, I’m not really sure what my writing fingerprint ACTUALLY looks like…it is still a mazy of arbitrary grooves. Valleys I am sure to get lost in. But, unlike a few weeks ago (five? Is that all!?), I believe that I actually do have a fingerprint. A fingerprint unique to ME, and yet so natural in the chorus of humanity. (Yes, I am being a giant cheese ball, but I promise that I’m being genuine. I’m just uncharacteristically optimistic). I have a writing fingerprint. This is exciting. And all of you have fingerprints too. That is exciting. I’m not going to play it cool; I am excited. I don’t think I’m alone in that I’ve learned a little about letting loose, writing with soul instead of brain. If feels damn good.
Katy Perry - Thank you so much, you warm my shivery insides. And, let me tell you: you are so, so much more than a research paper. I’ve not read too much of your writing, but I’ve read enough to know that you’re fantastic.
I think I have taken as many writing classes as I have taken Lit classes. I've definitely encountered challenges in switching gears from the academia head voice to the real Luke voice. It wasn't until this class that I started experimenting with combinations, or I guess negotiations. I think there is an interconnection there. I'm about to take a literary theory course with Dr. ****s (whom I have had once before) and I'm really curious how he would feel if I wrote something to the affect of "When Leopold Bloom blew his load on the beach to the crippled girl, it was a release of both a physical and mental kind." I might get called into his office, but I won't be intimidated, AND I won't even back down. I will tell him this is my voice and I will not edit myself for the sake of an A. If he wanked off on the beach I'm probably going to say he wanked off on the beach, not he began pleasuring himself with his hands on the beach.
I'm thinking I like the new voice I've found, effective, erotic, organized, and tight.
I wrote my first post about the way I had to negotiate in my American Lit class, in order to fit the mold. But, there are so many other negotiations in writing, ones that I didn’t even think about a few weeks ago.
I was a little worried about our first paper in this class. After reading Steve Almond, and honestly being a little turned off by some of his means to his message, I wasn’t exactly excited about trying to write like him. I felt like I was going to have to negotiate with the expectations for the paper, substituting literary devices for words that I wasn’t comfortable saying, feigning pessimism and sarcasm that I didn’t really feel. And I did. I wrote like Steve Almond, and I tried to find his voice, but I didn’t find mine.
But, then I found myself using pieces of Almond’s style in all of my writing – his style, but not his voice. I realized why Dr. P had us imitating Almond, who I have no choice but to admit is an extremely talented writer. It’s not that we’re supposed to become him, or assume his disposition – we’re supposed to steal from him the things that make his writing effective, and use them to make our own writing more effective. We’re supposed to negotiate with ourselves, letting down some of our walls and giving and taking until we are able to write in a new style with the same voice.
And that is an awesome way to grow your writing.
I think I fall under what danner.beth said last time - ”I’m still experimenting.” And it’s fun, and it’s free, and one day I’m going to end up where I’m trying to be.
This class really helped down turn desires of academic mediocre glory. That damn A. And Tyler’s comment of - “Now I want to write all of my papers in my own voice ( I experimented with it on my Foundations final paper.) we'll see how that pans out.”- rung a bell with me. I haven’t really tried to apply my voice outside of this class; I fear I still may not in my fall semester classes. In returning to my previous post, I was all up on Will Smith’s dick for some reason. But I enjoyed what I was getting at. Most of our education guides us away from creativity and expression. Most of our education is geared at standardization. Nobody wants to be standardized. For a person who tries, an A should never be enough.
I really loved my first post for this blog. Why you ask? Because it's when I first realized what the final push actually meant. It meant taking the sarcastic, the emotional, and wit, and turning it into, well, a Steve Almond chapter. Absolutely brilliant!
Why did it take me so long to find this push? Well, I would say because of the "cookie cutter" writing beliefs that previous teachers hounded me about. Those are the basic principles of correct grammar, precise sentence structure, and absolutely NO CREATIVITY! Vomit!
After truly delving into the last paper in this class, I realized that in order to be a great writer, you must push past these "cookie cutter" beliefs and go for it. Fight the good fight. Get back on the horse and ride.
Everyone needs that small dose of motivation and the push is easy!
I don't know if I've changed so much since I posted the original blog post, but I do have a little more insight and ideas to add on. In my first post I talked about how I've changed as a writer and learned to take risks.
Through Almond, Dr. P, and all the other students posts I have learned that it's not about negotiating with others just to please them...No, it's much more than that. We shouldn't have to negotiate in our writing, we should be able to take risk, make mistakes, and learn from them. I liked the story Dr. P shared with us in class about writing her final paper in grad school. I think her friend told her something along the lines of, "You can't edit a blank page". This is so true.
This class has taught me that through all the crap and BS that fills (or filled) our writing at the beginning of this class, we just have to write. We just have to let our voice be heard and we can't do that on a blank page. Use wit, risks, emotions, ellipsis, drive-by narratives to get you there. I hope that more of my English teachers allow us the same freedom that Dr. P gave us in this class because it really allowed me to discover myself and my voice.
I hope I found my voice in this class. What Im worried about is the fact that I feel like I did actually find my voice, I just dont like it. It seems like Ive got Gilbert Gottfried's voice. It's grating, annoying, ,and is best suited for a duck.On the other hand, I do think that my voice has changed a little bit since this class started. I guess this class has been like writing puberty for me. I liked what Aly said a little earlier, "I think I am hilarious. That’s what I seriously dig about myself, in my writing and in life". Thats a freakin great attitude to have when you are writing. The first thing I thought of when I read that, though, was Andy Kauffman. Nowadays he is considered one of the funnier people to ever grace the face of the Earth. He would start a set of stand up comedy by doing nothing else besides reading the Great Gatsby. Hilarious. Although the people at the show were probably a little ornery afterwards, this has to be one of the greatest ideas ever by a comedian. He just had to find the right audience for his jokedys. The right audience will almost always find the right type of writing, music, or even comedy for them. Write whatever you think is funny because chances are that even if the first people who read the piece dont even crack a smile there will be someone who shares the same sense of humor, no matter how stupid or silly it may be.
After reading all of the comments to this blog, I have to wonder how all of us as English majors seem to think our writing sucks. I find it hilarious that we’re probably the best writers in Auburn (hence the English track) and yet we’re so unsure. We all churn out at least 4 papers a semester and yet can’t seem to make this class work to our advantage. I still agree with my comment that we’ve been so conditioned in writing this way that there it’s getting harder and harder to break out of that mold. I wish I was still the small child who turned out crazy stories of fantasy with a drop of a hat. Now I have to think so HARD, but why? I think it’s because we’re so aware that people are grading us and it has to be really good. And we can’t just think it’s good – everyone has to think its good (or at least the teacher). We’re not just writing for our entertainment anymore, but for the masses and that’s just plain scary. So after coming to this conclusion, I have to wonder if this means that we’re actually writing in our own personal style, using our fingerprint, or are we writing in a way that we think everyone else wants to write? Get my drift? How do we know that we’re truly writing in our own voice when we’re under so much pressure to turn out something good? I think we achieved it in this class. Only because it was so clear that this is what she wants. Our own, personal, messed up fingerprints.
ReplyDeleteI'll say a few things.
ReplyDelete1) I love how this blog turned into everyone admitting how much they hate the way most professors teach us to write and praising how Dr. PD gives us room to breathe.
2) I am slightly obsessed with C. Daniel's writing on this blog post. (Not in a creepy way like my Johnny Depp obsession a few years back, it is healthy). Your words made me laugh. They made me think. They made me mad because I didn't come up with them. Your style is so easy to read and pick through. Anything is parentheses guarantees wit. Your fingerprints are covering your words, unmistakeable to everyone.
I agree that we are conditioned to write research papers for most of our career as students. Being an English education major, we have a little more flexibility in some of our classes. The methods classes, where we learn how to teach, allowed me to branch out from the typical college research papers. In those classes, my fellow classmates and I got to write narrative, expository, descriptive, and persuasive papers. I don’t think we even wrote a single research paper in the methods classes. Did I still learn? Yes, I did. I learned that writing papers other than research papers in college is acceptable. I also learned that I can take different types of papers into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteWith Dr. P’s class, I’ve learned that writing papers doesn’t always have to be perfect. They don’t have to be so cut and dry. They need some personality in them. Papers don’t always have to be boring like a research paper. Honestly, I’ve never found a research paper to be interesting—except for one that I did during my internship. By doing this research paper, I found out that the doughnut was created on my birthday back in the 1800s.
I think maybe my writing fingerprint is using words like ‘and’ and ‘because’ at the start of sentences. It is a nasty little habit that love to sneak in to my academic papers. I feel so rebellious when I do it. Even though, I remember a high school teacher telling me that I could do it in some cases. I probably use it a lot more than I should, but every time I use it, I feel kinda powerful. Especially when I pull it off in front of some snooty professor who is a stickler for grammar and rules.
ReplyDeleteI am going to be a teacher. And I am going to be responsible for making sure my students know the rules of writing. I plan to make sure my students know and use these rules because I do think that it is important for them to be able to use the rules in formal situation’s. But, after they have learned these rules, I want to let them in on the secret. I want them to join the “Writer’s Without Rules” club. I want them to see what writing can be like without all the restraints.
I mean what I say, and say what I mean.
ReplyDeleteIt's a simple concept if you really think about it. How many times have people gotten caught up in the hidden meanings of what other people say?
My guess would be about a million times a second.
I am taking this problem into my own hands and being one less person with a hidden agenda. If you ever want to know what I'm thinking, all you have to do is ask.
Honesty is my writing fingerprint.
bnp0001, let me know where you end up teaching, and I will send my children to you- carry on the message of this class, and spread it to everyone else. This idea that we can write as we want to and be who we want to be is infectious and exciting. It feels like we are breaking the rules, when in reality, such a creative process exists beyond the rules.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mereidith when she says it is so hard to write as we used to. I have pages after pages of made up stories from when I was a child. I showed them to Grandmas, Grandpas, teachers, strangers in the street. Now, I struggle to reread them for myself. We talk about fingerprints, this little piece of ourselves that proves we have been there. This tiny piece of evidence that belongs exclusivly to us. In college, most of my writing has been riddled with latent fingerprints. Its a chance encounter that my actual tone and voice break through in my academic writing. After this class, I refuse to hide and edit who I am. My fingerprints will suddenly become plastic. You can't mold it to what you want, you can't ignore the tracks it leaves, and you certainly can't act as if it doesn't exist. It will stand out if you want it to or not.
I know earlier I talked about how I feel like wit is one of the things I feel like I do well. One of the things I feel like that is hard for me to write is poetry. It's seems that poetry is almost like a snapshot of life. My mind is so scattered brained at times I feel like its hard to write poetry that is lauerate worthy status. But just because its harder for me to write poetry does mean I shouldn't try to write it. I had a Understanding Poetry class awhile back and was forced to write poems on a regular basis. Maybe I have built up this wall between poetry and should give it another shot.
ReplyDeletePerhaps when I am inspired and not with the threat of grade looming over me.
@ C. Daniel McFadden I like your:
1. Try actually voice recording your thoughts before you write. Fear not ye bretheren and sisters of the south in regards to how horrible we fear our voices may sound. The freedom and exhileration experienced doing this is something that borders criminal.
2. Try actually writing your paper by hand on paper.. yes with a paper and pen, on notebook paper
The reason why I like number is that we are concerned about our voice. But by recording our thoughts, we can come back to them later for inspiration. I like how you describe it as "freedom and exhileration experienced"
The reason why I like number 2 is that staring at a computer screen is scary at times. The blank white screen is intimdating. Sometimes its better to go back to the old fashion way of writing on paper.
I think we forget how lucky we are. In a university where you can major in anything, we've chosen to take on the murky, indistinguishable and completely opinionated field of literature. We're so lucky that we aren't restrained by formulas, lab practicals, equations and "set" restrictions. In so many fields of study, it's black- or it's white. But we fortunate few get to dive into the wonderful flexibility of the grey. We take it in, and get to put it back out there with our own completely unique spin.
ReplyDeleteThat's where I fell in love with literature. It is what you make of it. Just as Stephen King said- everyone imagines a different tablecloth: color, texture etc. Sure, a writer can describe things, but your brain always fills in the gaps- and there are ALWAYS gaps. It's beautiful how each person's perceptions, opinions, and personality shape the way we process information. Maybe you're a pessimist and your tablecloth is black, for some reason mine's white lace. Not only do we get to take in other people's work but we get to reinvent it with our own unique fingerprint. Sometimes teachers don't like this fingerprint. And sometimes they love it. But at least we, as english majors, get to entwine a bit of ourselves in our work- and that is an invaluable gift.
So I guess the post isn't about my specific fingerprint, but rather the importance of that fingerprint and it's significant contribution to my love of all things english.
I agree with Noel. We're conditioned to some extent to write these research papers... these dry, mundane research papers. Were a bit like a hoard of Pavlov's dogs..salavating at the notion of APA style citations and MLA format papers. Its what we've grown up with...it's what we've cut our teeth on, it's our bread and butter. So when we are given the oppritunity to write differently we hesitate, we pause
ReplyDelete"So you want us to do what??"
Yeah... that's what we all said when Dr. P told us to write without giving us a detailed schematic of how to write our papers... hell thats the real reason people dropped the class after the first paper. We're afraid of change in some ways. I won't lie, when Dr. P assigned the first paper I was thinking.."Blasphamy! You cant write a paper in your own voice! You cant begin a sentence with AND!" but we did...atleast most of us did. And it felt good didnt it?! Hell yeah it felt good. Now I want to write all of my papers in my own voice ( I experimented with it on my Foundations final paper.) we'll see how that pans out.
I had a conversation, bordering on drunken argument, with my brother's wife one time. My girlfriend had given me John Updike's book Gertrude and Claudius, a historical reimagining of the true story that inspired Hamlet. I gave my step-sister (is that what she would be called?)the book because I would much rather read a scholarly paper on the subject than a creative reimagining of it. I'd rather not have that disconnect between what is real and what is fake. No matter how exhaustively researched any book of this type may be, it still presents fiction as researched truth, and I'd rather have the true story. I would rather have only the facts behind the situation, or a memoir of sorts, so that I can apply that truth about the world to my own world-view, and that inspires me to do something new in my writing, because I now possess an idea that I never had before. Case in point, I was playing a video game based during WWII Nazi occupation of France. You play a character very heavily involved in the French Resistance. I had never known much about the French Resistance before and I was fascinated by the storyline. But I soon grew dissatisfied cause it did not give me enough information about what it was really like, so I went out and checked out many books on the subject and became immersed in this world of underground sabotage that was essentially unprecedented in history. I was amazed by the fight against such an obvious evil and the way that people fell to the other side just because they assumed that the NAZI's victory was inevitable. It gave me an idea for a dystopian American future where the same type of Resistance would be neccessary. Where scruples and fear would have to be lost because the evil that would be faced would be so obvious that personal inclinations would go by the wayside, or you would have to fall to such evil. It's not that it hasn't been done before, but now I have my own idea and my own spin on such an idea. If I had read a historical reimagining there would be a much bigger danger of me copying that author's style. Doing research on the subject has given me my own take on it. So my argument would be that there is a place for Acadamia, and academic writing, and it is beautiful in its own way, even if you have to dig for the personal imprint in the work, it is always there. Even if you just have to notice such small nuances as recurring themes in these scholastic papers. Point being, you cannot not write yourself into your work, you will write yourself in one way or the other, exposed for the world to see all of your insecurites, obsessions, and life in general.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that this class has rekindled my writing fire, for my own writing and for implementing writing in my classroom. But I had a sad realization today during a vertical team meeting with the secondary English teachers: I am not going to be able to teach this to my students. Ninth graders still struggle with action verbs and commas, so I think it’s a bit of a reach to try and teach them voice (as much as I wish I could). I might have to wait until I go back to school for my MFA or another Masters, so I can teach at the college level where I could do this type of writing in the classroom setting. Students need to find their own finger print and I want to help them do that, but I believe that they have to understand what rules they’re breaking for it to be effective.
ReplyDeleteI try not to doubt my writing as so many other people have commented (we all think we suck, but don’t). I just needed to refocus. Good writing seems unattainable when you’re out of practice. I just hope I can keep up my own writing even if it falls onto my Post-It reminders and margins of lesson plans. And I cannot let myself forget that I can’t teach it to them (model it), if I don’t do it myself. I want to always be a teacher that enjoys what she does, so if writing is where my heart lies, I must find the outlet for that.
Thanks, Dr. P for rekindling the fire.
I think I am hilarious. That’s what I seriously dig about myself, in my writing and in life.
ReplyDeleteI know what you’re thinking. There goes Aly being all self-absorbed again. Damn right!
If YOU don’t think your awesome, how is anyone ELSE going to think so?!?
We all know what we rock at. And each and every one of you are absolutely fabulous. I wish that I could have read more of all of your stuff. I mean it.
Pause to let the fact that I am complementing someone other than myself sink in. Believe it folks.
Here’s what I think. Instead of going through your paper and worrying about what you need to change. Go through and look at what you are absolutely loving. Then tell yourself, dammit! You are fabulous.
Because you are. I know it. And I am tough to please.
After going back through all the posts for this blog, I found that our class is divided. Some of us are scared to death to push ourselves in our writing (I am most definitely a member of this group), while some of us are extremely brave. The brave ones often have their own distinct writing style, and this often includes being somewhat fearless in their writing. This fearlessness allows them to really let others into their writing… it allows others to see into the core of their being. Unfortunately, this is a skill that still requires much work for me. However, I was glad to see that I am not the only one of us that is fearful when it comes to really finding myself in my writing.
ReplyDeleteBeth’s post was hands down the one I could relate to the most. She talked about in the war of writing, she surrenders before the war even begins. I must admit that I am exactly the same way. I am a people pleaser, meaning that I want to give everyone what they want. This is a character trait of mine that is present in every part of my life… even my writing life. When a professor hands out an assignment for a paper, I hold on to that assignment sheet like it is pure gold. It is my map, my direction for giving my professor exactly what he or she wants.
Honestly, before this class, I never put much thought into incorporating myself into my writing. It really just never crossed my mind. After sitting through many classes with Dr. P, I now realize that what I have to say actually IS important. I have come to the realization that it is well worth it to take the time to construct my work in ways that bring pieces of me into my writing. If who I am is nowhere to be found in my writing, then what is the point of writing at all?
Ugh. After all of the research papers and A's in English... I am now having to write creatively (the last 2 years of my college career). Why was I unable to do this before? It frustrates me to no end that I feel like a bad writer. I try really hard to write well, but most of the time I feel like I just don't cut it. People say it's good... and I hear them, but I don't believe them. I truly am my own worst critic. It sucks. I do like that I am branching out though, and learning how to write more creatively and honestly. Reading what Daniel and Laura write makes me want to strive to be so much better.... you guys rock by the way! I guess the only thing to do is keep writing. Oh, and to read things that are like the way I want to write (learned that in class). I feel like this class has pushed my writing, and it will continue to blossom... I hope. So thanks Dr. P! I'll definitely keep working on being more open in my writing. And of course using footnotes is a must now.
ReplyDeleteI have to be honest and say that I have no idea what to write on this particular blog the sencond go round. I stick by what I said, blame averting or not. But, so that I am able to only blame the teacher and no longer myself for my redundant collegiate papers, I vow to test my witty, bitchy style on my last semester of English teachers at Auburn this fall. And if it fails, I'm coming after YOU, Dr. P. Just kidding. But then my post will be proven, and we can all rest in my rightness! Regardless, I'll be looking for a writing job soon, and I'm hoping they love all the awesome new tools you've shown us, Dr.P.! I'll certainly never forget you!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see what the final semester brings-- I have yet another writing class and I'm interested to see how much I'll be able to get away with in that class that I feel like I was able to say in this class. I love being able to express myself and I'm going to be soooo sad if its nothing like what I've experienced in 5 short (looooong, exhausting) weeks. PISSED, rather. I feel so passionately about writing.. I never write for me, or for fun it seems but I'm sure as hell about to start doing it. I wanna keep on killin it and I'm damn sure going to try.
ReplyDeleteThis probably sounds really ridiculous, but everytime I hear Bisco's Portal to an Empty Head that's how I feel about writing. Its my portal... though, I think there's a lot more going on than emptiness even if at times it doesn't seem that way. Check it.
Aly, I love your post this time around. (I’ve liked lots of your posts through this class. You ARE hilarious.)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I’m not really sure what my writing fingerprint ACTUALLY looks like…it is still a mazy of arbitrary grooves. Valleys I am sure to get lost in. But, unlike a few weeks ago (five? Is that all!?), I believe that I actually do have a fingerprint. A fingerprint unique to ME, and yet so natural in the chorus of humanity. (Yes, I am being a giant cheese ball, but I promise that I’m being genuine. I’m just uncharacteristically optimistic). I have a writing fingerprint. This is exciting. And all of you have fingerprints too. That is exciting. I’m not going to play it cool; I am excited. I don’t think I’m alone in that I’ve learned a little about letting loose, writing with soul instead of brain. If feels damn good.
Katy Perry - Thank you so much, you warm my shivery insides. And, let me tell you: you are so, so much more than a research paper. I’ve not read too much of your writing, but I’ve read enough to know that you’re fantastic.
I think I have taken as many writing classes as I have taken Lit classes. I've definitely encountered challenges in switching gears from the academia head voice to the real Luke voice. It wasn't until this class that I started experimenting with combinations, or I guess negotiations. I think there is an interconnection there. I'm about to take a literary theory course with Dr. ****s (whom I have had once before) and I'm really curious how he would feel if I wrote something to the affect of "When Leopold Bloom blew his load on the beach to the crippled girl, it was a release of both a physical and mental kind." I might get called into his office, but I won't be intimidated, AND I won't even back down. I will tell him this is my voice and I will not edit myself for the sake of an A. If he wanked off on the beach I'm probably going to say he wanked off on the beach, not he began pleasuring himself with his hands on the beach.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking I like the new voice I've found, effective, erotic, organized, and tight.
I wrote my first post about the way I had to negotiate in my American Lit class, in order to fit the mold. But, there are so many other negotiations in writing, ones that I didn’t even think about a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteI was a little worried about our first paper in this class. After reading Steve Almond, and honestly being a little turned off by some of his means to his message, I wasn’t exactly excited about trying to write like him. I felt like I was going to have to negotiate with the expectations for the paper, substituting literary devices for words that I wasn’t comfortable saying, feigning pessimism and sarcasm that I didn’t really feel. And I did. I wrote like Steve Almond, and I tried to find his voice, but I didn’t find mine.
But, then I found myself using pieces of Almond’s style in all of my writing – his style, but not his voice. I realized why Dr. P had us imitating Almond, who I have no choice but to admit is an extremely talented writer. It’s not that we’re supposed to become him, or assume his disposition – we’re supposed to steal from him the things that make his writing effective, and use them to make our own writing more effective. We’re supposed to negotiate with ourselves, letting down some of our walls and giving and taking until we are able to write in a new style with the same voice.
And that is an awesome way to grow your writing.
I think I fall under what danner.beth said last time - ”I’m still experimenting.” And it’s fun, and it’s free, and one day I’m going to end up where I’m trying to be.
This class really helped down turn desires of academic mediocre glory. That damn A.
ReplyDeleteAnd Tyler’s comment of - “Now I want to write all of my papers in my own voice ( I experimented with it on my Foundations final paper.) we'll see how that pans out.”- rung a bell with me. I haven’t really tried to apply my voice outside of this class; I fear I still may not in my fall semester classes.
In returning to my previous post, I was all up on Will Smith’s dick for some reason. But I enjoyed what I was getting at. Most of our education guides us away from creativity and expression. Most of our education is geared at standardization. Nobody wants to be standardized.
For a person who tries, an A should never be enough.
I really loved my first post for this blog. Why you ask? Because it's when I first realized what the final push actually meant. It meant taking the sarcastic, the emotional, and wit, and turning it into, well, a Steve Almond chapter. Absolutely brilliant!
ReplyDeleteWhy did it take me so long to find this push? Well, I would say because of the "cookie cutter" writing beliefs that previous teachers hounded me about. Those are the basic principles of correct grammar, precise sentence structure, and absolutely NO CREATIVITY! Vomit!
After truly delving into the last paper in this class, I realized that in order to be a great writer, you must push past these "cookie cutter" beliefs and go for it. Fight the good fight. Get back on the horse and ride.
Everyone needs that small dose of motivation and the push is easy!
I don't know if I've changed so much since I posted the original blog post, but I do have a little more insight and ideas to add on. In my first post I talked about how I've changed as a writer and learned to take risks.
ReplyDeleteThrough Almond, Dr. P, and all the other students posts I have learned that it's not about negotiating with others just to please them...No, it's much more than that. We shouldn't have to negotiate in our writing, we should be able to take risk, make mistakes, and learn from them. I liked the story Dr. P shared with us in class about writing her final paper in grad school. I think her friend told her something along the lines of, "You can't edit a blank page". This is so true.
This class has taught me that through all the crap and BS that fills (or filled) our writing at the beginning of this class, we just have to write. We just have to let our voice be heard and we can't do that on a blank page. Use wit, risks, emotions, ellipsis, drive-by narratives to get you there. I hope that more of my English teachers allow us the same freedom that Dr. P gave us in this class because it really allowed me to discover myself and my voice.
I hope I found my voice in this class. What Im worried about is the fact that I feel like I did actually find my voice, I just dont like it. It seems like Ive got Gilbert Gottfried's voice. It's grating, annoying, ,and is best suited for a duck.On the other hand, I do think that my voice has changed a little bit since this class started. I guess this class has been like writing puberty for me.
ReplyDeleteI liked what Aly said a little earlier, "I think I am hilarious. That’s what I seriously dig about myself, in my writing and in life". Thats a freakin great attitude to have when you are writing. The first thing I thought of when I read that, though, was Andy Kauffman. Nowadays he is considered one of the funnier people to ever grace the face of the Earth. He would start a set of stand up comedy by doing nothing else besides reading the Great Gatsby. Hilarious. Although the people at the show were probably a little ornery afterwards, this has to be one of the greatest ideas ever by a comedian. He just had to find the right audience for his jokedys. The right audience will almost always find the right type of writing, music, or even comedy for them. Write whatever you think is funny because chances are that even if the first people who read the piece dont even crack a smile there will be someone who shares the same sense of humor, no matter how stupid or silly it may be.