This blog is an unprompted reflection about a specific process I experienced in my English Composition I class. The topic I have chosen is free-writing and how it has helped me in my writing process.
When I first started English Composition I, I had no idea what free-writing was. Free-writing is a way to get all your thoughts down on paper at the beginning of your writing process. Sometimes, people get stuck on what to write about or do not know where to start. The idea is to write in complete sentences (handwritten or typed) without stopping no matter what over a certain amount of time. If you do not know what to write, you can just start writing random words until something comes to your mind. For our Life-Choice Memoir, we did an in-class free-writing session to practice writing down our thoughts for thirty minutes. We were told by our professor to set a goal of how many words we wanted to achieve in that half hour. My goal was 600 words and I surpassed it during that time period, totaling to 1042 words. I never ended up using what I wrote during that session in my memoir, but it was an amazing feeling to be able to write over 1000 words in such a short amount of time. After that class, I knew I wanted to use this method as part of my process. I wanted to replicate it because I felt so productive and accomplished knowing that I could produce quality writing in just a half-hour. When I finally decided on the life-choice I wanted to write about, I used free-writing to write my opening scene. By the end, I had at least 350 words I wanted to use in my paper. I thought my writing was much more descriptive and created a good scene because I just let the words flow without stopping. I did not pause to check to make sure my spelling or grammar was right, knowing that I could go back later and polish it. Using this method, helped me focus on the five senses rather than just telling the audience everything I was experience. I was able to show the readers using descriptive language that I wrote during my free-writing session. Going forward, I will continue to use this method whether it is for another English class or for my own personal writing. I am trying to get back in the habit of working on creative writing because it was one of my favorite hobbies in high school. My friends and I used to write short stories for each other and it was one of my fondest memories. I will use free-writing to pick up this hobby again and hopefully create work that I am proud of in the future. To assist me in this process, I purchased a writing journal called Prompt Me which I mentioned in a previous blog. To gain more insight into this journal, please click on the link here. I encourage everyone to include free-writing in their processes because it is a very empowering and worthwhile form of writing.
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This blog post focuses on three quotes from each of the following passages provided below. I picked each particular quote because they stood out to me while I read them. In addition, I connected with them through my current writing process for various assignments I have had in the past.
Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product (Don Murray) Quote #1: “Instead of teaching finished writing, we should teach unfinished writing, and glory in its unfinishedness. We work with language in action. We share with our students the continual excitement of choosing one word instead of another, of searching for the one true word” (Murray 2) Quote #2: “We have to respect the student, not for his product, not for the paper we call literature by giving it a grade, but for the search for truth in which he is engaged. We must listen carefully for those words that may reveal a truth, that may reveal a voice. We must respect our student for his potential truth and for his potential voice” (Murray 3). Quote #3: “Implication No. 7. There must be time for the writing process to take place and time for it to end. The writer must work within the stimulating tension of unpressured time to think and dream and stare out windows, and pressured time—the deadline—to which the writer must deliver” (Murray 5) The Daily Routines of Great Writers (Maria Popova) Quote #1: “In consequence, the members of my household never pay the slightest attention to my being a writing man — they make all the noise and fuss they want to. If I get sick of it, I have places I can go. A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper” (E.B. White). Quote #2: “So another ‘ritual’ as you call it, is to pray to Jesus to preserve my sanity and my energy so I can help my family…” (Jack Kerouac). Quote #3: “But, generally, just sitting down and really trying is enough to get it started. I break for lunch, come back, and do it some more. And then, usually, a nap. Naps are essential to my process. Not dreams, but that state adjacent to sleep, the mind on waking” (William Gibson). Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anne Lamott) Quote #1: “Writing can be a pretty desperate endeavor, because it is about some of our deepest needs: our need to be visible, to be heard, our need to make sense of our lives, to wake up and grow and belong. It is no wonder if we sometimes tend to take ourselves perhaps a bit too seriously” (Anne Lamott 4). Quote #2: “We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid. The right words and sentences just do not come pouring out like ticker tape most of the time” (Anne Lamott 5). Quote #3: “But I am suggesting that there may be someone out there in the world- maybe a spouse, maybe a close friend- who will read your finished drafts and give you an honest critique, let you know what does and doesn’t work, give you” (Anne Lamott 9). My Process “Find an environment where you can fully concentrate on your writing. If the noise level in the house is too much, get some fresh air and go to a quieter place to work.” “If you are having trouble with a particular sentence or paragraph, try writing a different part of your paper. If this is still too difficult, focus on other work you need to accomplish, but still keep your ideas in the back of your mind.” “Ask someone to read your paper and critique it. They can help you determine if you need more detail or if a certain aspect of the paper does not make sense.” |
Molly ZahnerI will use this blog to post my informal writing assignments for my English Composition I class. Archives
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