I had a very difficult time writing my one page autobiography. There was so much that I had to cut out to keep it at only one page and I was so worried about what was important to put in and leave out, that I actually stared at a blank word document for an hour. I finally decided to utilize Fletcher's bus theory about writing. I knew the final stop had to be a paper about me, but I wasn't sure which (bus) route I would take. I just started typing and went with it. There was a lot of cropping and shifting as I went through the paper, but the end result I feel definitely sums up who I am as a writer. One page papers can be frustrating because you want to say more, but in the end I do feel like what I eliminated to meet the length restriction, were sentences that just added bulk and not content. That helped me remember the importance of keeping on point in a paper, and being able to spot areas that are lacking the "why I am writing this paper" factor. I also surprisingly learned a lot about myself in writing my autobiography. I was forced to remember my thoughts about a certain life experience, and I realized different themes that have always been a part of my life, how strange I didn't see them before.
I am sure you all can relate, but I feel like I have written a ridiculous amount of papers this first month of school. How do you keep the creative juices flowing while also staying on topic? I don't want to to put my readers to sleep, but I also don't want them to wonder what point I was trying to make at the end of it. This skill will be something I want to stress when teaching, I just want to make sure I
understand it first.
Additional comment after having class tonight: So I have to add this to my post, silly me, I misunderstood and thought the assignment was supposed to be one page. After class tonight I now know our end result will be a 5-8 page essay with 3-5 pages of commentary... this puts a whole new spin on things! I do, however, feel pretty good after discussing in small groups tonight. The advice and ideas that were tossed around definitely have my creative wheels spinning again.
I love the bus technique. I've found that just writing actually improves my memory and makes me remember the value I used to place on certain things. For example this autobiography made me remember many details about my grandmother that I hadn't thought of in years.
ReplyDeleteYou never really know what to expect when someone asks you to write a paper about yourself. It's so amazing that you can learn something about yourself by just spending a little time with yourself and writing it all down in front of you.
ReplyDelete"I was forced to remember my thoughts about a certain life experience, and I realized different themes that have always been a part of my life, how strange I didn't see them before." Isn't that funny how that happens? For me, it doesn't even always happen as I write. Sometimes it's enough to just be THINKING about what I'm going to write, and I come to realizations I've never had before. Though, of course, that thinking is all a part of the writing process too, so I guess it still IS the writing doing that for me. I think that this sentence may have just inspired my blog for tonight. Or at least part of it! So thanks!
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