This is my second blog for my English Composition I class. I had to read and then annotate three articles discussing about the writing process. Here, I imitate three other writers and use three quotes from each of them. I’ll provide links to each of the writers, and I hope you enjoy my story!
----- It was a chilly Autumn night and with thanksgiving break around the corner I had just one last assignment to finish until I was free for a week… a good ole’ classic paper. My dad decided to drop me off at a nearby coffee shop to get a start on my writing since the WiFi was down back at the house. As I stepped into the shop and opened my laptop, I found myself staring at the assignment screen for a good five minutes. It seemed like the words were just jumbling together.. I had absolutely no idea where to start with this paper! It was like I had a billion ideas but no idea how to piece the words. I sat and tapped at my head, hoping that something would come to me but everything was absolutely blank in my mind. After peeking up, I approached the table of three adults that had been chatting for a while in hopes that they’d be able to help me out. Little did I know, these three adults were writers themselves- writers who would give me advice to write one of my best papers yet. These three adults were writers Don Murray, Mary Karr, and Anne Lamott. “Do you have any idea on how to start a paper off? I have absolutely no idea where to begin.” I explained to the group. “I wish I had a secret I could let you in on, some formula my father passed on to me in a whisper just before he died, some code word that has enabled me to sit at my desk and land flights of creative inspiration like an air-traffic controller.” Anne told me, and although a bit disheartened it didn’t take long for my spirits to lift up once more. “In the beginning, when there are zero pages, you have to cheer yourself into cranking stuff out, even if it later lands on the cutting room floor.” Mary Karr now advised me, which got my blood pumping again. It was a short quote, yet.. Inspirational. I turned my laptop, showing off what I had managed to write down so far. It wasn’t the best, and it definitely needed a lot of work. “Don’t look back. Yes, the draft needs fixing. But first it needs writing.” Don Murray now decided to pitch in a word or two about the subject, but I still had no idea on where to continue now. “Is that how first drafts turned out for you guys?” I asked, not wanting to feel left out. I usually figured that most people were good writers by default- that most people were able to write a good story without a draft. “I can honestly say not one page I’ve ever published appears anywhere close to how it came out in first draft. Mary added. “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.” It made me feel comforted to know that even the best of writers tend to struggle with the same thing I was going through too. “Prewriting usually takes about 85 percent of the writer’s time.” Don spoke these words, and it made me think that maybe I shouldn’t stress so hard that I didn’t know where to start. It was best to take my time. “Well, I just want my writing to be perfect. I wish I could write like the big authors and really impress my teacher. The big writers just seem absolutely.. Perfect.” I figured that they would probably be able to relate to me, but man was I wrong. “ There are no rules, no absolutes, just alternatives. What works one time may not another.” Don finished. “Besides, perfectionism will ruin your writing, blocking inventiveness and playfulness and life force.” Anne gave a smile to me after finishing and pat my back as if to encourage me. “None of us can ever know the value of our lives, or how our separate and silent scribbling may add to the amenity of the world, if only by how radically it changes us, one and by one.” Mary ended the conversation, and I stood from my seat to thank everyone once more. It was time for me to leave as it was getting late and I had to go back and prepare myself for the next day. When I got home, I had such a burst of inspiration. What I had written in my notebook, my teacher regarded as my best draft yet!
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Destiny MillerI'll be using this page to place my blog posts throughout my English Comp. I class. Archives
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