Journal I
An Interesting choice in readings. A lot of these concepts presented within the passages are fundamental pieces of knowledge that your teachers should have taught you in grade school all the way to now. Shitty First Drafts explained one of the best pieces of advice that a writer should have learned in their past. This reading tells how one needs to just start writing. What i mean about that is to just start jotting down ideas and concepts on to the paper. Theses ideas do not even have to be in an order, or relevant to the other thoughts. All you need to do is start, and from starting the thought juices will begin to flow. By the time the "Shitty First Draft" is done, you should have a idea in the paper that you like and you can expand on. Teach Writing As a Process Not Product is a segment telling teachers how to teach writing. It states that the writing should not be taught to get from point A to point B, but to let the writer find his way between the points. As Donald Murray explains, the teacher should quit taking and let the students write. The instructor needs to not teach the end result of the writing. They need to teach the steps and the process to writing. Looking Around show how one needs to open their eyes and enjoy the little things. Whether its looking up at the sky and noticing how big and blue it is; or waking up and just laying there, enjoying the chirping birds. A writer needs to be able to do the same with writing. Pick out those little details that create a scene and show the reader what you are saying.
All of these readings are essential to one who wants to master writing and turn it into a art. Shitty First Drafts was a topic i had to teach myself. I never had a teacher that said, "just start writing." In earlier years it was hard for me to write anything, i stumbled and fell multiple time trying to learn the process. This was until i discovered if i just started to b.s., as i called it at first, i could come up with some thing that was not only usable but good. With the newly found ability to just start, i made it a point to spice up my writings with my own voice. Over my high school years i started to develop a personalized style of writing. This is some thing that i had to push with myself since i do not like writing at all. Looking Around was a good passage to read because it gives you that little idea to open your eyes and/or mind to find more details. In the end game its not only the details that count, but your message. Did it get through?
