In this blog Writing Process Roundtable I read three article by writers Don Murray, Mary Karr and Anne Lamott. These writers wrote about their thoughts on writing and I was able to pick out quotes I liked and related to to turn them into a conversation with each other.
I always wanted to be in the writing club but was never a good writer. When posts were put up on the announcement board I finally gathered myself enough to go a meeting to try it out. When I walked in I was expecting there to be a lot of people and figured I would get overwhelmed and leave before it even started, but when I walked in there was a small group of people I recognized. Some of my old teachers as well as a few friends of mine I felt a sigh of relief and went and sat down with them. Don who was the president of the club began to speak, “What is the process we should teach? It is the process of discovery through language. It is the process of exploration of what we should know and what we feel about what we know through language. It is the process of using language to learn about our world, to evaluate what we learn about our world, to communicate what we learn about our world. “ I got the nerve to respond and express how I felt, “ I love to write but everytime I start something I never finish it. My work either gets boring or is just not strong enough to finish.” I said. “When I am working on a book or a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write.” said Mary. Mary added, “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. Each page takes you somewhere you need to travel before you can land in the next spot. You zigzag, and in the low moments, you just have to keep plodding on.” Anne eagerly jumped in and said “Agreed. The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place knowing no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.” “Well how do I get started on a piece?” I begged. “What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.” Anne added. “Writing is the act of producing a first draft. It is the fastest part of the process, and the most frightening, for it is a commitment. When you complete a draft you know how much, and how little, you know. And the writing of this first draft—rough, searching, unfinished—may take as little as one percent of the writer’s time.” Don insisted. “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” Mary said. Feeling more confident i said, “ You guys are right there is no problem with messing up a few times. Practice and failure lead to success.” “We have to be patient and wait, and wait, and wait.” Don said. “You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper.” Anne encouraged.
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Nicole StrasinskiThis page includes blogs about myself and material in my English Composition I class. Archives
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