Thanks all of you for making this class my favourite every week.
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A place for Writing 12 students to read each other's writing, to critique, to suggest, to improve.
About Me
- Brad
- Former adult teacher who loves island beaches. Happy homebody and family man; once devoted dog owner, now without Tashi, my Tibetan Terrier. I prefer the absurdity of the imagination to the absurdity of imagining nothing.
5 comments:
This is the beginnings of an article on writing, teaching the craft. See what you think.
The looks on my Writing 12 students’ faces said it all. My essay, written in 1999 and on the web for years might not be worth saving. I knew it was “fat” (wordier than necessary) and had removed a good 20% of the total word count, taking it from 735 down to 556 words.
But an edit can only save what is worth saving. Was my essay worth the trouble and the time? I had written it with good intentions—using metaphor and a three-part structure, trying to explain the “mystery” of the writing process.
Was the three-part structure the problem? With my Writing 12 students I talk about the “tyranny of the essay” and how it turns everything we write into a cloned version of the standard. That would be fine if it were fun and interesting to read the standard essay.
Most of the time, it’s not. We write essays, dutifully of course, to enter college, to satisfy our teachers, to be predictable. Such essays do teach a certain discipline, yes, but they are often dull exercises in responding to dry (and often repeated) “topics.”
How dry I found out the other day when I subjected my students to a reading of the original and, though improved, still badly flawed edit. I’ve learned through them that to explain writing is a bit more difficult and multi-varied a process than can be captured in three body paragraphs.
No matter how much cutting I do!
(On Brad's piece): Maybe you just need a more "humorous" take on the subject of writing (as a "dry" topic),even on this article. That's how Anne Lamott treats the subject in "Bird by Bird", which is why I can actually stomach reading it!
When I Grow Up
When I grow up, I will laugh more, I will play more,
I will make-believe more.
I will fight less with my brother, I will let him win.
I will try to be friends with him, whether he likes it or not.
When I grow up, I will try to understand my mother, and
be closer to her, even if it seems she doesn’t like me,
or maybe even hates me.
When I grow up, I will not fight with my grandmother
when I am 13, 14, 15 (or older).
And when she comes to me when I am 7, 8, and 9,
and tells me how much she loves me,
I will not draw back from her arm around my shoulder,
I will give her a big hug and tell her that I love her too.
When I grow up, I will do my best to stay in touch with
my school friends, and I will not give up on friends who have
done me wrong. I will do my best to forgive them.
When I grow up, I will not allow my job to slowly kill me,
or suck the life out of me, just to pay the rent and bills.
I will not allow it to deplete my mind and body, or
transform me into a soulless, lifeless machine.
When I grow up, I will visit my grandmother more often
because she lives alone. And when she reaches her eighties,
I will treasure all the precious moments, because, though it
won’t seem like it at the time, it will all fly by quickly, and she won’t be here with us much longer.
When I grow up, I will help as many people as I can,
before the Big Crash and Burn comes,
and I can no longer do that as I’d like.
When I grow up, I will wish I could give this poem
to my younger self.
But I cannot, when I’m grown up.
-332 words
An Incredible Tale of Survival
What would you do if you were forced to face-up to the very real possibility of your own imminent mortality? Who would you think about? What regrets would flash across your worried mind?
The 2010 film, “127 Hours,” gives the true life account of Aron Ralston's five day struggle to stay alive. Trapped in mind numbing isolation while having to deal with his slowly deteriorating body, he eventually runs out of options and has to make the biggest decision of his life.
The film is based on Ralston's autobiography, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place,” and paints a perfect picture of the human spirit and its capabilities - the will to survive. If you pay attention, there is also a huge underlying sociological lesson to be learned.
The movie was filmed at the beautiful Canyonlands National Park in Utah and has many picturesque scenes of desert canyons and amazing rock formations. If you like the outdoors, you’ll enjoy this film, but this recommendation comes with a small warning: if you are the squeamish type you might be shocked by how real and graphic this film becomes towards the end.
This film was nominated for the academy awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Film Editing, Best Music (Original Score), Best Music (Original Song) Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) and Best Picture. Need I say more? A great film!
Marco
my favorite poem:
You Never Know Until You Try
By Laine Parsons
You never know until you try
And you never try unless you really try
You give it your best shot
You do the best you can
And if you've done everything
In your power
and still fail
The truth of the matter is
That you haven't failed at all
When you reach for your dreams
No matter what they may be
You grow from the reaching
You learn from the trying
You win from the doing
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