I was supposed to go to English class today but I slept straight through my alarm. I got up, showered, and ate breakfast and went anyway. I walked through the door in the last 10 minutes of class knowing my professor would not be too happy. What I thought was going to be a disappointing look from Sab was actually just Don Murray, Mary Karr, and Anne Lamott who had cleared out the room and were all sitting at one table in the middle of the room. There was one more open seat.
I sat down quietly, and Don wasted no time. “No matter how careful our criticisms, they do not help the student since when we teach composition we are not teaching a product, we are teaching a process.” he said. Mrs. Karr, who always has a very analytic input, said “Every writer I know who’s worth a damn spends way more time “losing” than “winning””. Don, who was obviously very impressed with Mrs. Karr’s comment, nodded in agreement. Both of their statements emphasized learning through failure so before I said anything I waited for Anne Lamott to play her pieces. She prefaced her conflicting statement with an explanation of the conundrum, and she told us that the best way to avoid writer's block “. . . is to stop. First I try to breath, because I’m either sitting there panting like a lapdog or I’m unintentionally making slow asthmatic death rattles.” That was enough of her rambling. I stepped in and said “I agree with Don and Mrs. Karr that you should try to teach or learn writing by looking at what you can improve, but I also think that trying to brute force it can be just as destructive as teaching writing in formulas.” A look of astonishment stole their faces. I picked up again. “I also think that everyone learns writing in a different way so making a form that tries to fit the generalized student is a recipe for failing as a teacher and a student.” Don shifted himself to look at me and agreed. “The students are individuals who must explore the writing process in their own way, some fast, some slow, whatever it takes for them, within the limits of the course deadlines, to find their own way to their own truth.” That last part sounded very mystical i thought to myself. Don thought for a second and then bellowed “So what step shall the pupil take first. It is impossible to know which one is correct in such a formative stage of the writer?”. Mrs. Karr was ready for that response and replied with “Before you can work consciously, though, you go through a phase of developing a critical self, which makes a writer wicked self-conscious.” I was a little bit confused by her comment and posed a question to progress the idea. “So if developing a critical self is so important, how would you go about it?” I asked. She started to speak, but Anne Lamott, who had been mumbling about some dogs, said “The only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.” This lady was nuts, but her point had a lot of merit. “It’s interesting you say that because earlier you seemed to subscribe to the idea of stopping when you have a writer's block, but now it looks like you just want to get something on the paper. I think that your about face is a good thing because I think outlining what you want to write and having milestones that you want to reach is critical to improving.” Don agreed with me and added “The writing process itself can be divided into three stages: prewriting, writing, and rewriting.” Don’s statement seemed to light up Mrs. Karr’s face. “Revision is the secret to their troubles—and yours. That, and a sense of quality that exceeds what you can do—that gives you something to strive for”, she expertly deduced. Anne Lamott seemed to be drawn out of her trance-like state and added “Consider finding someone who would not mind reading [your] drafts and marking them up with useful suggestions” For the whole time I had been here, that was her most complete thought. As we came to the consensus of two heads are better than one, I was sucked out of my body warp speed style and woke up. I couldn't believe that my English assignment had written itself.
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“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all: Read a lot and write a lot”
- Stephen King AuthorHello. I'm Raj. Nice to meet you. Archives
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