Author: Charles (Page 9 of 11)

Quote #1: “practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts.”

My response: While I don’t know if this statement is entirely true it would make sense that once you have your ideas laid out before you can play around with the material. And the more you fine tune it the better the out come is

Quote #2: “all I had to do was write a really shitty first draft, of lets say the opening paragraph (to get started on her writing)”

My response: I would say that it seems like a good idea although me personally I take out a piece of paper and write whatever comes to my mind.

Quote #3: “the whole thing would be so long and incoherent and hideous that for the rest of the day id obsess about getting creamed by a car before I could write a decent second draft”

My response: great I feel a lot better about my writing now that I know its not just me and most even “professional” writers have a bad first draft.

Quote #4: “then a month later when it was time for another review (Anne Lamott used to write food reviews for a publication) the whole process would start again complete with fears that people would find my first draft before I could rewrite it”

My response: it feels reassuring that us students still start out the same as accomplished writers even thought they have much more experience we all start with that shitty first draft.

Charles Pessin

When miss speck told me I was going nowhere in life I was sitting in the principles office while my eighth grade teacher berating me. It was a hot June day probably around eighty three degrees and I had just gotten caught drawing a rather rude imitation of the teacher using markers on the classrooms whiteboard. at that exact time I decided I would would just nod along and tell them what I thought they wanted to hear and didn’t think much of it as the teacher rambled on asking when I was going to grow up and take things more seriously. Miss speck then mentioned that once we graduate that year all our academic work would be on a record that a college can view. I acknowledged her point and then apologized like I rehearsed in my head however she raised a valid point, why are we in school? is it just a government sponsored daycare to get kids out of their parents hair? but then when we grow up and we become more independent Highschool for most kids simply becomes a place to hang out with friends and with most kids unconcerned about their grades I think its the parents job to motivate children to achieve A’s because the teachers can only do so much in school before the kid comes home and the parents don’t care about the child’s grade. that being said I think traditional schooling is inherently flawed and many subjects are unnecessary and breeds more of a factory worker then an entrepreneur and doesn’t give the kid an individualist’s mindset but all in all its fairly necessary to take Highschool seriously in order to acquire skills that would help the person as an adult.

(side note- open lab is very glitchy and not all the letters I type in get written)

Understanding genre’s is a key aspect in becoming a good writer. there are many types of genres there are even genres within genres, take music for example I can have country, pop, alternative but then take alternative and you would have alternative rock, indie and so on. What is a genre? A genre is a form or type of communication in any mode with socially agreed upon terms developed over time. Genre is most commonly known as a category of music, literature or other forms and it doesn’t matter if the information is written, spoken or seen in person. understanding what genres your readers want from you can dramatically help the writer of the book because he/she knows what the people buying the book expect from them. for instance in an action book readers have come to expect fighting and/or chase scenes. now you may think that this knowledge isn’t applicable to you because your not planning on writing a book but it is very much applicable. You will always be writing essays and understanding the genre upon which are writing  helps the tone of the content and improves creativity. no two writers are exactly alike and doing this will help improve your writing style and to help you become a more skilled writer. lets say for example you work in a company and they ask you for a report on the progress in your department or your writing a book or a script for a play the writing will be that much better because you know what he audience wants and expects and that is why you should make it a priority of yours to understand the genre in which you are going to write in.

Charles Pessin