For this blog entry, I was assigned to read three different passages by three different authors, Don Murray, Ann Lamott, and Mary Karr. Then I was to take quotes from each of them and create a scenario where I am discussing the writing process with them. If you are interested in reading the passages, you can click on the links attached to each of their names. In my freshman year of college I was an intern at a local radio station. At least twice a week, the radio personalities would try to have special guests that they interviewed on the show. Generally, it would be artists, actors, comedians, etc., promoting a new show, movie, album, events, or book that they had coming out soon. One week, while I was struggling to figure out what to write for my english composition course, we just so happened to have three authors- Don Murray, Ann Lamott, and Mary Karr- coming in to discuss their new book coming out called, The Process. I thought to myself what a crazy coincidence it was that we three people who created an entire book about what I was struggling on were coming in, and I only wished that I could be the one that was interviewing them. On the day of the interview, I was headed on a coffee break and when I stepped into the break room, there they were, Don Murray, Ann Lamott, and Mary Karr. They were enjoying some coffee and conversation before they were scheduled to go on. “This is my chance!” I thought to myself. My chance to ask the questions I’ve been thinking to myself for days as to how I could get some sort of product from my head onto my paper, and even how to become a better writer in general. I went over and introduced myself. They were all very pleasant and happy to answer any questions that I had. I started off by asking how to even begin when you have “writer’s block” and just can’t seem to be able to for a sentence. Ann smiled, “Shitty first drafts. All good writers have them.” with a pensive pause, she then added, “Close your eyes and get quiet for a minute, until the chatter starts up. Then isolate one of the voices”. “So, it can all start with a few words, even bable, then with a little bit of revision, it can morph into something beautiful?” I asked. “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.” Ann replied. Her answers were so simple but ingenious at the same time. My next question was about the process of transforming my shitty drafts into something worth reading. “Is there a way to skip the shitty draft phase and skip to an ‘almost done’ draft phase?” I said. “Those early pages I threw away were somehow necessary, even if I wrote past them.” Mary Karr answered. “Every writer I know who’s worth a damn spends way more time ‘losing’ than ‘winning.’” Although that wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, it one hundred percent was the answer I needed to hear in order to help me create better compositions, by keeping in mind to keep striving to make each piece better. “Before you can work consciously, though, you go through a phase of developing a critical self.” Don chimed in, “Mechanics come last. It is important to the writer, once he has discovered what he has to say, that nothing get between him and his reader.” “You all really know your stuff and are great teachers, no wonder you all got together to write a book about the process itself.” I commented. “We are coaches, encouragers, developers, creators of environments in which our students can experience the writing process for themselves.” Don added. It was time for them all to go into the studio for their on-air interview and my final question for them all was if there was any last advice for me as a new writer. Don said, “There are no rules, no absolutes, just alternatives.” Ann’s advice was, “Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages”. And finally Mary Karr said, “ Revision is the secret to their and your”. All answers were short and sweet but were immensely helpful. I was ready to go home and get to trying out a few techniques to my writing process.
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Jessica RushWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
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