Posts (page 2)

"So try to calm down, get quiet, breathe, and listen."  (Lamott 113)

As writers, we tend to get extremely frustrated when we don't know where a story line or character is going.  Instead of slamming down the keyboard in a rage, we must swallow our frustrations and listen to the little voice in our heads.  Only then can we know where our character is going or what turns the story will take next.

"The Pardon" by Richard Wilbur was my favorite poem from the end of chapter nine.  I think it really captures the sadness of a young child having to bury a beloved pet (on the surface level) and the sense of mourning the dead (on a deeper level).  The imagery forced me to use my senses, and it helped me to sort of "live in" the poem as if I were experiencing these emotions myself.  I also liked the rhythm and meter of the poem.    

"Learning to be a poet in the twenty-first century presents difficulties unlike any of the other genres, and the problem is this:  up until the twentieth century, the great bulk of poetry in English was written in formal verse, set patterns of rhythm and rhyme."  (Burroway 310)  

Burroway is right; it is exceedingly difficult nowadays to write poetry.  It's difficult mostly because we were taught in elementary school that poetry must always rhyme (which goes back for formal verse). As an upperclassman in college, I now know that rhyming is not always what makes poetry (though rhyming poems are still quite entertaining and fun). 

"It [the tape] helped me see that it is natural to take on someone else's style, that it's a prop that you use for a while until you have to give it back.  And it just might take you to the thing that is not on loan, the thing that is real and true: your voice."  (Lamott 195)

I was in awe when I read this line.  When I was learning to write creatively way back in 9th grade, I found myself emulating other writers' styles (especially the styles of essayists).  Through others' styles, I have found that I have an essayist's voice.  I don't write exactly like other essay writers, but I know that is my true voice because I can express myself more clearly in essay form than I can in poetic form.

"The writer is a person who is standing apart, like the cheese in 'The Farmer in the Dell' standing there alone but deciding to take a few notes."  (Lamott 97)

Sometimes when I write stories about people, I feel just like the cheese from that ridiculous nursery song:  standing there by myself, but observing and taking notes about my surroundings and the things surrounding the person I am writing about.  Hi ho, the dairy-o, the cheese stands alone....

"One last thing:  dialogue that is written in dialect is very tiring to read."  (Lamott 72)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates dialect dialogue.  I think I'm capable of using my imagination to "hear" the accents in my head when I'm reading.  Things like "hay yawl" for Southern dialect or "vet vater" for German dialect really get on my nerves.  I don' t use those when I write dialogue because I find it pointless.

"....But after a few days at the desk, telling the truth in an interesting way turns out to be about as easy and pleasurable as bathing a cat."  (Lamott 3)

Bathing a cat is not exactly a pleasurable thing, as you cat owners out there know. Holding a cat down and scrubbing it with beady, purple soap proves to be a daunting task, just like telling the truth in a way that won't make your reader fall asleep.  One must work diligently to use images and syntax that will catch your reader as one would use bait to catch a fish. 

"If you persevere in writing, "your voice" will inevitably take on a coloration that is entirely your own."  (Burroway 49)

Earlier in the chapter, Burroway talks about how diction and syntax make up a writer's "voice" like tone and pitch make up a physical voice.  After reading that, I thought about it like this:  When you're a tiny kid and learning to talk, you have to learn sounds and try them out to refine them.  When you're a blossoming writer, you must try things out (and sometimes fail) before you truly attain your "voice".  What she said on page 49 sums up my analogy perfectly. 

"Writers are frequently advised:  show, don't tell. What this means is that is crucial to address the senses.  Vivid writing contains concrete, significant details."  (Burroway 7)

Burroway couldn't have said it better.  When you give a description of something, you simply cannot tell it with simple words; if you do, the total effects are not reached.  You must show your audience what you wish for them to see/hear/taste/smell/feel (touch).  She advises us against using vague descriptions such as "beautiful" and "elegant".  Use colors, textures, fragrances, sounds, and sights so that your readers can effectively use all of their senses.

"All writing is imaginative." (Burroway, xxii)

I believe that this is the very thing we must remember as we embark on this journey through Creative Writing 3130.  I have never taken a writing class before, yet I decided to be a Writing and Linguistics minor on a whim.  I, like other first-time writers in this class, must remember to use my imagination at all times when I am trying to compose something, whether it is a poem, story, or essay.  I will become the writer I wish to be if I just keep that simple statement in mind.