Here's a link to assignment we had earlier this week. The instructions were to put together a timeline of events in our lives that formed us as the writers we are today. I decided to put my timeline together with a website that made it pretty easy to display a bunch of events nicely. Here's what I came up with after thinking back over my life as a writer:
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/56985/Writing-Timeline/#!date=2010-06-23_13:04:22!
I've never considered myself too much of a writer and I honestly still don't, but making this timeline helped me realize a few things about my own writing. If you looked through the timeline, you probably noticed a bunch of the events I included were writing tests. I don't think the tests changed me as a writer, I just noticed that I hate that kind of writing assignment. I can't write when I know I have a short time limit for some reason. I have to give myself a lot of time to think before I write, and knowing that I had to be done in 25 minutes on the SAT writing test slowed me down some. But I did end up doing much better than I thought, somehow.
Getting started with my writing is what takes me the longest and I've always been a slow writer. Even now I'm sitting down trying to finish this blog entry that I've had up on my computer for hours while doing everything I can think of other than finishing it.
You will also notice that I posted about a research paper that I had to write during my junior year of high school. We spent a couple months on that, and it at least kept me interested the whole time. I liked writing about my own research instead of having to make things up. I find it much easier to write about my own findings or at least writing in the form of a research paper (preferably on a topic I already know something about).
After looking through the events I wrote down before making my timeline, I didn't really notice an event that had too much of an impact on my life as a writer. I've never been too interested in writing but hopefully I can learn to have an easier time writing any kind of assignment with some of the things we're planning to do in this class over the next couple of months.
By talking through even your writing of this blog post you are really describing and reflecting on your writing process. I am a pretty huge writer-procrastinator, too. I will check my email 100 times, click on every other thing I can manage, remember suddenly that I should do the dishes, plan next's week's class, whatever before I will open a blank screen. Daybook writing is one thing that helps me out of that blank screen freeze.
ReplyDeleteLove your tiki toki timeline!
"Love your tiki toki timeline!" (Lacy Manship)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with her. The Tiki toki timeline is a very catchy name, I have never considered myself to be a good writer but apparently I have made it this far haven't I? I am very impressed with this blog post because it just goes to show you that even when you're "not a good writer" you can still write the truth and it doesn't take much to express this. thank you for the wonderful blog post I look forward to more