(12/12) Advice to new writers

In order to write as well as one possibly can, it is important to not isolate one's self from what his or her every day surroundings. It is with experience in those surroundings which gives a person the best substance with which to write. It is important to be out doing new things and seeing new things. Take advantage of opportunities that you would have never otherwise tried. I went to see poetry with Dr. Lay and a few others from my writing class. It is probably something I would have never done on my own, but I greatly enjoyed it. Not only that, but it gave me a different outlook on writing. Poetry is unlike any style of writing I have ever done, but it opened my mind up to a new means of writing. All the same, allowing yourself to keep your mind open to new ideas and just open to the world, can improve your writing. Much the same, use an open mind to do every project to the best of your ability. You may not be able to see it at first, but each project will progress you to higher abilities in your writing!

(11/12) Four letter word projects...writing?

The four letter word projects are not writing, in my opinion. They contain one word, which was written, but the project as a whole does not qualify as writing. It does, however, do the same thing that writing does, which is deliver some sort of message or argument; it expresses the thought of the creator. Writing, by traditional standards, is word or message that has been written. Since pictures are not written words, they are not writing. I would definitely consider it a composition, though. People are able to see it and base their own opinions off of it. They are able to agree of disagree with a main point that is projected through these projects, and for that reason I definitely consider it a composition.

(10/12) Rodney Jones' Poem

Rodney Jones is trying to argue through his poem “Hubris at Zunzal” that there is essentially no better image than the image that writing can create. I believe he is trying to argue the exact opposite of saying images can be as useful as words. In his poem, he is not only able to give a time and a place, but he also manages to put an image into the audience’s mind. As he said himself, “no image like the image of language.”

(9/12) When i put on text

When I put on text, it is usually just a sport t-shirt and therefore not all too interesting to others. I do not think that whenever I wear text on my clothing, that I want others to read it. Of course, I would not mind if they did, but I will usually only put the text on because I like that article of clothing and I am not even thinking “gee, I will wear this today and hope at least a few people will read it.” Maybe that’s why I initially buy the article of clothing, but for the most part, I wear and buy my clothes for comfort, and really for only myself.

(8/12) Transcribed Sample of the Crayon writing

“Zadie Smith states that ‘flexibility of voice leads to a flexibility in all things’ (194). This is an accurate statement. We must always adapt to the situation, and that includes knowing our audience. For example, students know that each teacher likes different styles of writing and they must adapt their style for each class. Flexibility comes from knowing your audience.”

(7/12) Crayons!

The writer does not seem to be too influenced by the writing implement, if at all. Her response is one that I could imagine seeing written in pen or even typed. Perhaps if she were using a writing utensil with a smaller point, she would have written more, but she did not adopt a different voice. She seems to be neither less of more expressive, yet agrees that flexibility of voice leads to a flexibility of all things.

In my personal opinion, this writing is good. Crayons do not present the least space-consuming of writing utensils. She was able to provide her point, however, and opinion nice and concisely. I suppose she did adapt to the writing implement merely by knowing she would have less room to write and therefore created a response that would fit and be complete.

6/12 Micro blogging

Whenever I write online, I do actually think about my audience. Online, there really is no way to actually tell who might come across something you say. With that said, I am much more careful with what I say when I post anything online. I am careful even if I am writing something that I direct toward someone in particular and already anticipate them reading it. When I do not write online, there is either no audience or I know my only audience is my teacher and I therefore write with a voice according to what I hope that particular teacher would prefer.

            I do not think there can ever be a distinct online relationship with an audience. Anyone can have access to the content written online. A person can have a general idea of to whom they are speaking, but unless there is a response, there really is no direct relationship.

            I do not ever tweet really, but when I do, I would imagine just one of my fourteen followers might see it. When people micro blog, they do it to share their thoughts and whereabouts with as many people as they can at one time. I, however, do not particularly want people to know and do not think they would particularly care about what I would have to say either. That is probably why I could never get into the habit of tweeting or posting statuses online. Perhaps I am too conscious of an audience, and have too much “stage fright” to write anything. The reason for micro blogging is to allow one’s audience a grander scale view about one’s life, without holding their attention for more than five seconds.