Words Elude Me

For me writing has never been the most enjoyable task.  For whatever reason I just cant get the thoughts onto paper the way I see them forming in my mind.  I'm sure I am not the only person who suffers from this problem, but all the same it doesn't change my dislike of writing.  Even when I have to write about something I enjoy, and can usually talk about easily; writing on the same topic eludes me.  Freewriting, although a great technique that I was unaware of before this class, helps very little.  I find myself falling in the same pit of not being able to put the words on paper as I had imagined they would be like.  I guess freewriting is better aimed at someone who has a hard time thinking of ideas on the topic, as opposed to people like me who can instantly pull up several trains of thought for the topic yet can't seem to make them ink on a page.  Hopefully we cover some techniques and tools in this class that I can use to better my writing.

I'm Getting There

In the first weeks of class I was a little intimidated by the number of writing assignments we were given. I'll admit I am not the strongest writer and that I've procrastinated on almost every writing assignment I've ever done. My writing was ok but I had trouble with flow, When I did assignments I was often all over the place. I didn't really experience this problem when I started to do free-writes. When your free-writing the main goal is to have constant movement of the pen on paper. Whenever I tried this my ideas seemed to come together because I never stopped writing. It's a small improvement but at least it's progress in a subject that has been an enemy of mine since middle school. Hopefully by the end of the semester I will start to actually enjoy writing.

Free-Writing

Honestly, when I first heard about free-writing for this class, I thought "what a boring way to write I'm going to run out of things to say". After that first 10 minute free-write, I didn't want to stop. How ironic. I like the way it makes me look at how my mind goes from thought to thought.. sometimes my mind won't shut off and I somehow end up on a certain subject or thought and wonder how the hell I got there in the first place. By free-writing I start to get a sense about where I go off on certain topics and the first thing that comes to mind whenever I get stuck and don't know what else to say. I've definitely got to admit, I like the fact of just writing whatever comes to mind, whatever I feel like writing and get graded on it. In my opinion, I feel like there's so much I'd like to say so once I get started I never want to stop arguing a point or an issue I feel strongly about. I like my opinions to be heard and I feel like with free-writing, I can get to that point and it actually makes me feel less stressed. Pretty sweet.

English Class

This english class has probably been the best one that I've been in. It's taught me how to come up with ideas quicker with free writing. It's taught me access my inner thought, which i was never taught before. How has this class helped you?

Letters

I feel like letter writing is a lost art due to email and cell phones. Does anyone still write letters? I write letters to my friends and family. It's not that I don't verbally speak to them but it is always nice to have a piece of paper with someones hand writing on it. Writing letters seems to help my writing for class and especially for free writing. Letters don't have to be formal (unless it's for a job or college etc.). Writing whatever seems to be why I like it so much. I wish I had more time to write to my friends and family and not relying on the cell phone. Letters take a couple of days for the person to actually have it in their hands which is a down side to it. Not having up to date information right away can be annoying. I know my grandmother appreciates the letters I write her because she has them all! Between work and school it has been hard to write letters but it is a way of communication that should continue for years to come!

Time management.

I think one of my biggest issues this year so far, is time management. Between having a job, three brothers, a girlfriend, all of this homework, and my ever so awesome life outside of that, i can't seem to organize my school work efficiently. Now i know that other people probably have a lot more problems than i do, and i don't take anything for granted, but i just find it difficult. I think its perhaps my lack of motivation and the lack of responsibility i feel. I know most of these assignments aren't due until a couple days, maybe weeks later, and i take way too much of an advantage to it, hurting myself in the long run. I constantly tell myself i will do the homework, i will do the homework, i will do the homework as soon as i get home. Then as soon as i get home i get distracted for at least an hour and a half. Then when the time comes for me to attempt at the homework i get right on Facebook or YouTube. I can't manage to make it to the O.C.C. site in one take, it just doesn't happen. I always have a couple tabs open...maybe that's my problem. Maybe from now on i should only have that one tab open. I highly doubt my sense of self discipline on that one, but i really need to get my stuff together. Stuff wasn't the original word i had intended to go there by the way. I hate procrastinating though, i hate the feeling of not having my work done, and i hate worrying about it for so long. I wish i could just do it when i get the assignment and be done with it. I say this but saying it and doing it are two different things. I would like to become more focused on school work and getting my education up there with my other supposed top priorities. I am paying for this too wow what am i doing, i sure as heck don't want to waste my money.

Early English dilemmas.

I am hoping that if I submit a post earlier than later, then less people will read it. I am honestly not a shy or bashful person at all, but when it comes to writing it is hard for me to share, so here goes nothing. I wish I had learned to love english earlier on in my life. It was not until my senior year of high school that I really began to appreciate literature. Up until then I found very little value in reading. I think this lack of respect was partly caused by the depressing zeal expressed by my teachers. Every english class was the same, do research and write a paper on it. I find Professor McCoy's class very refreshing.

Essays

I was really hoping that this year my opinion on essays would change since I've learned a new way to write them. So far, I still really, really dislike them. The fact I don't like writing essays may have something to do with the fact I procrastinate a lot. Honestly, the only part of the persuasive essay I have done is having a topic picked out and I'm not even 100% sure about the topic I chose. I do enjoy free-writing, though, don't get me wrong! I just don't enjoy writing for other people, or at least people I don't consider myself to be close to. I feel like I have better things I could do, but in reality I don't, I'd just rather do something else I actually enjoy. Even writing this is a bit of a pain, but hey, we all have to do things we don't like, right? Anyways, I suppose I should start at least part of that essay now, especially since I will sleep in as late as I can and then hang out with my boyfriend tomorrow; plus I need to study for an exam I keep forgetting and remembering... whoops.

Persuasive Essay

I was trying to find a good topic for the persuasive essay and I thought it was really difficult to mine more information out of the private writing after the expository essay. I probably read my free writes over twenty times before I came up with something, but I think I pulled something meaningful out of all the craziness that is my writing and extracted something interesting that I feel strongly about. This kind of writing still makes me nervous and anxious though because I find it hard to try and share an opinion or a belief to an audience because your never sure what there going to think of it or you.

Perl & Open-Ended writing

When we first did Perl writing I absolutely hated it, then when we kept doing it, it grew on me a little. The thing that I really can not stand with that is how much analyzing we do. For me, it is hard to find the "felt sense". It is physically impossible for me to think of something and then relate that to something else, that has nothing to do with it. What I really did find useful though was the open ended writing. It is in the middle of a free write and a focused free write, which is something that I really enjoy.  I know that in the future I will be using the open ended writing. It definitely makes time go by faster and makes my writing longer. Another thing that I really like about it is that it doesn't seem like it needs as much revising as perl guidelines does.

Relief of Free Writing

The new technique we are learning in Mr. McCoy's class called free writing is a very effective way to get started on a paper or project. I usually put my work off till the last possible moment, usually because i simply just don't want to do it. I usually don't want to do it because the work is usually hard or just too long and I don't want to take the time and effort to get it done. But free writing has helped me with this. It allows me to get a lot of ideas down quickly and effectively. I usually wait till the end of the day to do this. That way I have plenty of topics to talk about after a full day of class and work. Writing a bunch of vague topics helps me when I go to write my paper. This is because I'm good at remembering details of a topic just by reading quick notes I have written down. This allows all the work I have to do take less time but get done with much better results. I'm looking forward to using this new technique for all my classes in the future and am very happy to have an english teacher that lets us choose our own topics!

Sonnet

I enjoy poetry more when it is in a song. I feel that the music behind the words amplify the emotion you can get from almost any piece of work. Professor McCoy shared a piece of his work i believe was called Wolfman. (sorry of that isn't correct ) . As he was reading it to the class was thinking how awesome it would be as a song for a metal band. I reminded me of a song called "Sonnet". It was written by a band called Prayer for Cleansing and is one of my favorite songs. Just goes to show that there is more to that type of music than just screaming into a microphone. McCoy's poem would definitely fit right in due to the nature of the poem.

Persuasive vs Expository

Persuasive writing, in my opinion, is a whole lot more difficult than expository writing. In expository writing, you are just seeking to explain your point of views to your target audience. This allows you to explain something to the best of your ability without the fear of trying to convert someone to your point of view. My expository essay was about patriotism. Having recently served in the United States Marine Corps, I found it very easy to explain my point of view on the subject. My persuasive essay, however, is about how history can affect out present and future. Trying to tell an audience that doesn't necessarily like history that it is very important to society, both locally and globally, can be an extremely daunting task. After my free write yesterday in class I realized something. All the facts and figures in my head are not as easily remembered to some members of the audience as they are to me. Merely having this knowledge does not necessarily mean that it can help change things. How we apply the lessons learned for the past does and I'm not convinced that the average person has the wisdom to apply these lessons to real life situations. It takes a certain modicum of wisdom to apply these lessons. Enough on that, I hope the class receives my essay well tomorrow when we do our workshop.

Midnight Madness

Anyone else in this class working over 30 hours a week while going to school full time? I enjoy McCoy's writing class, but it seems that I always tend to push off the work until the day or two before it is due. I spend Monday nights on math, Tuesday nights on chemistry, work on Wednesday nights, Thursday is my day off, and work Friday-Sunday. Somewhere in between Friday-Sunday after work I manage to get all my writing done. One plus side of procrastinating is that work gives me a lot of time to think about things while I'm bored or doing mindless chores for the bo$$. When I come home I feel like I have come up with so many great ideas throughout the day and it's easier for me to write after a whole day of thinking. The hardest part about doing any sort of writing work is sitting down and saying to yourself "I'm going to do this." I feel like free writing is something we should have learned long ago because that technique really gets all of my papers started, how about yours?

The Plus Side of Writing and Revision

Writing can be difficult and all but the methods we have learned have helped a great deal not only in English class but all my other classes that I have to write in. Free-writing is probably the best method to get alot of ideas down on paper and the open-ended writing process is great also because you are able to write alot about certain topics that are on your mind. These specific methods have helped me in my music theory class which I had to write a couple paragraphs for and these methods made it a piece of cake. I have a 6 page paper to write for my history class and I will most likely be using the methods I've learned thus far and probably methods that the class will be learning in the future. Revising is very helpful to me when I re-read what I have written out loud. This helps me find mistakes in my writing, helps me add or take away writing, and helps me organize my writing. I find myself re-reading my writings over and over again to make sure its perfect or because I feel it can be improved in some way. Can anyone relate to this? Does anyone have other methods that you prefer to help you with any writing assignments?

Thoughts on poetry?

I'm pretty sure a post is due soon, so I figure I'll get it out of the way... What are your thoughts on poetry? Do you enjoy reading it? Do you enjoy writing it? Personally, I don't like reading it that much, though I think I know a good poem when I see it. I enjoy writing them a lot more. I don't write them nearly as often as I should, but I still do enjoy the activity. It's a good way to express emotions, make a point about something, or just tell a story in a creative way. I enjoy free-verse a lot more than schemed/metered poetry. I feel schemed is to restrictive. So, what do you think about poetry, or creative writing in general?

Trying it out

Okay so this is a blog for my english class. Let me repeat that I am only taking this class because I have to. I personally think I do enough writing on my own time and if I have to take English, then English majors should have to take a basic computer course. I'll moan about it later, we were just told in class that bitching is not what the blog is for. I'm making this post just to try it out becasue I'm not sure I really get the piont of this blog, or free-writing for that matter. I suppose there is a piont ot it, if anyone wants to get in one of thier mandatory comments by telling me what it is, I'm all ears. I think our English class is better than most though. Espically the English course I took in ninth grade that consisted of more mythology than I ever wanted to know and a very long lecture on how Shakepseare was wasted on us. hmmm............... I'm really beginning to wonder if this post is long enough because I can't think of anything else to say. Some of this is probably really rude or mean but at least I'm honest, if extremely insensistive and (as I'm frequently told) very cynical. Signing off.

"Top 2"

Professor McCoy just sent an email to our class with the top two collages attached. I observed some similarities in the writers. Both writers were able to put "themselves" into the writing. Maybe this is the result of freewriting . Is freewriting one word or two? They were both ammusing to me and at the same time profound and thought provoking. The differences to me, is the second one flowed freely while the first was obviously edited causing abrupt transitions. So this made me wonder if anyone else wanted to post their collage to see how different or alike they are in comparison to our other classmates. Is classmates one word or two? I think it is a good idea, and it will give us some blogging fodder. Think about it. -Ed

Perl Guidelines vs Open-Ended Writing Process

Last week we learned about open-ended writing and how to use the Perl Guidelines. Even though we have just started doing a few of each...I realized early on that I prefer open ended writing over the Perl Guidelines by far. For me the Perl guidelines seem to delve too much into the topic, it reminds me of a therapist asking someone, "how does that make you feel?" over and over. I am not one to reach deep into my feelings and try to understand them. The Perl guidelines also have too many steps that, to me, seem repetitive; I would be be the first one to tell anyone that I like guidelines and structures to follow...but this is the one exception where I feel there are too many guidleines. Overall I just feel more comfortable with the open-ended writing process and I think it is easier for me to have a topic to write about.

Get more productivity out of your Free-Writes

Everyone knows how boring writing can be....right?? Well instead of just trying to come up with something to write about, why not write about a class subject. Maybe write about a topic, in that subject, that you don't know very much on and see what you come up with. And if you can't find anything to write on or don't know very much about it, then do some research or readings on that topic so you know what you're talking about. Who knows, maybe the topic might become more interesting then before or maybe you'll understand it a lot more than before. It worked for me because I used it on an Exam I recently took and finished in 15-20 minutes, which was suppose to take 50 minutes. Open-Ended writing helped me study and better prepare me for it. Try it and see what happens, you might be surprised. Comment on this and tell me if it has worked or not. Thanks.

Just Wondering...

I'm sure plenty of you have had heated arguments before. Has anyone ever had a heated agreement before? I've managed to have two of them. Both were with a friend of mine, and we were talking about some sociopolitical issues that we both have the same take on. The first one started during a trip to the shotgun range, when the conversation turned. It's a hot-button issue for both of us. We were each making points, and agreeing with what the other said. Soon however, our blood pressures and our voices were rising. Before too long we were each shouting different points, and agreeing with each other still. It was after the second one that we decided it best if we didn't discuss this particular topic anymore. So Just wondering, has anything like this ever happened to anyone else?

"Collage"

I just completed the "Collage" assignment for professor Mccoy. The assignment seemed fairly easy to complete, but I made a mess so big it demanded an extra 8 foot table. I'm kidding, it was only a 6 footer. So glad it is done! I just realized how hard it is to write about myself. That might be due to a subconcious reluctance or some thing like that. I have some work to do in that area. I'm excited to see what my writing will look like after completing this course and applying it's teachings. Well, I will keep my fingers' crossed now. -Ed