The essay “How to Become a Writer” by Lorrie Moore is a comical step-by-step process on how one becomes a writer. Moore starts off by saying that the initial key to becoming a writer is to first start off by trying to be something, anything, else. Moore uses the pronoun “you” throughout the essay to make it seem like the story is about the reader despite all the specific details that most likely originate from Moore’s life. It takes the reader through high school English class where a teacher gives a harsh commentary of a final project. Eventually, the reader finds themself sitting in a college creative writing class (which happened by accident) and coming to the conclusion that they want to be a writer. “How to Become a Writer” is a story
Wardle, Elizabeth. "Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces." Wardle, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2011. 520-537. Print.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 3rd Ed. Studio City: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007.
The purpose of Baker’s essay and its placement in The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers is to encourage young writers to realize that writing truly is a privilege. It is also placed in the book to show college English students that writing does not have to be a grim task and that thinking of it in that manner will only make the student average.
In the essay “Getting Started” by Anne Lamott. The author reaches out to her students and other fellow writers who struggle to overcome the infamous writer’s block. Thought out her paper she gives us hints and tips to train and prep us for our future papers. Her tips range from training you mind to prepare for a long and often strenuous essay, learning to take information in slowly to not overwork your brain and the last one always tell the truth in your essay. She threads through her essay that writing may be hard and seems like there is no silver lining but it’s not impossible to do. When done reading this essay I widely agree with Lamott’s writing ideas and tips they can be helpful for many struggling students. As one myself I found
Throughout reading this novel, my thought on transgender and transsexual individuals was pretty set and stone. For example, I knew from reading the textbook that a transgender is a person that is born—in Jenny’s case—a male, but was psychologically and emotionally born a female. However, Jenny took things one-step further and became a transsexual, which is an individual that underwent surgery to obtain the genitals that match the psychological and emotional gender within, which in her case was a female. Therefore, Jenny Finney Boylan would be considered a transsexual female. What I did not know prior to reading this book is how tedious the process is to make a sex change. To be honest I never thought about the process a transsexual needed to go through to become one’s self, I did not think about the many steps taken to obtain the voice, or look of a female that Jenny was striving for. I also did not think about the surgery, and how scary that type of surgery could actually be. For example, on page 124 Jennifer is discussing the process of transition with her psychologist, Dr. Strange. On this page Dr. Strange is beginning to inform Jenny, and essentially myself, on how to begin the transition of becoming a female. First Dr. Strange was listing off the effects the hormones will have on Jenny’s body, and I first they made sense to me; softer skin, fluffier hair, but I never knew the physical changes hormones could have on someone, especially a man. For instance, I learned that there is such a thing called “fat migration.” This is when the fat on previous parts of your body migrates to another location. I learned from this novel that fat migration is a result of hormones, and since Jenny was once a man, her face would become less r...
Adler-Kassner, Lisa. “Taking Action to Change Stories.” The Activist WPA: Changing Stories about Writing and Writers. Logan, UT: Utah State, 2008.
I am more knowledgeable about invention, arrangement, style, and delivery, all in which create a masterful piece of text. A few examples, I have learned to organize and construct my thoughts and ideas clearer. I have been taught to use stronger transitions and focus more on the delivery and content of the body element of essays. Further, the instructions and advice I have received throughout this term have influenced my understanding of the purpose of writing. My outlook on writing has been modified by shifting my perception of writing from, writing to prove I am a good writer by perceiving it as using “fluffy” or BIG words to impress my audience. I grew to understanding that good writing’s purpose is to engage the writer by mind-striking ideas and arguments, which therefore will prove and title me as a “good writer”.
Stephen King’s “On Writing,” is a memoir of the author’s experiences as a writer and serves as a guidebook for those who choose to enter the craft of writing. Stephen King writes about his childhood and young adulthood, relating stories that made him the writer he has become. Stephen King then moves into the mechanics of writing, offering advice and insight into a successful career that has worked so well for him but remains distant for thousands of others.
The process on how to be a great novelist was not proclaimed, though it was distributed within the movie. The messages that she sent across, in the most passive aggressive way, could potentially aid future writers. The writing process is not difficult, it is just tedious because there are steps and if you endure an issue, like writers block, it can be solved by putting your mind at ease. Also, creating an interesting plot, in the outline, with extravagant detail will add to the spices of your work. Therefore, Karen Eiffel explained the writing process to the audience with complete discretion because she discussed writer’s block, plot, and outlines without boldly stating them. Anyone can be an extraordinary writer by facilitating the basic procedures of becoming such. Pick up a pencil and follow the
The Story and Its Writer by, Ann Charters. Bedford Press. 1999.
I am in the process of writing my first novel in hopes to get it published after I graduate high school. Many students, and teachers unfortunately, have shot down my dreams of doing so but I have persevered with this aspiration of mine. I’ve found the people who think I can accomplish this are those who know for a fact I will continue with this dream.
Short stories are temporary portals to another world; there is a plethora of knowledge to learn from the scenario, and lies on top of that knowledge are simple morals. Langston Hughes writes in “Thank You Ma’m” the timeline of a single night in a slum neighborhood of an anonymous city. This “timeline” tells of the unfolding generosities that begin when a teenage boy fails an attempted robbery of Mrs. Jones. An annoyed bachelor on a British train listens to three children their aunt converse rather obnoxiously in Saki’s tale, “The Storyteller”. After a failed story attempt, the bachelor tries his hand at storytelling and gives a wonderfully satisfying, inappropriate story. These stories are laden with humor, but have, like all other stories, an underlying theme. Both themes of these stories are “implied,” and provide an excellent stage to compare and contrast a story on.
Lewes couldn't resist giving one. With a didactic, yet friendly tone, Lewes charts her hypothesis on the development of a writer. Primarily, a person pursues writing because she sees merit in the practice, merit which she glimpses through the eyes of a writer who has already harnessed it. Idolization, then, is the first stage of development. Once the writer has found a dream, she is filled with yearning to create, yet still lacking in any ability to do so.
I have always been a book reader and loved a good story, but when I became an avid reader during my 7th grade year I began to think of writing my own stories. At first it was nothing more than an idea, but once I read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit I felt inspired to write a one page spinoff. A short time later, I read Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton. Being a dinosaur lover, I devoured both books and thoroughly enjoyed them but was deeply disappointed that there were no other books in the series.