Hi folks. Just a reminder: I am genuinely curious about your reasons for taking this course and your expectations for the course, so please take a moment to post a response here, or just comment on this post. If you're at all confused by the interface of this blog, send me a note and I'll clarify things for you.
In general, I have a tendency to suggest you should write things, and it may not always be clear whether I am giving you a required assignment or not, and it occurs to me that you may want to know what is required. The only absolute requirements are outlined on the syllabus (click on the link to the right): one presentation of a text, comments on other people's writing, and your final portfolio. Everything else falls under the category of participation, and you will certainly end up with a better grade if you write a lot and post to the blog a lot. For example, I asked you today about why you took this course, and I suggested you post your answers here. You will not lose any marks if you don't post anything, but if you do post something it goes a long way towards convincing me that you are serious and engaged. You can take this as a bit of advice that applies to all of your courses: rather than ask yourself "what am I required to do?", ask yourself questions like, "how can I demonstrate my own initiative in this class?" and "what else can I do that will help me get the most out of this class?"
So, in other words, post to the blog as much as you can / as much as you like. Post your thoughts on the class, your thoughts on the reading, or the texts you come up with during our writing exercises. Surprise me.
For next class, make sure you read the Kafka story and the Vonnegut essay. Take them with you when you come to class next Monday. If it's not feasible for you to print them, let me know and I'll bring an extra copy for you.
Enjoy your weekend.
Corey
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13 comments:
My reasons for taking the course are very similar to those mentioned in class- I was excited about taking a creative writing class because it would allow for free expression, especially after tedious hours spent writing for a political science class last semester. I actually enjoy political science, however having to write about political books and ideals that seem outdated can make for a very lackluster semester. In fact, after my political science class I was feeling a bit weary about my writing because I didn’t trust myself with a pen; I didn’t know if I could write about something I care about again. When I saw that there was a creative writing class open, I took the chance so that I could feel comfortable writing about things that have real depth and meaning in my opinion. More importantly, to have fun writing again, being able to express any feeling or thought without the binds of strict continuity or structure. Writing should not be forced or bothersome. It should have purpose to the writer, and through creative writing, free from cumbersome structure, I can enjoy it again.
I took this class for mainly one reason. My dream is to become an author of fiction books. Ever since I was little, I've wanted to become an author. I love making up stories in my head. In Creative Writing, all one does is create stories. I love writing overall, but my true passion is writing stories. In this class, I knew that I'd the the opportunity to be able to write these type of stories because there aren't limitations. I'm hoping that the the feedback from everybody even strengthen my skills even further. Every little bit helps in making me a better writer. I'm sure that this class will help me in my goal.
Sometimes I get these intense surges which can be described in no other wording than "soul raptures." A burst of inspiration which I would like to preserve. I am hoping with the help of feedback and exercises in writing, I will learn to control these waves of passion through written word and to possibly understand whats causes such excitement inside. Perhaps I am hoping for too much. But, I am also taking this creative writing to feed my individual, give him confidence. There are six million ways to do anything; and uniqueness is beautiful. Along with the other posts, although grateful and excited by all knowledge learned writing other essays, I would like to write with more freedom. With lack of restrictions, maybe we will all discover something new in ourselves.
I could tell you how much I love to write. I could tell you that I've kept a journal since the 5th grade. I could also tell you how this class will improve future success in my career.
I'm not going to lie. I'm graduating in the spring and I need a writing intensive course. It's required.
I fancy myself as a creative person. As a creative person, I always have ideas that pop in and disappear just as suddenly. I love writing these thoughts, feelings, ideas, and plans. Writing is the way I express myself.
I started carrying an idea notebook or journal in the 5th grade. This was after my teachers insisted that I kept my suggestions on paper instead of interrupting. I've kept an extensive amount of notebooks, notepads, marble composition notebooks, and a NSYNC love journal ever since. The last one I’m not so proud of.
I am more then just creative; I am an artist. My art is design. I believe that all creativity stems from focus, observation, imitation, and attention to detail. I recognize anything that helps me to develop these four attributes and bring me closer to becoming a better designer.
If I did not need a writing intensive, I would not have taken creative writing, because I do I am glad to be here.
Like many other students in the class, I felt this class would allow more freedom for myself as a writer. The English classes I've taken so far mostly dealt with critiquing literary works as well as critiquing a critique. I realize that writing these essays will improve my writibg skills, but it got a little old. I felt this class will allow me to express my self more openly. Not having to do so much research and critical thinking refresehes my desire to write.
Hi. Thanks for all the comments. There are no right or wrong reasons for being in this course, obviously, but I hope you will all find it worthwhile. I agree with you, Maria, that writing should not be forced or bothersome. If you found it tedious to write your political science essays, even though you enjoy political science, perhaps you just hadn't been given the right topic. I think anything can be fun to write about if you care about it, and if you feel like you have ownership of your essay. By that I mean that you have to be writing it for yourself, not writing it to the expectations of some other party. (More precisely, you need to be confident that the audience you have in mind will be interested in what you are writing.)
Several of you identified a desire to write without limitations. I certainly understand what you mean, but I want you to think more carefully what you mean by that. Usually when we write, we have some kind of limitation, even if it is self-imposed (we want to write a certain kind of story, or express a certain kind of feeling or idea). And sometimes, limitations can be inspiring. Think about the activity we did in the last class, where we used only the letters in our names. Was it a drag to have such a strict limitation, or did you find it stimulating?
I was mostly taking this course for its W description, but until recently I found that I don't really need it. However, I'm willing to explore writing for its intrinsic power as a self-expression tool and at the same time improve on my own writing skills without limiting restrictions to subjects that don't necessarily reflect my own interests. For those reasons I've decided to take the course even though it would represent a dangling course in the tight structure of formalism behind the system; what matters is that I get something useful out of this (as I hope I will).
Sometimes it's hard for me to write unless:
1) There is an assignment in front of me with a topic, guidelines, and a due date.
2) There is a personal problem in my life and I write to take my mind off of it. Even if I end up writing about the actual problem, I usually become slightly more consumed with the piece of writing then whatever may be going on (for the moment anyway).
I think learning a little more about the process and especially being exposed to different writers might help me be able to write on a more regular basis and not just when me and my boyfriend break up.
From someone who loves to write, i enjoy writing more through guidelines and a fixed assignment. I joined this class to help me expand my writing styles to escape from writing in a box to writing through my imagination and actually making sense. I was thinking about either majoring or minoring in english. However i am still undecided. Hopefully this class will help me make that decision.
I decided to take this class because I have anyways enjoyed to write. It has been my outlit for alot of things, such as stress. Although I am not confident in the things that I write. I thought that this course would help me to organize my thoughts and help gain ideas when I am stuck. Sure it is easy when I had a stressful day, or when someone gives me a topic and ALOT of time to think about it, but as far as coming up with my own ideas, and actually putting them on a paper to make sense is sometimes what I have trouble with. By taking this course I hope to gain more confidence in my writing and be able to express my thoughts more clearly and orderly.
i decided to take this class because as a english minor.... i wanted to focus my attention more on poetry.... i have been writing poems for quite some time and i got a few of them published.... i want to become a poet in the future and i feel that writing poetry helps me to express myself in a way that i otherwise cant......
My reasons for taking this course are simple. I am a writer, I enjoy writting and I always have. I also need to fulfill my Writing Intensive requirement to graduate. Two birds one stone.
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