But Writing is Different

To say you are a football, soccer, or basketball paper, people automatically assume that you must be pretty darn good at it if you gave yourself that title. If you say you’re a businessman or doctor, you probably went through rigorous schooling and live up to that title as your career. But writing is different. Writing is a necessity of life in today’s day and age, just as listening, reading, and speaking are. I write a list of five things I did each day before bed. I text my friends, I email my family, and I write notes on the whiteboard in my dorm to my roommates. In class I write notes to remember what I learned and then later write papers on those same notes. I think of writing as a more permanent form of thinking. It’s like a timeless thought that doesn’t get forgotten unless the note was thrown away, the text was deleted or the journal got burned. If nothing else writing is a form of communication, and we all must communicate in order to survive.

Journal #1

I do consider myself a writer because writing is part of my everyday life. Whether that writing is for a class, a poem I was inspired to write or a status update on Facebook, I write all the time. I write not only for a grade but also for leisure. Some writing assignments are fun and are required for a class and other I just write for fun. I love when an assignment can be a personal informal essay because that’s when I have the most fun with my writing. I have a very sarcastic but amusing tone to most of my personal informal papers that I love writing in. I have to be in the mood to write for leisure but I write amateur poems. I’m not creative enough to write short stories but on occasion can muster up enough creativity to write a poem or two. I hope that this class with help me to become more comfortable and find more fun in more formal writing.
-Jennifer Isbell

In certain ways...

I consider myself a writer in certain ways. I write on my friends facebook walls throughout the day, but does that make me a writer? I do think about what I am going to say... I don't write random jiberish on their walls. Usually I am trying to delay a message or talk about the latest weekend activities. So therefore it has a point to it. In that way I am a writer, but I am not a person who likes writing stories and creating poems in their free time. I am not creative in that manner and even if I was to try and write a story I would probably fall asleep while doing it. My poems always seem to be something that would come out of a Dr.Seuss book because they all ryme even though a lot of poems aren't supposed to. I even have tried writting in a diary, but that failed misrably. So all and all I write for leisure and for class. I also write because I will get graded on it. Sometimes I wish that we could create our own writting assignments, but that is just wishful thinking. In this class I want to be interested in the topics we are covering. Last year in my class all we did was take notes and talk about different essays. I wasn't interested and that made it hard to sit through that class the entire year. So in the end I am a writer in certain ways.

Journal # 1 (Haley Smola)

I consider myself a writer, because without writing I would be lost. Although some people love to write and some people hate it, all people must do it in order to survive and live in an average society. I consider myself a writer because I like to remember. I write journals, I write lists of what I need to do, I write stories, I write poems, I write convincing essays, I write about what i think is important. Without being able to do all of this I don't know how I would conduct a normal life. I am a writer because writing keeps me sane and reminds me who I am and who I want to be. I write for all different reasons. I write for a grade so I can learn and grow and succeed. I write leisurely to calm myself or express myself. But most importantly I write to communicate. I believe communication is one of the most important parts of life. I write to communicate to adults, peers, pals and myself. With all of this in mind, what I'm hoping to accomplish in this class is a better sense of how to write well. I want to learn skills and steps of how to improve what I write, because although writing is important to me, it isn't my strongest point. I hope to learn how to communicate as well as I can as a writer and learn to appreciate writing more than I ever have before.

Journal 1

Do you consider yourself a writer? Why or why not? In addition, why do you write—is it for a grade, leisure, communication, work, etc.? What are you hoping to accomplish in this class?

Due: Thursday, September 2

Welcome!

This is our class blog, where I hope you'll enjoy reflecting on issues that matter to you and our class. I look forward to reading what you have to share.

Leigh