This week we each read three chapters from the book “Letters to a Young Writer” in the library. Here are some of the notes that I took on mine:
Letter to a young writer notes :
This section seemed to be mostly direct tope to young writers. Tips= “do the things that do not compute, be earnest, be devoted, read aloud. Risk yourself. Do not be afraid of sentiment even when others call it sentimentality. Be ready to get ripped to pieces. Fail. take pause, accept the rejections. Find a reader you trust. Don’t read water, it is possible to live that way but not write. Have stamina. Have courage, have perseverance, trust your blue pencil, but do not forget the red one. “So this, then, is a word, not without love and respect, to a young writer: write.”
Punctuation: It’s not just a throwaway thing (Comma) Notes:
- Punctuation matters, in some cases it is the life or death of a sentence
- Don’t overuse the semicolon, parenthesis in fiction draw too much attention to themselves.
- A sentence can be over-examined. Good grammar can slow a sentence down. The perfect run along words can sound so stiff, sometimes you have to make a mistake on purpose.
- “Writers feel the grammar rather than knowing it. This comes with good reading. If you read enough, the grammar will come.”
Take a Break Notes:
- Says to take a break from writing.
- Learn how to like writing again, let yourself miss it for a week or so, the blank page is not going anywhere.
- Personally I feel like this is a really valuable thing for writers to do, especially for writers experiencing writers block. Taking a break can mentally be the best thing to do.
The Bus Theory Notes:
- “You wake up in the morning , get to workspace concentrate & create, at the end of the work day, you walk out into the world. The bus misses you by inches, less than inches, when you are distracted abd walk to the curb after your work.
- This is connected to how not only life, but your novel, poem, book, story ETC.. can pass before your eyes. “Theory of purpose”=”the bus theory”
- It proves value to your struggle, gets you out of bed in the morning, lets you know your work matters and the story needs to be told.
- “Death is an opinion, at least for now”
- This section was rather confusing to me, but I think what the author is trying to get at is to value your work and realize that time can fly by.
After sharing our read sections with the class, I think a clear theme is to not overthink writing because it is a privilege, but know how to go about it when you are struggling.
In addition to this, this week we are continuing to work on our final projects. I am getting through mine slowly, it is hard to find time to just sit down and work. However, last weekend I found my three book sources and my 2 scholarly sources, and started the presentation. I’m hoping that after this Chem test I take next Monday before Thanksgiving break, I can have way more time devoted to working on this project. I also really want to try the one button studio recording, but I have no idea how to work a flash drive, nor do I have one. I’ll have to look into it however, because I want those extra 15 points on my final.
