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April 29, 2007
What to say?
My mentor says that he is both in love and in hate with writing. At the time, I thought that was a very clever cadence. But trying to finish up my second year in the program, and making sure that all unfinished work is completed, has taught me exactly why his words ring so true. Writing is difficult. I know that most of us work under a deadline, try as we might to manage our time better. I know that the more writing we do, the easier it is for us when we operate under the stress of the aforementioned deadline. But writing takes time. And sometimes (most of the time) there will be an interruption that makes your head spin like Linda Blair in The Exorcist (the first one, of course), makes you snarl at the people you otherwise love to spend time with, and makes you just plain ole mean. For me, that’s the hate part.
The love part is simple; writing gives us the opportunity to find our place within the conversations we’ve worked so hard to become a part of and it allows us to be heard in venues that would otherwise be unavailable to us. Writing makes us think and fight against ourselves because we know there is always a better way to express our thoughts. But perhaps the best thing about writing is the feeling we get when we know we have created something meaningful, something that readers and other writers will appreciate. It is a massive undertaking, but for me it is worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears. Love and hate will each have their turn in my thoughts and my writing process, but I'm certain that the end results will prove how they nurture one another.
My students smile at me when I give them a rubric that includes 10 points just for writing their essays. I'm sure they think I’m soft, or that I throw that part of the grade in because I can't think of anything else to grade them on. Wrong. Because what I know that they haven’t figured out just yet is that no matter what your level of expertise, academic position, or educational pedigree, we all have moments when we stare at a blank screen (sometimes for hours) trying to think of something profound (or at least interesting) to say. We all wish that we could have more time, and we all love the idea of a finished product despite the way we wrestle with the process. I just smile back. Because I know what’s ahead, and because at the end of the day they will be happy to know that the process they underwent was just as important as the product.
Posted by dvaldesd at April 29, 2007 04:15 PM
Comments
I myself love and hate writing. I hate it in way that I sometimes force myself to think. But I love it that it makes me think. It exercises my brain.
In writing, we are able to express what is in our minds that we cannot actually express verbally. There are also topics that we cannot really open in casual conversations unless you are invited as a speaker in a symposium and the likes. So pouring down our ideas and publishing it (maybe in blogs) just makes us feel better.
One thing I love about writing as well is that it improves my communication skills. When you write, you are able to review and correct your words and improve your piece.
Posted by: improve communication at May 16, 2007 01:38 PM