For
this blog, I am supposed to write about what sorts of successful pre-writing I
have done in my past. To say that I
enjoy writing would be far from the truth, I detest it. I would rather give a speech, do algebra or
learn a foreign language. But
truthfully, I am not good at those subjects either.
While in elementary school, we had
to keep a journal in my 6th grade language arts class. Every day, the teacher gave us 5-10 minutes of free writing. My sister found my journal at my mom’s house
about 2 years ago and asked if I wanted it back. She laughed as she told me that she looked it
over with my mom. It consisted of an
entire school year of different variations of the same theme. “I do not know what to write.” “Why do we have to write in our journal every
day?” And my favorite, “…Three more
minutes left.” all the way down to “…One
more minute left…” I told her to throw it away.
When I was in high school, my
freshman English teacher told me that I was doing well in her class. That was impressive coming from her. She was also in charge of the Drama
Club. She said that if I continued to do
well, she would move me up to her AP English class.
I ended up with a “D” grade in the class. My junior year, my English teacher approached
me asking about my first paper that was overdue. I told him, “I don’t ‘do’ papers.” I got a “D” in his class as well.
When I got to college, I did not
fare any better. This is my third time
taking English 101. The first two times
where in the early 1990’s right after high school. I got “W” for those. “W” stands for “Withdrawal”. I dropped those classes. I could not stomach taking those classes. Because if my past (non)performance in
English in high school, I was nowhere near prepared to take it in college.
So, here we are over 20 years later
and I hope that this is the last time I have to take this class. For me “pre-writing” consists of at least 3
P’s…Ponder, procrastinate, and puke.
First, I ponder about what I should write. Then, I procrastinate about when I should
write. And finally, I puke because the
deadline came and went and I didn’t write at all.
So you ask me, “What sorts of
pre-writing you have used successfully in the past?” Well, I can honestly tell you, “None.” Null.
Nada.
I love your honesty, writing can be most difficult, but just being able to post a "blog" is heading in the "write" direction, keep on keeping on!!
ReplyDeleteI dunno, Jane... This is actually better writing than half of my English class could manage last school year! Your writing is better than you've convinced yourself it is. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess I don't like the pressure of writing assignments. I like to think of writing as a written conversation. I think of a writer as being an artist who likes to create freely when inspiration flows. I can dream up wonderful works of art in my head. Once you start forcing the work by trying to make a job out of it, the fun and creativity are taken away.
ReplyDelete