Want some cheese to go with that whine?
Before you read this, go look at the first paragraph of Kirk's latest blog. What? Too lazy to click that link? Okay, I'll quote it here:
Kirk (and he's surely not the only one) is apparently bothered by this "ludicrous" notion that writing should have a topic. As a writing teacher, that brings a bitter smile to my lips. And a flame of anger flares in my old black heart. Why? Imagine me, sitting in my office at home on a Monday night, dutifully reading each blog posted by everyone in the honors English class. My eyes, bloodshot and bulging, are pulsating, as is my harried brain. I am now reading the 12th entry this week that begins with something like this: Well, I guess I have to do my blog and I don't have anything really interesting to say, so I guess I'll just tell you what I did this weekend.... There are a couple problems with this that I feel justified in pointing out: 1) You don't have to do anything unless you want the honors English credit...and as I've said before, this is the easiest way to get it that I've ever seen. 2) If you don't have anything interesting to say then you need to either not say anything, or create something interesting out of the dullness that apparently is your life. It's a simple policy: Good writing has a point. That doesn't mean you can't discuss what you did over the weekend, but you must do so in order to prove something or illustrate a point about something.
Kirk says (and others surely would too), "I actually liked rambling on about my week...." But guess what: I didn't like reading about it, especially when I'd read about 10 such entries, and it was clear from the tone of all of them that the writing was just a chore, something they wouldn't choose to do in a million years, something that took them away from their otherwise busy and worthwhile schedules. Your voices were clear: This silly writing! What a waste of time! But here's what you need to understand: To any other person, the mere events of your daily life are boring. A journal that reports only such events is cripplingly dull. The reason Anne Frank's diary has commanded the attention of so many is not only because she reported what happened to her while hiding from the Nazis, but because she reflected on the greater meanings of it all. She didn't just report; she arrived at conclusions. And that's what I want you to do in your blogs because that is what you will have to do in your lives beyond school. Writing of this sort is like practice for life, so ask yourself what sort of person you want to be in your life. Do you want to be the arrogant blowhard that thinks everyone in the room wants to hear about the merest details of his life, what he had for breakfast, what flavor toothpaste he uses? Or would you rather be a mover and a shaker, someone who tells stories that change people's opinions and make them find meaning in their own lives? (I hope everyone chooses the latter.) The moral: Write the way you want to be! Project the voice you want others to remember you by. Make a difference.
"...my blogs happened to be fairfly humorous," says Kirk. It has been said that humor is the hardest thing to write. The reason for this is because in order for something to be funny it requires a set up (some exposition), a conflict, and a punch line that includes a surprising or ironic twist. Writing funny things requires more than just reporting something funny that happened to you. It's like when you try to describe such a situation to others and you end up saying, "I guess you had to be there" because no one else seems to think it's as funny as you think it is. In writing, you don't always see the looks on the readers' faces. You don't know for sure if you are presenting the ideas in such a way that the humor comes across. So, my warning on this is more of a question: "When it comes to writing funny things, are you sure you're not the only one laughing?"
"...my blogs are going to extremely boring and dozy." Now there's a powerful opening! If you begin by saying how boring something is about to be, it probably will be. I know that statements like this are as much a defense mechanism (you criticize yourself before anyone else has the chance) as they are a warning, but good writing exudes confidence. Plow ahead! Make your statements! Don't be shy!
So to Kirk and all the other whiners: I don't care what you write as long as it is engaging to read, and the only way that can happen is if it has a point, a thesis, a central idea to bind all your illustrations together. You are more than welcome to continue your journalizing and reporting of events in your life, but at least 500 words a week has to have a such a point.
Here endeth the sermon.
*
First before I start a blog with a "topic" I would like to say how
completely ludicrous this whole having to have a topic thing is. I actually liked rambling on about my week, and if you knew me you would know that I would like it. And that my blogs happened to be fairly humorous. But now to spite you all who agree with this "topic" madness, my blogs are going to be extremely boring and dozy. (but then again if you knew me you would also know that the boring thing probably won't last,) anyway, on to my blog.
Kirk (and he's surely not the only one) is apparently bothered by this "ludicrous" notion that writing should have a topic. As a writing teacher, that brings a bitter smile to my lips. And a flame of anger flares in my old black heart. Why? Imagine me, sitting in my office at home on a Monday night, dutifully reading each blog posted by everyone in the honors English class. My eyes, bloodshot and bulging, are pulsating, as is my harried brain. I am now reading the 12th entry this week that begins with something like this: Well, I guess I have to do my blog and I don't have anything really interesting to say, so I guess I'll just tell you what I did this weekend.... There are a couple problems with this that I feel justified in pointing out: 1) You don't have to do anything unless you want the honors English credit...and as I've said before, this is the easiest way to get it that I've ever seen. 2) If you don't have anything interesting to say then you need to either not say anything, or create something interesting out of the dullness that apparently is your life. It's a simple policy: Good writing has a point. That doesn't mean you can't discuss what you did over the weekend, but you must do so in order to prove something or illustrate a point about something.
Kirk says (and others surely would too), "I actually liked rambling on about my week...." But guess what: I didn't like reading about it, especially when I'd read about 10 such entries, and it was clear from the tone of all of them that the writing was just a chore, something they wouldn't choose to do in a million years, something that took them away from their otherwise busy and worthwhile schedules. Your voices were clear: This silly writing! What a waste of time! But here's what you need to understand: To any other person, the mere events of your daily life are boring. A journal that reports only such events is cripplingly dull. The reason Anne Frank's diary has commanded the attention of so many is not only because she reported what happened to her while hiding from the Nazis, but because she reflected on the greater meanings of it all. She didn't just report; she arrived at conclusions. And that's what I want you to do in your blogs because that is what you will have to do in your lives beyond school. Writing of this sort is like practice for life, so ask yourself what sort of person you want to be in your life. Do you want to be the arrogant blowhard that thinks everyone in the room wants to hear about the merest details of his life, what he had for breakfast, what flavor toothpaste he uses? Or would you rather be a mover and a shaker, someone who tells stories that change people's opinions and make them find meaning in their own lives? (I hope everyone chooses the latter.) The moral: Write the way you want to be! Project the voice you want others to remember you by. Make a difference.
"...my blogs happened to be fairfly humorous," says Kirk. It has been said that humor is the hardest thing to write. The reason for this is because in order for something to be funny it requires a set up (some exposition), a conflict, and a punch line that includes a surprising or ironic twist. Writing funny things requires more than just reporting something funny that happened to you. It's like when you try to describe such a situation to others and you end up saying, "I guess you had to be there" because no one else seems to think it's as funny as you think it is. In writing, you don't always see the looks on the readers' faces. You don't know for sure if you are presenting the ideas in such a way that the humor comes across. So, my warning on this is more of a question: "When it comes to writing funny things, are you sure you're not the only one laughing?"
"...my blogs are going to extremely boring and dozy." Now there's a powerful opening! If you begin by saying how boring something is about to be, it probably will be. I know that statements like this are as much a defense mechanism (you criticize yourself before anyone else has the chance) as they are a warning, but good writing exudes confidence. Plow ahead! Make your statements! Don't be shy!
So to Kirk and all the other whiners: I don't care what you write as long as it is engaging to read, and the only way that can happen is if it has a point, a thesis, a central idea to bind all your illustrations together. You are more than welcome to continue your journalizing and reporting of events in your life, but at least 500 words a week has to have a such a point.
Here endeth the sermon.
*
posted by MRT at 6:58 AM
3 Comments:
How right can you be Mr. Thompson? I go through everyones blog sometime in the week to see if it is something I want to read, and when it is just about their boring weekend or their week, I immediatley switch to the next blog without giving that persons blog a backwards glance. I've found that doing blogs with topics can actually be quite fun. I love to write and it is a lot easier (to me) when I have to come up with a topic to write about, instead of just writing about my boring life.
How right can you be Mr. Thompson? I go through everyones blog sometime in the week to see if it is something I want to read, and when it is just about their boring weekend or their week, I immediatley switch to the next blog without giving that persons blog a backwards glance. I've found that doing blogs with topics can actually be quite fun. I love to write and it is a lot easier (to me) when I have to come up with a topic to write about, instead of just writing about my boring life.
I didn't mean to do that twice. I don't know how to get one of them off either, sorry!
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