Hey guys, for our blog post we had to write a memoir but instead of using what happened but using What if’s to see if we could find different endings to our story. Other types of this writing can be further explained in these:
My Memoir will be about a more positive time in my life. It was after the summer and I was heading up to college for my first time. I was so excited to be living alone for the first time that I ended up wanting to leave my hometown so badly that I asked to go up early. But what ended up on the car ride up was something that I haven’t really done in the past. I started to think about what if? What if I made the right choice of the day that I wanted to head up, what if something happened on my way up to one of the people helping me move? In the end I was happy when I was heading up, gave me free time to adjust to my new environment and helped me get the lay of the land so to speak. And despite my concerns, everyone had made it there on time and safely. What if something was wrong when we got there? Had I filled out all the forms correctly? Luckily for me, there was nothing wrong. I still remember my first reaction to the room, it smelled of old wood, but in a nice way, like a summer cabin that hasn’t been used for a year. And floor was dirty from years of use, but the room was great. My family helped me set up it to my liking and there weren’t any forms I had to fill out, so it was nice and easy for me to just settle in. What if I didn’t make the right choices about going to this college? Eventually I found out that I did make the wrong choice for me, but in the moment, it felt right. I was able make good friends with my roommate and we still have a strong bond to this day. I was able to meet a good group of friends and I am still their friend today. All in all, there are many possible endings to my story. It could have been the right choice for me, people could’ve gotten hurt and there could’ve been so much more than went wrong.
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Hey guys! This week we had to write about emotions and themes that we’re present in My Name is Margaret (Maya Angelou) and Hills Like White Elephants. The twist is that we had to come up with our own time in our lives where we felt connected to these themes in dialogue. Anyway hope you enjoy!
It was a Sunday afternoon, I was excited to head home after I had finished up finals and my mom was coming to pick me up from my apartment. Another three hour car ride to my house. Can’t say I was overly excited for that, but I couldn’t really complain. As I put my bags in the back seat of the car and I noticed something about my mom, she had almost a tear in her eyes, and her shoulders we’re a little hunched over. “Mom, What’s wrong?” I asked. “Pack your things up, I’ll tell you in the car” she responded. I was worried at this point, she hadn’t told me something was happening but at this point I was sure that there was some grave news. Some time had passed and we were well on the way home, there were trees passing by, covered with snow, and I could smell it on the air coming into the car. I felt the heat of the seat and the air hitting my face. “So what were you going to tell me mom?” I asked, with slight concern in my voice. “You know how your Grandma hasn’t been feeling well, well she passed away last week” she said. “Oh my god, why wasn’t I told earlier, when did this happen?” the questions came flying out of my mouth. “She passed away earlier this week, but we didn’t want to tell you because we wanted you to be focused on your tests” she replied. “Why would you think that? Mom, I don’t think that’s okay for you to do. She is my Grandma and you just don’t tell me when she passed away?” I said angrily. “Well honey we wanted you to do your best in school, and I’m sorry for not telling you earlier but I think that us not telling you was in your best interest.” she said. “I don’t think you should’ve kept this from me, even if you thought it was in my best interest, a death in the family is not something you keep from me. Please never ever do that again.” I said back quite irritated. “I’m sorry Daniel, next time I will tell you” she said with forgiveness in her voice. The rest of the car ride was a long silent ride home of my mixed emotions of being upset at my parents for not telling me what had happened and being sad about being the death of my Grandma Hey, welcome back to the blog! For this assignment we had to read these three pieces:
I walked into the library to start on the first draft of a writing assignment during the winter. I read the assignment as many times as I could but I was still stuck on what to write. This was a new experience for me. I normally don’t have trouble starting to write something, but the idea behind the prompt bothered me in some way. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to write and I didn’t even know what I wanted to even start with. After a little while a man came down to the same table as me as I was struggling. He eventually asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was struggling to start writing this assignment, I just didn’t know where to start. He said his favorite quote from any writer was “Writing is the act of making a first draft. It is the fastest part of the process, and is the most frightening”. I asked who had said that and he responded it was said by Don Murray. I then asked if there was another was something he said to help write if you have no idea what to even start with. The man simply responded saying that I should first start with prewriting. I simply asked what prewriting was, to which the man responded with “[it is] research and daydreaming, note-making and outlining, title-writing and lead-writing”. I asked who had said that then since he knew it off the top of his head and he said Don Murray again. I finally asked what tips he had on why I was having this sort of writer’s block. He simply responded with “This is not a question of correct or incorrect, of etiquette or custom. This is a matter of far higher importance. The writer, as he writes, is making ethical decisions. He doesn’t test his words by a rule book, but by life”. I finally asked how he knew so much on the writing process and he said that he should know of course, his name is Don Murray. Don Murray then left the table and I finally felt like I could start writing the piece because I didn’t have to make it perfect in the first place but just writing was the more important part of the process. After a little while another person sat down at the table and asked what I was writing. I told them what I was writing and how a man had helped me get past my writer's block, but I felt like there were still things I was missing. The women said to me “In the beginning, when there are zero pages, you have to cheer yourself into cranking stuff out, even if it later lands on the cutting room floor”. She said it was her favorite quote. I said I never really thought of writing when I was at zero words or pages. The idea of not having anything written down was always frightening to me. I asked how she knew so much about writing and she said her name was Mary Karr. I was excited because I knew who she was and I asked what was the most difficult part for her as a writer. Mary Karr said “For me, the last 20 percent of a book’s improvement takes 95 percent of the effort—all in the editing”. I found this interesting because to me, the hardest part of writing was always writing, I never gave much thought to the editing. I finally asked Mary what exactly I should do with my piece right now in the early stages of writing the piece. She said “ A writer can always go back to an earlier draft. The point is to have more curiosity about possible forms the work could take than sense of self-protection for your ego”. I thanked her for her help because I finally felt comfortable enough to start writing without anything inhibatting me. I decided that I would return tomorrow and keep writing my piece. The next day I went to same library since not only had I just met 2 famous writers but their help was amazing. I sat at the same table that I did the day before and began to write. After a little while a woman came up to me and asked what I was writing. I told her and then jokingly told her she must be a famous writer since I had already met 2 the previous day. She exclaimed that in fact she was! She was Anne Lamott. I said that I had never heard of her before but I was open to any advice that she could give me. She said “So I’d start writing without reining myself in. It was almost just typing, just making my fingers move. And the writing would be terrible.” I said that was weird, I never thought about writing just to write even if it was terrible writing. She then said, “ But because by then I had been writing for so long, I would eventually let myself trust the process—sort of, more or less. I’d write a first draft that was maybe twice as long as it should be, with a self-indulgent and boring beginning”. I responded with “So you were writing just to write and not to deal have anything that had the same resemblance of the actual piece you were trying to write?” She laughed, then said, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something— anything—down on paper”. She then said that was all she had time for unfortunately and that she had to leave the library. I thanked her again for her advice with the paper I was doing and she wished me the best of luck. I then went on to us all their advice to complete my assignment. |
Daniel Kamowski
This blog will be used to explore the messy processes of writing and to make meaning. ArchivesCategories |