Self-Directed Writing Project Proposal

My goal after completing my English degree with a writing concentration is to write novels. I have been unable to start on any major projects on my own because of all the writing I have to do for school.  I want to take this self-directed writing project as a chance to start a big project. Even if it doesn’t turn into anything, it will help me practice the discipline of working on my writing on a regular basis, whether I necessarily feel like it or not. My proposal is that I will start and work on a larger work of fiction over the course of this class, writing at least 10 pages a week. 

Response to Chapters 1-3 of A Writer Teaches Writing, by Donald Murray

In Chapter 1 of A Writer Teaches Writing, Murray talks about how teaching writing must include research, practice, inquiry, the study of history, and new technology (pg. 1). I thought this was a very good point. It completely disqualifies the saying “those who can’t do, teach,” which I think unfortunately has been the ideology of many teachers in the past several years. According to Murray, teaching writing should be enjoyable, successful, and not scary. I think my favorite quote in this chapter, possibly all three, is this: “The teaching of writing, like writing itself, is always experimental. Failure comes with the territory; failure is something to be expected, experienced, shared, laughed at, and used” (pg. 2). I think this is very important for any writing teacher to know, but also for teachers to express to their students. I don’t think any writing can be bad if it truly expresses the emotions, thoughts, and experience of the writer. The structure, style, and format may need work, but the heart of the writing is good if it is true expression. However, I think the fear of failure can prevent students from expressing themselves truly in writing. I think it is important for teachers to let their students know that failing and trying again, failing and editing and trying again is part of learning to write, and in fact part of writing itself.

            I loved the idea behind chapter two, that writing is all about discovery- that we write to discover what we think. It tied in well with what was said in chapter one, that writing is a thinking process. Many times the writer doesn’t even know where the paper is going to go. I think this is important for students to know. It is okay if they don’t know exactly what they are going to say or what direction the writing will take when they begin writing. This is why we do outlines and first drafts and second drafts and so on. With each one we figure out and refine what we are thinking and trying to say. Writing really is a process, and in my opinion, a never-ending one. I also love the idea that writing is not easy and shouldn’t be made to be easy. Teachers should not teach students short cuts to writing. Writing is about struggling to express, learn, communicate. Writing is about always searching for new ways to express what you are thinking. Writing isn’t easy because it shouldn’t be. I also like the writing process laid out in chapter two: Collect, plan, develop. I think a misunderstanding can arise here. There are projects you go out and intentionally collect information for, but even more important than that is the idea that as writers, we are constantly collecting information, ideas, and evidence for writing. This process is not only to be done for specific papers, but a continuous process that a writer participates in daily. Something I found interesting about the plan portion of the process is that many of the things I consider writing, Murray considered planning. I do see his point. We do so much plan writing that may never make it into the final piece, but it shaped the outcome of the final piece. This plan writing is just as important as the actual writing of the final draft. Something I learned in chapter two: leads! My writing teacher in high school called this a hook, but a lead encompasses so much more. I had never thought of it as a first draft. I do not spend nearly enough time developing a good lead, and I think that is why my writing can sometimes lose focus. This is something I will work on.

            In chapter three, I liked that he pointed out why it is important for teachers to write, so that they can realize the difficulty of the process. Teachers who don’t write will have unreasonably high expectations, because they are not used to the struggle of writing. I also like the idea that writing is an act of faith. In my own creative writing, nothing can kill a story faster than the lack of faith that what will be left on the page in the end will be what was in my mind, what I expected and hoped it to be. This is why the writing process is so important. It is the collecting and planning that give a writer the faith to write, and prepare them to back that faith up with the finished result.