the woes of non-fiction writing assignments.
I havent updated in forever! I guess i haven't had a lot of exciting things to record. My current frustration is writer's block. But not normal writer's block; i mean i can sit down and write a story or poem. but i have to write a 750-1000 word piece of non-fiction for my correspondence course. It was due on 3/7. i'm not graded or anything; i'm just prolonging getting published, and possibly aggrivating my instructor a bit. she said lots of nice things to me about my writing and character (MY personal character, not the person i created for my story... damn homonyms) in her last letter to me, and here i am late on my assignment. i've started so many things. i can write on anything i want to, and i don't even have to do any research. i even have a book of short non-fiction pieces. the problem is they put me to sleep. and i can read CS Lewis or Virginia Woolf's essays and things and be completely fascinated. but modern non-fiction just doesn't do a thing for me. and i need to write like i live in the 21st century in order to be taken seriously (as an american anyway) by anyone less nerdy than myself. Another problem i have is that i just feel like i'm writing out of obligation. i mean if i'm going to write quality non-fiction, i'm going to do research and cite references and write a lot more than 1000 words. And i'm trying to avoid cliches. for instance, all these pieces in the book are about a grandmother or child or important person who made an impact on the writer. So that's out. And i do NOT want to write about writing! i'm sure most writing students do that, and i do not want to be one of them. journaling about writing is good because that's how i learn about myself as a writer. but i'm not going to turn in the entries. unless i'm submitting something to one of those journals for writers, or something like that. i write in order to escape from the real world. i don't want to write about the real world. i want to make up the stories and the people and the places, not write about reality. i guess if i had more experiences to write about, i'd draw on thse and pick one to be my subject... but there really is not anything that i find interesting enough. or that i really want to write about. or that i could fit into a 1000-word document. I've started so many pieces. i'll write a few sentences and quit, turn the page and write a few sentences about something else, then scratch all that out.... i even wrote 3 paragraphs on quentin tarantino's movies. Then i realized it was entirely too technical and would not be enjoyable to read, even to me!
with fiction, i have something in mind when i begin, and then i just let it unfold however it will, and usually end up with something very different--yet much better--than i had envisioned to begin with. with non-fiction it all has to be planned out ahead of time. there's no freedom. not that you can't stretch the truth here and there, but you already know how it ends. there's no adventure!
Am i just making excuses for being lazy? i don't think so. i think i just really have a mental block when it comes to this assignment. i mean i can write a kick-ass research paper, but that's not what this is. this is like an essay or glorified journal entry. and really, what's the point of that? hardly anybody even reads this journal, so why would i want to try and have something like it published?? and i don't want it to be as formal as a 5-paragraph paper with a 3-part thesis, which i also have been known to do very well on.
writing from my own life would have to include some very christian themes. and i just don't want to go there at this point. i mean, i really want to share that with others through my writing, but in the proper context. when i've established myself as a freelance writer (i.e. one who makes a living solely from selling her work) i'll have more freedom; but at this point, i know my instructor will reply and say, you want to reach a very broad audience, so try not to say too much about this. or something like that. i don't know. anyway, i was thinking dreams might be a good topic. i have vivid, symbolic dreams almost every night. if i could paint, i could make a killing off recreating the images in my dreams. i don't think those colors even exist in real life.
___________________________________
Today is St. Pat's which makes me miss home terribly. One thing Savannah is known for is its Irish heritage and St. Pats party. I used to think all schools had a holiday on 3/17! Savannah has something like the 2nd-biggest party in the US on St. Pat's. It's ridiculous, really. There are several fountains downtown, and they all get dyed green sometime around the first of march in preparation for the big day. Green beer and lime jello shooters are served everywhere. the entire historic district is blocked off for the huge parade. you have to buy a ticket to get on river street! and nashville pretends to have some sort of st. pat's day vibe. i don't think i've even met an irish person in TN. (I mean, like somebody who has come from Ireland to Tennessee, with an accent and all.)
_________________________________
My brother has a friend who is a contractor, and they went to look at the beach house on Monday. He has some great ideas for the house, and only wants $15,000!! So that's a happy thought. I'm hoping they will stop dilly dallying and start on it soon so that i can move before July. That's my goal. I just have to make it their goal.
We'll see what God does.
with fiction, i have something in mind when i begin, and then i just let it unfold however it will, and usually end up with something very different--yet much better--than i had envisioned to begin with. with non-fiction it all has to be planned out ahead of time. there's no freedom. not that you can't stretch the truth here and there, but you already know how it ends. there's no adventure!
Am i just making excuses for being lazy? i don't think so. i think i just really have a mental block when it comes to this assignment. i mean i can write a kick-ass research paper, but that's not what this is. this is like an essay or glorified journal entry. and really, what's the point of that? hardly anybody even reads this journal, so why would i want to try and have something like it published?? and i don't want it to be as formal as a 5-paragraph paper with a 3-part thesis, which i also have been known to do very well on.
writing from my own life would have to include some very christian themes. and i just don't want to go there at this point. i mean, i really want to share that with others through my writing, but in the proper context. when i've established myself as a freelance writer (i.e. one who makes a living solely from selling her work) i'll have more freedom; but at this point, i know my instructor will reply and say, you want to reach a very broad audience, so try not to say too much about this. or something like that. i don't know. anyway, i was thinking dreams might be a good topic. i have vivid, symbolic dreams almost every night. if i could paint, i could make a killing off recreating the images in my dreams. i don't think those colors even exist in real life.
___________________________________
Today is St. Pat's which makes me miss home terribly. One thing Savannah is known for is its Irish heritage and St. Pats party. I used to think all schools had a holiday on 3/17! Savannah has something like the 2nd-biggest party in the US on St. Pat's. It's ridiculous, really. There are several fountains downtown, and they all get dyed green sometime around the first of march in preparation for the big day. Green beer and lime jello shooters are served everywhere. the entire historic district is blocked off for the huge parade. you have to buy a ticket to get on river street! and nashville pretends to have some sort of st. pat's day vibe. i don't think i've even met an irish person in TN. (I mean, like somebody who has come from Ireland to Tennessee, with an accent and all.)
_________________________________
My brother has a friend who is a contractor, and they went to look at the beach house on Monday. He has some great ideas for the house, and only wants $15,000!! So that's a happy thought. I'm hoping they will stop dilly dallying and start on it soon so that i can move before July. That's my goal. I just have to make it their goal.
We'll see what God does.