Throughout the past semester you have been discussing the process of composing and your identity as a composer. For this last (!) blog post, I want you to discuss who you believe you are as a writer, composer and/or an editor (note the "and" so you can be all three and not just one or the other). To do this I want you to have a little fun, so I'm not looking for you to do a traditional 500 word response. What I want is you to think about how you could represent the characteristics that define you as a writer/composer/editor that you have developed and honed this semester (and those that you came in with).
Some suggestions for ways to create this:
*A job wanted ad or a personal
*A persona poem
*Through a series of images
*an obit
*a short short (short fiction piece)
The options are open. You can respond back to this post OR you can create a new post.
This should be as long as it needs to be to get your point across. I should see elements of you----so I should be able to get a sense of who wrote what without even looking at the author's name.
And remember: have fun with this---it's your last one for this class.
Heck yes!! ;-)
Due: Monday, April 18, 2011.
Taking a Ride
ReplyDeleteSitting down to write to me has always been
Like taking my mind out for a ride, just around
The old neighborhoods of my mind, my life
See what I run into
The ride always takes me past the places where
I crafted my voice and found my perspective
the radio in my mind plays back a melody
of high notes and low notes
the ride takes me back through the suburbs
where I grew up, and I can see my mom, and her smile
and I can see my dad, staying on top of me
“keep your eyes on the prize”, I hear that echo
The ride takes me through stretches where the road gets dark
I can remember the feeling of being lost,
But even on those dark roads, the ride gives a light
Because I remember why I still roam
Because writing is chasing the dream, my attempt at success
And everything I pass along the ride through my mind comes along
Because it’s all a part of me, and every part of me is a part of the product
Everything I’ve learned
I wouldn’t want it to be any other way, because I’m proud to carry along
Those friends, family, and my hometown with me
They inform all that I am and hope to be
Kind, and wise, but strong enough to carry the people I love, even when things get hard,
As Grandpa Jerry used to say, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”
My ride takes me back through my education,
And the teachers I had that nourished that restlessness within me
And helped me learn how to turn it into something worthwhile
I would get lost on the ride without them
Of course, sometimes I still find myself in unfamiliar surroundings
Writing never stops winding along the road, so sometimes you just gotta
Keep following that road until you find what it is youre looking for,
Whether it be the perfect words, or a new way to say something we’ve said for centuries
One way or another though, I find my way out on the road,
And something will catch my eye, and the engine of the mind engages
And I’m off again, writing, chasing that dream,
Carrying along the experiences that shaped my essence
And carrying along the people who opened my eyes, helped me see
I see it all in the rearview mirrors, feel it all in the wind whipping in my ear,
Everytime I take a ride.
http://smb09e.glogster.com/false-5171/
ReplyDeleteI’ve been scribbling since I can remember, always writing
ReplyDeleteStories, and logging my thoughts. As I grew older, I lost
Time for the freeplay of my imagination: stories turned
Into time spent trying to memorize for tests. Even so,
I never lost the passion for communicating through my
Words and opinions. I have learned a few essential
Truths about myself along the way, through hours
Of focus on my inner composer in Writing, Editing
In Print and Online. I feel as if I’ve got a little of that
Free reign of creativity back. I’ve learned that I like to
Explore with writing no matter the form, manipulating
The style, the voice, the tone depending on my audience.
I especially like reworking, taking a piece and revising,
Making it better than ever. This is probably because I’m
A perfectionist. But I’ve Learned that I’m not perfect,
No matter the number of drafts. I know that my style
Is simple and clean, yet I hate shying away from color.
Life without it seems Dull. My process is continually
Evolving, and I take With me the good and bad
Of each assignment I have created. Honestly, I
Am messy, unorganized and a little chaotic in the
Beginnings of my thought process, but everything
Seems to come together like the pieces of a puzzle.
Usually, I write, rewrite rearrange, read, re-read and
Revise and reflect, of course. If I have to indulge in
Distractions to focus, I do. Because that’s how it gets
Done in my method. I like to receive constructive criticism
And respond with my own: The exchange of ideas and values
Is such an enormous opportunity for expanding my own ideas.
I am upbeat, I am so picky, I am most comfortable when I am
Conversational and not too formal. I like looking back and then
Moving forward. I will always have my opinions, I take my sweet
Time. I am learning to trust my own capability. I have never been
More sure of where I am headed as a composer, yet the end of the
Road is still vague. But I’m welcoming the challenges because every
New piece I create Makes me a little more sure of my identity. Like
Whitman said, we all contain multitudes, and my complexities------
Happy, frustrated, passionate, calm are always representative of ME.☺
Before I posted, this was in the shape of a K but I couldn’t figure out to keep the format on here oops
http://sld09.glogster.com/false-1403/
ReplyDeleteFor this final blog post I want to just describe who I am as a writer and what I hope to be some day. There is nothing I have ever wanted to do more in my life than somehow been involved in the world of sports. Due to the fact of my extreme lack of natural athletic ability or talent my interest has shifted over to the media aspect of it as I have gotten older. I want to be a featured columnist in a major sports city such as Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, etc. I want to be that column that everyone reads to get their information from, whether that is online or in print form. If at all possible I would also like to venture into sports talk radio or podcasting so I can have a more interactive form of composing. But most importantly is who I want to be as a composer and sports writer. More than anything I want to write from the perspective of a fan. Too many writers have become too buddy buddy with players and because of that it makes it harder for them to write an objective story about that person. What I have always wanted is my columns to be as realistic and close to what real fans say as possible. I want my podcasts or radio show to be similar to just a few friends talking about sports. I just want to say what fans would say if they had a national column. The most important thing to me is that I keep that in mind throughout my career and stick with it no matter where it takes me. Whether that’s a high paying job at ESPN or just as a local beat writer in Boise, I want to always remain the same. I want to live or die with my style of writing.
ReplyDeleteTo let you better understand the kind of writer I want to be I have attached the following links below.
The first one is the ESPN website of featured columnist Bill Simmons. He is exactly the kind of writer I have described that I want to be. You cannot understand my writing until you read his columns and listen to his podcasts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index
The next one is a link to an article I wrote about the FSU basketball team earlier in the season. I try to keep my article informative as my editors asked of me while still being able to criticize and speculate like a fan.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/557048-seminoles-fall-to-butler-in-semifinals-of-diamondhead-classic
Coming to college I had no idea what I wanted to even major in, let alone what I wanted to do with my life. My English classes had always been my favorite and that didn’t stop here at FSU. The decision to make creative writing my major was one that I was not sure about, but couldn’t be more sure of anything now. I constantly walk out of my English classes with a sense of belonging and actual learning. I know that is what I am supposed to feel like with all of my classes, but sadly that is not always the case. I feel as if I am learning through not only the professors but the students as well. They have the same desire that I do to learn and be taught. This is who I am as a composer, I am ever learning and ever changing. Whatever I can learn from someone or a class, I do. I enjoy picking apart literature and learning how to make a short story with a yearning main character. There are so many components to a story that I couldn’t even fathom before learning about it in my fiction classes. I fell that as a composer I attempt to soak up all the knowledge I receive and make it my own without doing something expected or cliché. Many times I can sit down at my computer and have a tiny outline for what I am about to write and just let my mind vent as I type. It sounds reckless and unorganized, but it actually works for me. I often times come up with things that I never would have just brainstorming silently to myself. Composing is a part of me. I do it sometimes without even thinking about it. Movies have not been the same since learning how to write dialogue. I sit there and just think about how hard it is to write a convincing conversation. Everything about me has changed because of English.
ReplyDeleteMy fingers fly faster than a humming bird’s wings
ReplyDeleteWords flow from my mind like water from a spring
My mind is a haven for lyrical insanity
A little bit of genius and a lot more profanity
Fuck, I can’t commit to a single form of sickness
I cough out poetry, and throw up lyrics
Never have before, and never will again
Never live alone with just a pad and a pen
Cause eating is a break and a break is a sin
Hell is just another world for blue lines, blank pages
The heart forms a beat, but my feet keep the time
Smoke slowly kills me but, I’m fast with my rhymes
I’m hip with the right beat, stir with the wrong crowd
Punch when I’m in a seat, sleep when its very loud
Book full of notes and a pen full of ink
You can call me the captain cause my ship don’t sink.
I’m a writer in the flesh and a rapper in the soul
I’m an angel with a flaw, and a devil with a soul
I’m a rhyme with no rhythm, and a story without plot
I’m a spectre in the day and a light in the night.