How to Become a Writer… Is There a Right Way?

Moore’s article is very humorous. I think that the idea of an “insane writer” is a little bit cliche. A lot of famous writers claim to be insane or act insane. I think her article is a misconception among writers. So many writers think that there is one specific way to tell a story or write a plot. But in reality, there are endless ways to do this and no set “right” way.

Many people stereotype me as blonde because because I have blonde hair and sometimes I say things that don’t make sense or I ask stupid and obvious questions. I’m also stereotyped as a typical white girl because I love Starbucks, monograms, and leggings.

A plot is the events that happen to make up a story. I think that it is necessary to have some type of plot in your story. Without one, most likely, your story will be hard to follow and not make sense. I also think that a “5 paragraph essay” can cause problems. It’s hard, sometimes, to fit all you want to say into a pre-determined space. Or sometimes you have less to say. I think you should have as many or as few paragraphs as you want in your essay as long as you get your point across clearly.

I haven’t read very many essays in my life time so I can’t really point out any that are memorable. What I can say is that the essay I had to read for this journal will be memorable for me. The author used humor to make fun of the fact that she did not write like most people. Yet she got her point across and wrote great stories. The speaker of the story related to her, therefore, the story was more relatable to the reader.

Dear Group Mates,

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a sucky writer. Many problems occur when I write. I’m alway worried that I am repeating a word or phrase to many times in one essay. I have a hard time coming up with new and interesting ways to say the same thing different ways that won’t bore the reader. I also have issues with staying on topic. Lots of times, I’ll be writing away, and when I look over what I typed, I realize it has nothing at all to do with the original prompt or topic.

My writing sucks and I need help. So that’s where you come in. When someone is looking over my paper I mostly want negative feedback. I like some positive feedback, but I really just want to know what doesn’t work in my paper. Tell me anything that confuses you. Do I need to describe something better? Does something not make sense? Is this paragraph irrelevant?

Richard Straub made a good point in his book, be detailed about what you want me to clarify in my paper. Don’t just write two short, abrupt words next to a paragraph. Odds are, when I go to revise my paper a day or two later, I will have no idea what you were talking about. Write a sentence or two saying exactly what you are thinking.

I mostly like my comments in the margins of my paper but if you have something to say addressing the paper as an entirety, I like those comments at the very end of the paper. And honestly, even if Straub disagrees, I don’t care if you sound like a teacher when you leave comments on my paper. I just want to know your honest opinions and if you have to sound all rough and tough to get your message across, then by all means do it.

Gotta’ Catch Them All!

Ever sense I was in the 5th grade, the world of Pokemon has taken away hundreds of hours from my life that I could have used to do useful things. But no. Instead of cleaning or doing homework, I sat on the couch, staring glossy eyed at my gameboy color trying to catch them all.

My mom was the one who drew my attention to this addicting game. She let me play her game once and ever sense then I was hooked. Every time  a new version of the game came out I complained to her that “I had to have it”. Even if that meant buying an entirely new handheld gaming console, I did whatever it took to get my hands on the newest version of the game.

Every game version had a similar goal, to catch all the Pokemon and fill up your Pokedex. The newest of the games is played on the Nintendo 3DS. The graphics are amazing and it’s one of the first times you can walk around a 3D world in the game line. I do sometimes miss the simplicity of the older games, when I first stared playing Pokemon. The pixelated graphics. The smaller worlds. Less Pokemon to catch. It brings back memories of actually having the time to play the game I love.

Pokemon introduced me into the world of RPG games. Now I’m hooked. Anything similar to Pokemon or a good looking RPG is going to be, at some point, played by me.

Even though playing Pokemon may seem dorky, I don’t care. I’m proud to say that I preorder every version that comes out. I am a Pokemon nerd.