Structured Thoughts
Excuse me, old man at Starbucks. If you are making "six figures," you should be able to afford an office where you can have these boisterously loud conference calls.
Starbucks should have sections like smoking or non-smoking: quiet or could-be-shot-in-the-dark-by-a-deaf-chimpanzee.
Last night, I watched Boss Baby. I was surprised to see it only got 52% on rotten tomatoes! It was witty, silly, hopeful, and imaginative! I loved so many of the scenes, but my favorite was probably when Tim was retrieving the secret puppy file from the hidden storage. The way Boss Baby rubs his hands is just like in Indian Jones. Hilarious!
Mr. Could-Be-Shot-in-the-Dark is now having an important chat about Janis Joplin. Good times.
In other news, I AM ON THE VERGE OF STORY TIME WITH NATHAN! WHAT! I feel like Boss Baby: rubbing my hands anxiously, hoping I don't set off a trap.
In other other news, I have to design a creative writing class! We'll see how soon I can begin it; logistics are always tough.
I do need a nap though. I don't really need a nap, but a nap would be luxurious. Shoot. I should probably go home and read some of my writing books. No! I can start drafting here. But it is frigid. They still refrigerate their space; it's crazy. At least Shot-in-the-Dark is quiet now. For now. We shall see.
Creative writing! I do it a lot, but I don't really know how it works. I keep trying to convince everyone that there's nothing magical about it; it's just a grueling skill that you hone forever until it works. I'm sorry to say that grammar really helps you. There are so many funny people that think commas et al indicate "natural pauses" and such. There is no such thing as a natural pause. There is conceptual structure. Punctuation is used to arrange thoughts, not feelings or pauses. Reading well is its own skill that will find the pauses if you write well. Even then, there's an interpretive portion to reading just as there is with every art.
I have a painting that I call "Unity." I think of him as The Runner though. It's called Unity because it is the first painting where I wielded form and freedom at the same time. I think of him as The Runner because I see a creature sprinting away. Check out the diagram below to see what I see.
I see a runner. Most people see a red pepper. Some people see a vagina. Others have seen different things entirely. The point is that your punctuation will not show "natural pauses." It will instead show structured thoughts or unstructured thoughts, and unstructured thoughts will make your work hard to read.
Thus, if you want to write well, learn grammar rules, and then just write a whole bloody freakin lot.
Now, I am off to try and structure my thoughts about creative writing.
PIP PIP.
Cheerio.
Starbucks should have sections like smoking or non-smoking: quiet or could-be-shot-in-the-dark-by-a-deaf-chimpanzee.
Last night, I watched Boss Baby. I was surprised to see it only got 52% on rotten tomatoes! It was witty, silly, hopeful, and imaginative! I loved so many of the scenes, but my favorite was probably when Tim was retrieving the secret puppy file from the hidden storage. The way Boss Baby rubs his hands is just like in Indian Jones. Hilarious!
Mr. Could-Be-Shot-in-the-Dark is now having an important chat about Janis Joplin. Good times.
In other news, I AM ON THE VERGE OF STORY TIME WITH NATHAN! WHAT! I feel like Boss Baby: rubbing my hands anxiously, hoping I don't set off a trap.
In other other news, I have to design a creative writing class! We'll see how soon I can begin it; logistics are always tough.
I do need a nap though. I don't really need a nap, but a nap would be luxurious. Shoot. I should probably go home and read some of my writing books. No! I can start drafting here. But it is frigid. They still refrigerate their space; it's crazy. At least Shot-in-the-Dark is quiet now. For now. We shall see.
Creative writing! I do it a lot, but I don't really know how it works. I keep trying to convince everyone that there's nothing magical about it; it's just a grueling skill that you hone forever until it works. I'm sorry to say that grammar really helps you. There are so many funny people that think commas et al indicate "natural pauses" and such. There is no such thing as a natural pause. There is conceptual structure. Punctuation is used to arrange thoughts, not feelings or pauses. Reading well is its own skill that will find the pauses if you write well. Even then, there's an interpretive portion to reading just as there is with every art.
I have a painting that I call "Unity." I think of him as The Runner though. It's called Unity because it is the first painting where I wielded form and freedom at the same time. I think of him as The Runner because I see a creature sprinting away. Check out the diagram below to see what I see.
I see a runner. Most people see a red pepper. Some people see a vagina. Others have seen different things entirely. The point is that your punctuation will not show "natural pauses." It will instead show structured thoughts or unstructured thoughts, and unstructured thoughts will make your work hard to read.
Thus, if you want to write well, learn grammar rules, and then just write a whole bloody freakin lot.
Now, I am off to try and structure my thoughts about creative writing.
PIP PIP.
Cheerio.
I wonder: have you ever encountered materials from the Institute for Excellence in Writing, led by Andrew Pudewa? I wonder if it would be right up your alley. I encountered it in the process of homeschooling, but in a lovely turn of events, it wound up also equipping ME with many helpful tools for my own writing! What I like about it is that it demystifies the whole writing process. As a former math major who chose that major partly to avoid writing papers, I appreciate that! The analytical breakdown of good writing techniques are so helpful to an analytical type like me; the checklists and concrete steps to improve one's style and structure are like building blocks needed to begin the process. (Of course, much art can follow, but the artist needs basic materials to begin work.) And yet, I've been told that creative types also benefit by the structure that it teaches. If you've not already encountered it, I suggest investigating whether it would be useful in teaching your students.
ReplyDeleteI have not encountered any such materials! Where can I?
DeleteYou mean besides simply asking to borrow them from me at contra, I assume (if you ever wish to do so)?
DeleteThe website for the Institute for Excellence in Writing is here:
http://iew.com/
Andrew Pudewa is a fascinating speaker: humorous and entertaining, but simultaneously profoundly educational. He rotates some audio recordings that you can hear for free on the IEW resource page:
http://iew.com/help-support/resources
Enjoy!
I got excited about the books! I hadn't thought about actually having to read them.
DeleteI will be glad to borrow one or more once I've made some progress on other things I have to read and write.
Thanks for the information/links too! I will check it out.