Workshop 12 Let's face it, writing about your own experiences as a writer can be downright tedious. For many of us, it seems that the only writing we've ever done has been for teachers who filled our papers with red ink and a mediocre grade. How can you talk about stages of writing when every writing task is an exercise in survival--where your only thought is "I can't wait 'til this is done!"? What possible use could there be in returning to these painful moments of our lives? How are you going to become a better writer by dwelling on such humiliating writing experiences? If you identify with any of the sentiments above, you're not alone! Not only is it rare for most people to write outside of class, many people have erased pleasant writing experiences from their mind, simply because the dread associated with their classroom writing casts a dark shadow over all other writing experiences. Nevertheless, we bet that you have enjoyed at least one writing experience in your life. Whether it was a piece of graffiti that you wrote on the bathroom wall, a reply to an e-mail message that you chuckled about as you composed it, or a birthday card that you made for your mom, who to this day keeps it on her dresser, you have a good writing memory or two. The trick, of course, is recalling these episodes. We hope that this activity will, among other things, help you recreate some of those positive writing moments. In the process of reading the autobiographies of other writing students who are using (or have used) this textbook, you will at the very least become aware of the variety of ways people learn to write. Frequently, we don't recall our own life experiences until we read or hear about the experiences of someone else. The experiences of others, it seems, serve as a catalyst for remembering our own experiences, even when theirs are radically different from our own. This general principle also applies to the act of writing, insofar as we become aware of our own writing through comparison with other writers around us. Before you begin writing your autobiography, we'd like you to read a few of the writers' accounts of their writing experiences on one of the following sites: While you are reading through a few of these accounts, ask yourself the following questions: - Which experiences do I relate to in some visceral way? Where do I find myself saying "I know what you mean"?
- Do any writers describe changes in their approach to writing that make me think about major transitions in my own writing development?
- Perhaps you share an experience with one of these writers, but the experience didn't influence your writing as it did theirs. If so, why do you think your writing wasn't influenced by this experience?
We'd like you to compose a one-paragraph reply to at least one account, explaining why you found it interesting, where you could identify with their described experiences, and how your own development as a writer takes a similar or different course. Follow-Up Post your own autobiography into the discussion board area, where others can read and respond to it. The steps below will guide you through this process: - Highlight the text of your case study and select "copy" from the Edit menu.
- Switch back to your browser, find the discussion board for this workshop, and begin a "new discussion thread" (i.e., don't reply to another message, since it will be harder for people to find your autobiography).
- Paste your case study into the message area.
- In the subject line of your message, enter "Case Study" and your first name (ex. "Case Study--Martha").
- After you have posted your autobiography, please check back to see how other people have responded to your autobiography and feel free to respond to their replies.
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