Contents

I chose two discussion board posts for this project. In the first introduction, I discuss the content of the piece and how that has led me to a new path with my writing. In the second, I rewrite the post because of structural issues. This also shows me what I have to work on. Finally, I revised my essay. From these three pieces of writing, I can see a path to follow in my writing life. I see what I want to change and the beginnings of how to get there.

Order of Works:

Your Writing Life (discussion board)

Our Obsessions (discussion board)

Architecture is Prose (essay)

An Introduction to Your Writing Life

I wrote this in response to a post by Allyson Louie about writing and how it is a part of her life. I think as a whole it is (mostly) well written. There are definitely grammatical errors and fragments (I always use fragments in my personal writing. I forget to write complete thoughts for works that other people will read). It is clear on my thoughts of her writing. I loved how she put the piece together and that basically said we are our own masters. I had never really thought about it that way. She discussed creating her own world through writing and I want to be able to do that. So far, I write about the present and what is happening in the real world. I haven't yet found a way to create somewhere else to go with my writing. This idea seems to be a theme for me so far in this class. My essay is about creating my own structure and filling it with my own decorations. This response delves into the idea of creating your own world through writing. What this class has showed me so far is that there is more to the writing world than analytical essays. What I want to do moving forward is to discover the other options.

Your Writing Life

I love that when I read this, I feel all of the passion you feel for writing. I understand how important it is to you. I completely understand how writing goes with your mood. I write in a journal and have found that what and how I write is all based on the mood I'm in. Do you feel like you have gained something from reading so much? Do you feel like your own writing has changed because of what you read? For me, I hope that the style and art that the authors I read use does rub off on me. I want that not only so I am a better writer for classes but also a stronger writer for myself. But maybe you think differently. I love the idea you've come up with that you are the master of your own world. Nothing has to matter to you because you are the creator. It's nice to get away from this world and travel to your own place and I love that we share that desire to find our worlds in the written word.

An Introduction to Obsessions

This is a response to a post by Andrew Leavitt about his obsession. In my mind, this is just a mess. There’s great substance about our obsessions. You get a good look at the passion we have for our subjects. But the presentation is all over the place. I jump around and a cohesive thought process is not shown. If I were to rewrite it, it would look something like this:

I understand people getting annoyed with your obsession. I keep mine on the down-low because people don’t really care. People don’t seem to get how intensely I love buildings. I stare for long periods of time at ceilings and walls. I look up floor plans to learn more about the buildings. I take photos of the buildings that catch my eye. I doodle houses on any piece of paper I get my hands on. People seem to forget that they also have an obsession. Unless you share the same love, you won’t ever see that object or idea or building like they do. Like you with cars. I don’t really care about cars. However I think it’s interesting that you love cars. You don't just love the bits that make up the car or the models. You like driving, too. It makes me feel like you are obsessed with cars in every way you can be. I wish I could be more hands-on with my obsession, but architecture is something so massive and complex that there isn't really a tangible way to enjoy it. With cars, you can touch them, you can build them, you can drive in them. That’s one of the main reasons I want to be an architectural engineer.

Our Obsessions

I can understand people getting annoyed about your obsession. I keep mine on the down-low more because no really cares about my obsession. I don't think people understand why you love that one thing so much and they forget that they have something that they have an obsession as well. I think it's interesting that you love cars. You don't just love the bits that make up the car or the models. You like driving, too. It makes me feel like you are obsessed with cars in every way you can be. For me, I draw houses and take pictures of buildings that stick out to me, but I don't really have the chance to actually create or touch the architecture. That's more because my obsession is something so massive and complex that there isn't really a tangible way to enjoy it. With cars, you can touch them, you can build them, you can drive in them. You can't really do that with buildings. But I take what I can get. I stare for long periods of time at ceilings and walls. I look up floor plans to learn more about the buildings. If there was a way to be more hands-on, I would find it and never stop doing it--thus why I want to become an architectural engineer.

An Introduction to the Essay

This is the revised version of my essay. I made some minor grammatical changes throughout. I mostly changed the word choice that I used. I needed to be more concise and clear with the words I used to describe. I have always had an issue with this. I know what I want to say in my head, but putting it into words in a way others will understand is more difficult. Your suggestions helped spur more ways for me to have better word choice. I am getting better at finding the right words but it’s a process and is going to take a long time to perfect (if it’s something that can be perfected). In the final comment, you say that I should try to expand my structure right there on the page. I think it’s a wonderful idea. That said, I am uneasy about it. It is something so new to me and I really don’t even know where to begin. I kept my analytical structure for this essay because it worked with the content. I also kept it because I had no idea how to shift to a new structure. I know I have to make the jump at some point. I just want some guidance as to which way to go. That contradicts everything I have said in my essay. But I want to follow someone else’s footsteps and be shown the ropes of a new structure.  Then, when I feel more prepared, I will follow my own feet.

Prose is Architecture: The Revised Essay

Prose is Architecture

“Prose is architecture, not interior decoration” -Ernest Hemingway

This quote grabbed my attention because I have a passion for architecture. I love looking at the facades. I love learning how they were built and what is hidden behind them. When I really started dissecting the advice, I came to a realization. I have been stuck in a single box, writing in an analytical format my whole life. Even my personal writing began to mirror what I had learned for school. The advice stood out because it says that writing is not about filling a given space, but about creating the space itself.

I have been trained to write analytical papers and five paragraph essays my entire life. Graders for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate like them; it makes it easy for them to assign points. Slowly I’m learning that my writing life isn’t always going to entail an analytical essay about Heart of Darkness or an essay explaining the social effects of the Gilded Age. I will be writing about a multitude of topics for a variety of readers. It would be dull to only write one way. With that format, I could convey the wrong message. I would lose all personality in my writing. I have a sense that I am losing many opportunities because I am not building my own space. I have just been filling the space given to me when I should be creating my own. I do not have to limit my writing to one style or one genre. I am the creator of the box my writing goes into.

Hemingway is saying that there is value in having a strong and original structure. One cannot simply focus on the content. How you write about a subject, your diction, and how you choose to format the words matters. How you convey your ideas is how they spread throughout the world. How well you bring the writing together dictates who and how people read your work. You wouldn’t create an unstable building, so why would you create a piece of writing without the proper structure?

I want to explore and understand the beams, foundations, and materials used by the authors I read. They create their own structures-- their own architecture-- instead of attempting to fit inside a generic box. I am hopelessly in love with the novel The Book Thief. Markus Zusak takes a different approach to telling the story by making Death the narrator. His voices adds darkness to the work: “I will often catch an eclipse when a human dies. I’ve seen millions of them...more eclipses than I care to remember.” (Zusak 11). He adds pictures, small notes, and lists within the book to catch the reader’s attention and give more information. Zusak finds a way to intertwine several stories that seem disjointed: “During the nights, both Liesel Meminger and Max Vandenburg would go about their other similarity. In their separate rooms, they would dream their nightmares and wake up, one with a scream in drowning sheets, the other with a gasp for air next to a smoking fire.” (Zusak 219). Reading the book several times, I have discovered that the stories all connect on a deeper level. Zusak mixes all the thoughts and emotions of the characters into a cohesive piece of writing. He not only formed his own structure but decorated it beautifully.

The strong ties between structure and content are not addressed in this writing advice. Hemingway emphasizes the importance of structure, but the content chosen is essential as well. Both play an integral role in writing. Like we have recently been discussing in class, the format can affect the content and vice versa. Prose is much more than just “architecture” or just “decoration.” As a whole, you cannot just focus on format or on content. The space you create has a great effect on the writing. But you can’t leave it an open space. You have to fill a well structured space with beautiful tools for living. You must fill the space with something meaningful. People are far less likely to enjoy or even read a piece of writing that has an immaculate format but no substance.

I want to be able to experience every perspective of this advice. I want to see the architecture and the interior decoration. I want to fill new boxes, not use the same, analytical format I have been writing in for years. I want to see how changing the functional pieces that fill a space can change a piece of writing; even if the architecture is still the same. I want to write short stories, follow the paths of writers that inspire me, or write a personal narrative without the  analytical side taking over. At the same time, I have become increasingly curious about how to change my own writing. I don’t want to be trapped in a single, analytical cage for the rest of my writing career. I want to explore, change, and grow. I want to go about creating a building instead of filling the space someone else has made.

Works Cited:

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.