Blog #7 Response

Allen - "The Inspired Writer vs The Real Writer"

I. Summary
In her article, "The Inspired Writer vs The Real Writer," Allen attempts to persuade timid and anxious writers not to be fearful of writing. She argues that writing does not come easily to everyone, even to scholars and that students should not be fearful of sounding stupid or getting the wrong answer. Allen also gives tips on how to set up a paper or piece of writing if one is unsure how to begin the process, and talks about different constructs of writing (transition words and five paragraph essays).

II. Conversation
Allen reminds me of my creative writing teacher from high school. She makes sure everyone knows that just because she has a degree or PhD in writing does not mean it comes easily to her. Like Allen emphasized, everyone gets writers block or that "we often assume if writing does not come easily, then our writing is not good - and in turn, that we cannot be good writers" (30). My teacher and Allen give examples of how writing quickly does not make a "good" piece of writing.

III. Assigned Exercises
AE3: What does Allen believe the purpose of writing is and why? Do you believe that there's a specific purpose of writing? Do your ideas agree with Allen's?
A: Explained on page 34, paragraph 34, Allen believes the purpose of writing is: "to keep talking, keep thinking, keep revising." She encourages students to keep practicing writing because even if "what we have to say is perhaps/ probably not brilliant is, still, worth the attempt of saying" (34, para 32). I agree with Allen's purpose of writing because it so general. I would add one more note to it though, the purpose of writing it to to keep talking, keep thinking, keep expressing ideas, and keep revising. I don;t think there is a specific purpose, like "You MUST write to this ___." That said, I think Allen would agree with my ideas about a general purpose of writing.

QDJ4:What specific methodologies does Allen propose to allow you to feel more secure in your authorial authority?

I love how Allen gave examples of modern scholars, like David Barholomae, who failed at writing, but picked themselves back up. That made me realize that not everything I write is going to be perfect and that it does not need to be perfect. She gave readers advice, like looking up other writers and imitating their structure or to have somewhat experienced writers revise your work (aka not your mother) or to even ask the teacher to revise your draft. Allen gave a lot of useful advice in such a short amount of writing.

MM: Have you ever been negatively affected by the idea of the inspired writer, a time when you didn't feel inspired but felt you should be? Describe your experience and how or whether you overcame this. Will your relationship with the inspired writer be different now that you've read Allen's article? How can you use the knowledge you've gained from her to make writing easier?

A: I was always caught up on the idea of the inspired writer when I would be in my creativity writing class last year. I didn't give my problem a specific name but Allen's term for it describes it pretty well. I was so caught up on what my audience would think of my writing that I began to over think, instead of actually writing. I thought that I should try to make my writing look like I had a great idea from beginning and the rest was history. Similar to what Allen says on page 30, I thought it should look like I "did not have to go crawling... across the desert of what-could-I-possibly-write." After reading Allen's article, I realize how much I tried to "look like a writer" in my creative writing class, when really I should have just gone with the flow and not try so hard.

IV. Personal Reflection

I feel like in all my personal reflections I say, "This article really taught me a lot," but that is because they all have! They each emphasize different aspects of writing. Allen has taught me to not fear writing & think too hard about the inspired writing or constructs. She also preached to not think you always have to sound intelligent when writing. Being an English Education major, I am constantly thinking "I need to try to make this sound scholarly" or "I need to have the correct answer" but Allen helped me realize that I should not have this attitude. I should start thinking "Well, this is what I truly believe and if its considered incorrect that is ok because not everything I write or answer is going to be right every time."