Jessica A's Response to "Getting Launched"

In my English 251 class, which is Fundamental Literary Analysis, we talked about the reasons that each individual reads. Some people read to be informed, some people read to critique things, but I think most of us read just to have fun. I know I do. We also talked about how people read. Some are speedy-quick, some chew them thoughtfully and digest them, and some tear them apart. This is what “Getting Launched” was about, just on the other end of the spectrum: writing.

I don’t think I’m the only one that groaned when I started reading. “Oh, no!” I thought to myself, “This is another of those articles that’s going to try and tell me how to be creative.” I hate it when puffed-up, pompous people who’ve spent decades of studying the psychological processes of writing try to tell me that the way I do things isn’t the best way to do them. I’m an adult (I’ll admit, a young adult and still probably one of the most naïve people on the planet…), but I’m also a writer. I’ve been doing this a while, and I’m thinking I probably know the best way for me to write.

Then the second paragraph: “Given our quirky methods of composition, I’m leery of recommending any one way as effective, for the question always becomes, ‘Effective for whom?’”

That was the part where I stopped feeling like a caged animal. (Assigned readings can be hideously excruciating. We all know this.) You see, people, I knew this to begin with: there is no set of universal rules that can tell us how to write, because they will work for some people, but not for everybody. I was very relieved to find my opinions echoed in this article.

So, he first gives that disclaimer, and then he gives a few suggestions for people who need assistance with their strategies. Here are a few points that I thought were helpful:

“Pick a subject that means something to you.” This was probably my favorite section. Trimble is right. Are we going to do a good job if we honestly do not care about what we are writing about? I’m writing about the causes of claustrophobia for my Wiki paper (not easy to find. Been spending hours on it. Too bad those extra hours don’t count towards our Coursework Log.) because I have always had issues with small spaces and crowds and clothing that comes close to my neck… and on and on and on… Anyway, it was especially bad when I went to Europe this summer. I tried to climb to the cupola of St. Peter’s in the Vatican. I made it, but not without a near panic attack and the shedding of many tears. It was EMBARRASSING! There were tons of people, no breathing space whatsoever, no way to go forward or back, and the slanting roof of the dome started closing in… and I don’t like stairs.

But this was the first time that I’d ever come close to having a panic attack. I wanted to know why it was so bad all of a sudden since I was on VACATION and I was supposed to be having FUN. (Don’t we hate irrational fears?) So, this is very much a subject I cared about… if you couldn’t tell. Trimble’s point is that we need to put our feelings into our writing to make it matter.

Next, Trimble talks about what we had to do with our papers: narrowing the topic. I’m almost thinking mine is TOO narrow because I haven’t been able to get my hands on anything concrete yet. I may have to consign myself to actually spending time in the WINDOWLESS basement of the library (I’m a claustrophobe, remember, so… this is not good). Going on… we’ve all done this narrowing of the topic, I hope. Trimble also talks about writing being a process where we find things out, and only after we’re done do we know what we are talking about. This is kind of confusing, but it just means that we’re learning along the way. That’s another way to stay interested, folks: learning.

Other suggestions he had were overloading on data (Useful, because then you don’t have to make your sentences wordy and a paragraph long to fill up the required white space. Anyone else guilty of that at any time? Consequently, I’ve only really done it for the last ten-page paper I had to write. Can I insert a smiley here? :P), asking yourself questions and answering them using your sources, getting a thesis (the point of the work, but not the subject… he says to treat your writing like a story even when it isn’t), creating your own audience, and working through several crap drafts. The crap drafts thing might be helpful for those of us who’ve procrastinated that first draft that’s due on Wednesday. It’s mental puke, guys, but it helps you to get your ideas on paper so you can organize them. I think this is what SWILUA was talking about when she said to give ourselves permission to suck. You can build off the ‘suckiness’ and you don’t get attached to it. It’s easier to change it when you’re not attached. Believe me, I know this from personal experience.

All in all, I thought that this article was very helpful and I will be using those tips to try and catch up with my impossible Wiki paper. Maybe I will get one of the librarians to brave the depths of the basement of the library and get me the huge stack of books I need so I can stay in places where there are windows and I can’t sense the huge weight of the ground above my head. (Yes. Genuine claustrophobe.)

In conclusion, I wish to rant about irrational fears. I know that if I go in the basement of the HBLL it won’t kill me. I knew that when I climbed the twenty-thousand stairs to the cupola of St. Peter’s that there would be a wonderful view at the top. I knew that when I took the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower that I wasn’t going to die. I know that I can get out of my walk-in closet when the door is shut. I know that large crowds of people are not scary… EXCEPT THAT THEY ARE! Hindsight is 20/20. I look back and laugh because it is so idiotic. I don’t understand where this fear came from. The sources I have so far tell me it is from some traumatic experience that I had as a child, except that, as far as I know, I NEVER had this experience. I am excited to get my Wiki paper done so I can know the reasons for these things… (Rant done.)

The strategies in this paper are very useful, so use them. My favorite is the first one because it gives me permission to do what I want to do in the way that I want to do it. Yay. I also recommend the crap draft strategy. Especially with the Wiki paper, we need to be objective and so if it sucks, we can treat it like it came from another person and we can draw and quarter it. Yay again. After writing ten pages, we’ll all want to torture something. Have fun everybody.