Better Late Than Never, Right?

I started a blog on Wordpress over Labor Day weekend.  I even posted about Labor Day, and then I typed up a word document of my reflection on chapters 1-3 of Released Into Language, but I never even posted it online. Wordpress and I were having a sort of love/hate relationship anyway.  So here I am on blogger and here is my reflection.  Enjoy!

"Professional writers are notoriously opinionated" is how chapter one of the book begins. All I can do is smirk and laugh to myself. Yes, yes they are, and that is the only reason why some people write - to make sure that other people know about their opinions, thoughts, or ideas. Anyway, that first sentence that I keep smirking at ends with "writers are people who write". That really resonates with me. I'm not sure why right now, but it does. I'll do some more thinking about that and get back to you.

Bishop quotes Donald Murry, a creative writing professor, who wrote that a professor "will not be a teacher, he will be a senior learner". This reminded me of Dr. Stengel, my American Post modernism professor. This will be my third class with him, and he begins every semester by letting the class know that he teaches so that he can learn from students. He wants to hear our thoughts and ideas.  It's encouraging that someone with a Ph.D and years of teaching experience believes that every individual in the class has something important to bring to the table. All of my creative writing professors are the same way. They are encouraging in trying to foster our creativity and grasp of the writing craft. Several pages later, talks about the writing community that creative writing workshops give students. That's what we are. We are all colleagues and part of a community, a community of learners, explorers, creators - trying to make ourselves and each other better at what we do.

Later on, Bishop mentions a seminar that "was not meant to commercialize a writer", but was meant to teach them about different parts of the publishing world that they would enter as a professional writer some day.  This is an important thing to do as an writer. You can't become a part of an industry that you know nothing about. This is why I'm taking Lady V's How to Get Published Class.

Reading about the theories was a bit overwhelming. I felt like I was being pulled under by a whirlpool, but the same thing happens in my English classes.  Sometimes it's easy to get mired in theory. Though, I did enjoy the Teacher vs. Student sections a few pages over. Lectures and discussions led by teachers are important, but so are those led by students.  I've learned that I do best in those college classes that find the delicate balance between the two.

I'll leave you with a quote by Joseph Conrad from a section of the book about writers and their goals.  He said, "My task...is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel - it is before all, to make you see." I just loved that.  

Well, there you have it. Those are my thought on some important things that stood out to me. What do you think? Sound off below.

BK