My longform has appeared in The Denton Record Chronicle and The Dallas Observer, among others. I hold an MFA in nonfiction from the University of Iowa where I was an Iowa Arts Fellow and am pursuing a PhD in English and creative writing at the University of North Texas. Thank you so much for your consideration. I’ll include some links to my work below, and I can be reached by return e-mail or telephoned at (615)
Annie Lamontt, author of Bird by Bird, offers a glimpse into a world many writers can relate to. In the chapter called “Shitty First Drafts”, she utilizes the writers she associates with as evidence to support that the writing process does not begin with an immaculate first draft (Lamont, 1994). This is the “fantasy of the uninitiated” (Lamont, 1994, p. 1). Strangers to the writing process may not understand that writing isn’t simply “writing”—it is a process. The uninitiated, in this case, are non-writers.
In Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing, he expresses dozens of opinions on his craft and provides a compilation of writing preferences for an audience of readers and aspiring writers alike. Jeannette Walls, the author of the memoir The Glass Castle, seemingly displays similar writing preferences to those of Stephen King. Specifically, Walls and King both leave out unnecessary words, they both use dialogue as a characterization tool, and they both believe in writing honestly. One of the first writing tactics King proposes is to, “...
The Nobel prize speech by William Faulkner and novel, As I Lay Dying , both enhance how the author intends to fulfill his own vision of the writer’s duty. Faulkner’s duty is to encourage writers to focus on problems that deserve attention which are not introduced in other texts. The tone of the Nobel prize speech is assertive yet grasping around the idea of the future for literature. Through both sources, Faulkner speaks not only to the writers, but the individuals that can be empowered by his words and actions. In the Nobel prize speech, Faulkner is directly speaking to writers who have a desire to follow his footsteps, which is writing.
He combines all of the information about the noteworthy individuals of the time in order to emphasize the singularity of the literary movement, thus reducing his need to explain beyond his knowledge as his is the common knowledge; the shared experiences of these various authors give him the fiat to write as if he were speaking for all of them. Even the autobiographical sections are devoted mostly in part to describing those in Cowley’s presence, from Tristan Tzara to Hart Crane: they speak through Cowley as he compiles his memories. His personal experiences and struggles are those most often generalized as common experience, while his depictions of meetings of the minds are written directly from his perspective. However, with this alternation, the communality of the experience becomes more plausible, especially as his encounters with the same people often occur in various geographic locations. All these writers, then, build upon similar banks of experience, often directly coinciding with those of others and abstractly forming the generation that Cowley ultimately defines, retrospectively examining the moral and cultural codes which influenced their
King reveals that reading helps writers know what is”fresh” and what have already be seen, the slang “fresh” sustains the informality of the writing. King’s uses a critical tone to address society’s attachment to television. He writes, “. . . TV—while working out or anywhere else—really is the last thing an aspiring writer needs.” (148).
With the inclusion of a multitude of perspectives, experiences, and emotions outside her own, her expertise heightens allowing her to be more respected as an influential writer on the subject at
My dreams for my family and I have been shattered. My life has become dulled. The day Mr.Truman Capote came to interview me about the murder overwhelms me with the numbing feeling of February wind. I was likely shuffling to my house trying to avoid frost from biting my skin
As a college student, Emily Vallowe wrote a literacy narrative with a play on words title: “Write or Wrong Identity.” In this work, she told the story of how she believed her confidence as a writer developed; however, she was becoming dubious as to her distinctiveness as an author. Although I have never been a self-proclaimed wordsmith as Ms. Vallowe obviously had been for years, I related to her journey. Not only did she grow up in Northern Virginia like I did, she never considered herself an inept writer—a possibility that I could not fathom about myself. Then, at some point, we both began to question our own ability and to question who we really were.
The style of writing has changed drastically in excess of the past years; each person has their own writing modus operandi that helps to get their point from corner to corner or refer to all that jazz that they are trying to portray. Every author seems to have their own unique way of getting their message to their audience, for instance, they might share personal experiences related to their topic or analysis. Some authors might write about something affected them emotionally and influenced them to act a certain way.
A leader is someone who takes charge when it matters the most. Even when the odds are completely against them they push on to reach their goal. The person I believe is a great leader is Wardell Stephen Curry II. Stephen Curry dreamed of going to the NBA and be just like his dad Dell Curry. Steph Curry was doubted all his life due to his size though.
As I reading the excerpt, I was impressed by his wonderful writing skill and by how books influenced him like everybody who had read it. Two literary techniques that he used in the excerpt impressed the readers. He used
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood is a compilation of six lectures she gave at the University of Cambridge. The book is described to be, by Atwood herself, about the “struggles with a number of conflicts that have occupied many writers”. Each of the six chapters is from each of her six lectures that she taught at her university as mentioned. Though meant to focus on the reasons why authors struggle when writing, some of the chapter are autobiographical and Atwood even admits in her prologue that “the first chapter is the most autobiographical”. For example, she begins to address the relationship between the author and their work and begin to suggest several reasons for why there even is a conflict to writing
I like to write books and I find other authors’ works inspiring. I want to be inspiring myself. There are many types of writing, and I want to try them all. It would be amazing to be recognized. You need to have connections, need to know how to publish your writings, and to be able to promote your writings.
Career Autobiography There are many things that I feel have led me to year number two of graduate school pursuing a career as a school counselor. For I while I tried to convince myself that a career in school counseling was not for me and ultimately everything led me here. My mother has been a school counselor for the last 25 years and I grew up watching her do something she loved. I went to school everyday and watched my mother make a positive impact on many of my classmates and this left a very lasting impression on me.
