Writing can be
many things for me, mainly, for me writing is like a set of Christmas lights.
The whole thing is strung together and every piece has its role but not every
light always works. Sometimes one will occasionally flicker or maybe go out completely
but the rest of the lights are still shining. Like when you start putting up
Christmas lights you do not always know where they are going to end or how far
you will be able to reach with them but you know where you are starting and how
much space you want to cover. Sometimes you have to do some adjusting and
change your starting position to get to where you want but you usually have a
general plan before. That is how my writing usually is I know how I want to
start it and usually what points or "distance" I want to cover in my
writing but it does not always reach that far so sometimes I have to make
adjustments and change my starting position or alter a few of my points. Like I
said in my last blog posts I have stronger parts of my writing and then weaker
parts where I just keep repeating myself and lose the focus of my writing. In
this way it shows the individual lights- some brighter than others, some flickering,
some out completely.
For me, writing is
also like singing a song. For most songs, if you take out a line or two the
song still makes sense. It has meaning to it without people quote lyrics all
the time and it doesn't reflect the song as a whole necessarily. I know that I am
someone who has the potential to have really good writing but staying focused
and structured is something I struggle with.
I think these metaphors suggest that i'm definitely still developing as a writer and i'm not quite sure about myself and my writing because it varies so much. I enjoy speech a lot and the idea of public speaking so when I write I want it to be powerful so my writing is greatly influenced by speeches I hear and powerful short writings. That contributes to my disbursed strong points in my writing as I find a topic I feel really great about and i'll have a bunch to say in a very powerful way and then I get to another topic and don't have as much to say so my writing is weaker.
I really can relate to your metaphor of writing and Christmas lights. I too find myself having an idea or plan in my own mind of how I want my writing to go, but in the end it never goes as planned. Often times my whole initial idea can be changed and altered by the end of the paper I am writing. The Christmas lights metaphor is really creative and descriptive for the point you were trying to get across. Its like, everyone has those moments when they are writing and it is all working great, but then there are moments where the lights are out and aren’t sure where to go. Overall though, from reading your blog post I would say that you are a strong writer and any inconsistency you feel is mutual of many people so don’t let that bring you down.
ReplyDeleteBoth of your analogies of the Christmas lights and song are very insightful. You described your points very well and got your point across in a cool way. I can relate to both. I write without an idea of where I'm heading with the paper or where i'll end. I will often lose focus of my writing as well. It's a difficult thing to balance. Sometimes I will start a paper with one viewpoint/direction and as the paper develops I end up with a different stance or means of saying my thoughts entirely. In regards to your Christmas light analogy, the weaker parts of my paper often resemble a light or two flickering or even a light completely out. I really enjoyed both your analogies and thought they very accurately summarized my thoughts on writing that I've never actually vocalized before.
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