AiyjalonFooseCampbell

July21,2015

WritingMakesMyTummyHurt

Tosettherecordstraight,Iammoreofareaderthanawriter.Idonotfindmuchfunor
excitementinwritingasIdowhenitcomestoreading.Iwasalwaysareader,evenwhenIwas
younger.Myfavoritebooktoreadwas
TheGivingTree
byShelSilverstein.Heresanexcerpt:
Oncetherewasatree
andshelovedalittleboy.
Andeverydaytheboywouldcome
andhewouldgatherherleaves
andmakethemintocrowns
andplaykingoftheforest.
Hewouldclimbhertrunk
andswingfromherbranches
andeatapples.

Andtheywouldplayhideandgoseek.
Andwhenhewastired,
hewouldsleepinhershade.
Andtheboylovedthetree
verymuch.
Andthetreewashappy.

Tothisday,myfavoritethingaboutthebookisthatthetreestilllovedtheboynomatterwhat.
Evenwhentheboytookherapples,branches,leavesandtrunk,shestilllovedhim.WhenIwas
inelementaryschool,wedidalotofexpressivedrawingsandwritings.Thatwasmyfavorite
thingaboutKindergarten.Ithinkmyfavoriteassignmentwastocreateyourfavoriteseasonona
pieceofpaperandwriteaboutit.Myfavoriteseasoniswinterso,Icreatedasnowmanusing
cottonballsandstickers.IbelievemycaptionwassomethinglikeIlikeplayinginthesnow
withmydogs.MyMommyandDaddyplaywithmetoo.Snowtastesfunny.Thosewerethe

besttimesbecauseIwasstartingtowrite,youknow.AndIwasexcitedtolearnhowtowrite
somethingotherthansomescribblesandsayHeyMommy!Lookitsaysapple!andshell
replylikeanyotherparentsOhgoodjobSweetheart!Butlookingback,thosewerethe
messiestandoffthewallwritingsIhaveeverdid.
ItsaBird...ItsaPlane...ItsLisaGardner!
MiddleschoolwaswhenIbecameheavilyinvestedinreading.Ilovereading.Reading
ismylife!Lol,Imkidding,itisnot.Youdonotnotbelieveme?Okayfine.Anyways,Iamnot
completelysayingthatIwouldratherpullmyteethoutthenwriteapaper.Ilied,thatsounds
reallypainfulandIamnotthestrongestwhenitcomestopain.Goingbacktothetopic,Iliketo
readthenonfictionandfictiongenresofwriting.SinceIwasaboutfouryearsold,Ilikedto
learnaboutnatureandanimals.Somethingaboutlearningthewaysanimalsevolved,howthey
liveandact,justsmakemeexcited!MyfavoriteanimalwhenIwasyoungerwasthe
Canislupus
ortheGraywolf.Ihadadogthatwashalfwolfhalfrottweilersothatfueledmycuriosityabout
wolvesandotherCanidaemembers.Ilovedlearningaboutdogsbecausehey,whodoesnotlike
dogs?
IbegantobranchouttothefictionwhenIwasaroundfifteen.Fictionismyfavorite
genrebecausethereareseveraldifferentsubgenresinfiction.Butmytopgenreswouldhaveto
beparanormalorsciencefiction.Iliketoreadaboutghouls,werewolvesandotherthingsthat
gobumpinthenight.SometitlesIcouldreadforeverare:
DeadlyNight
byHeatherGraham,
TwiceasHot
byGenaShowalterand
DarkSummer
byIrisJohansen.
DarkSummer
ismy
favoritebecauseitinvolvesdogsandhowtheyhaveabilitiesthathealpeople.Ialsolike
readingmysteryandsuspense,especiallybooksbyJamesPatterson,LisaGardner,AlexKava

andIrisJohansen.ItiswaybetterthanwatchingasuspensemoviesandIlikethatfeelingof
Oh
mygosh,whatsgoingtohappennext?
or
Somethingbadisgoingtohappen.
Eventhoughsome
peoplemightthinkitisnotpossible,Igetgoosebumpsoffofreadingthoseintensemystery
books.Youknowwhenyouwatchahorrorandyougetgoosebumpswhenyouareanticipatinga
jumpscare?Well,Igetthosefromreading.ThatishowIknowitisagoodbook.
YouWantMetoDoWhat?OyVey
Whenitcomestowriting,Iamnotabigfan.Italwaysaprocessandyouhavesomany
ruleswhenitcomestowriting.Thepaperhastostartoffandendlikethis.Ithastobeaboutthis
andincludefourofthefollowingblahblahblah.Doyouhaveruleswhenitcomestoreading?
Nope.Noonetellsyouhowtopicturecertainscenesinyourhead,orhowtomakethecharacters
soundwhenreading.SoyoucanimaginehowreluctantIwasgrowingupwhenIhadtowrite
something.Irememberinthefourthgradewhenthewholeclassgotintroubleforsomething,we
hadtowriteIwillnot____again.like100timesintwentyfiveminutes.Worseconsequence
ever!!Youwouldhavethoughtsinceshewasayoungteacher,shewouldgoanotherroute.Well,
Ithoughtwrong.Mygrandmotherdidthesamething,whetheritwasaboutlying,stealing,
chewingwithyourmouthopen,howfasttheEarthmovesoraboutthecircumferenceoftheSun
whenitisthemiddleofspringanditissnowing.ThosewasmorethanlikelythereasonwhyI
hatewritingsomuch.Ididiteitherforpunishmentoragrade,noinbetweens.WhenIbeganto
likewriting,itwasmainlyautobiographiesandwhoknowsmebetterthanme?Infifthgradewe
didanaudioautobiographyandthatwasprettycool.SoyoucansayIlikewritingnonfiction.
LikeIpreviouslyinsinuated,IknowmebestandIliketalkingaboutmyself.

SoWellCrawl...TilWeCanWalkAgain
HighschoolcamearoundandthatiswhereIstartedtowritemoreoften.InninthgradeI
wroteeulogiesandeditorialpiecesinUSHistory.TenthgradeinAPGovernmentwaswhenI
wrotealotoffivepageoutlines.Inthatclass,Ihadendlesspacketsandoutlinestodo.Ibelieve
myoutlineabouttheUSConstitutionwasaboutfifteenpages.InEnglish10,Iwrotemyown
speechesandanalysisessays.Sincewemainlyfocusedonrhetoricallanguageanddevices,we
dissectedspeechesfromimportantpeopleinhistorysuchasCesarChavez,SojournerTruth,and
Dr.MartinLutherKingJr.Eleventhandtwelfthgradewaswhenmywritingwasstrictly
research.Wesolelyfocusedonacademicresearchpapersforthosetwoyears.Itwaspreparing
meformyResearchPracticum(RP)paper,andforcollege.Soifyouaskmetowritearesearch
paper,oranalysispaper,Igotyou.Otherthanthat,therewillneedtobeanextensiveplanabout
howtoputittogether.However,inmyUWrite101course,Iamstartingtorelearnhowtowrite
expressively.Theseblogpostsandnarrativesarereallyhelpingwiththattransition.Comingout
fromunderthatresearchpaperandanaylsisblanketisgoingtotakesometime,butIthinkI
candoit.
Stop,Play,Pause,Repeat
Idonotknowaboutanyoneelse,butwhenIwanttowrite(whichisrare)Iliketolisten
tomusic.IusuallylistentoPop,orR&BbutlatelyitsbeenGoGo.Myfavoriteapptouseto
listentomusicwouldbePandoraorSpotify.IliketolistentoMiguel,MikeJay,JanelleMonae
andNickiMinajmostofthetime.ButsomeGoGosongsfromNewImpressionzorTCBalways
getsmepumped.Listeningtomusicreallygetsmeinthemoodtowriteandsortofkeepsmeup
andfocusedwhileIamwriting.DependingonthetypeofwritingIamdoing,Iwouldnormally

writesomenotesabouttheorderofmypaperandsomethingsIshouldnotforgetinmypaper.
Likeforinstance,IwrotemyLiteracyNarrative,butbeforeIwrotemydraft,Iwrotedownall
theeventsinchronologicalorderthatIwantedtoinclude.SomethingsIwasnotsureaboutwent
inthemargins.Andwhenthefirstdraftisbeingputtogether,Iwouldjustgodownthelistand
puttheminthepaperwithsomedetails.Also,insteadofhavinganintroductioninthebeginning,
Iwouldjustgetstraighttothefirstpointandthengoonfromthere.Iwastaughttostartoffwith
anintroductioninelementaryandmiddleschool.AndthenwhenIgottohighschool.my
teacherstoldmetogetstraighttothepointinsteadofaddingflufftoyourpaper.Attheend
justtrytosumupthepaperinsteadofwritingathoughtoutconclusion.Tometheymayseem
likethesamething,butIknowdeepdowntheyarenot.
MyCanofSpinachandKryptonite

WhenIthinkaboutthepiecesofwritingIhavedoneandmystrongestpoints,Ithinkthey
mightbechoosingappropriatewordchoiceandaddingformalitytothepaper.Wordingthepaper
isabigdealwhenwritingbecauseIdonotwantthereaderstumblingovermywordsorgetting
confused.Wordingalsohelpstheaudiencestaycaptivatedandunderstandwhatyouaretalking
about.Youdonotwanttoputeighthgradewordsinathirdgradebook.Addingformalitysuch
asbreakingdownthecontractionsandusingadiversevocabularymakesthepaperseemmore
professionalandwellputtogether.Dependingonwhattypeofpaperitis,Iamprettygoodat
addingmypersonalthoughtsandsarcasticdialogue.AsyoucanseeinmyLiteracyNarrative:
Ihadanothersummerassignmentbeforemytenthgradeyear.The
assignmentwastoreadtwobooks,
LordoftheFlies
byWilliamGolding
,A
ThousandSplendidSuns
byKhaledHosseini
,
andaplay,
ADollsHouse
byHenrik
Ibsen.Annotatethemasyougoalong.Onceagain,Imreadingandwritingduring

thesummer.
OhJoy.
Haveyoueverjustlookedathowthickabookwasand
thought
Nope,thatsnotthemovefortoday.Actuallythatsnevergoingtobethe
move?.
Wellthatwasme.
Twobooksandaplay?Youmusthavelostyourmind...
.

Ithinkthatisrelativelyeasybecausetheyareyourownthoughts.Youdonothaveto
changetheminanyway,justputthemonthepaper.Andsarcasmtomeislikeasecond
languageanditcomeslikethat*snapsfingers*.SomethingImightneedtoworkonisgetting
outofthehabitofmakingallofmypaperssoundlikeaformalproposal.Like,apoemor
expressiveessaydoesnotneedtosoundlikeitisbeingaddressedtothePresidentoftheUnited
States.Imightalsoneedtoworkonmytransitionsfromeitherparagraphtoparagraphorfrom
topictotopic.IknowpersonallythatIdostrugglewithmakingtwodifferenttopicsconnectso
thatthereisasmoothtransition.Imayhavethecorrectthoughtprocessonhowtodoit,butit
mightnotlookorsoundthesameonpaper.
AnygoalsthatIhavewhenitcomestowritingaremostlyaboutbecomingmore
comfortablenotwritingformallyandprobablyexpandingmyvocabulary.Idoknowmorewords
thanwhatIactuallyuseinmypapersbutIdonotstayconsistentwhenusingthem.Idohave
somequalitiesthatIliketoseeinotherwriters.Iliketoknowthatthewritetriestoconnectwith
thereaderandmakessurethatthereaderisnotconfused.Sometimesthewriterwouldaskthe
questionsHaveyouever?,Doyourememberatimewhen?Thosetypesofquestionsto
mehelpsthereaderrelatetothewriterbetter.Ilikeattentiongrabbersinsomepiecesofwriting,
whetheritisinthebeginning,middleorend.Itmakesitseemthatthepaper,book,magazine,
etc.,isgoingtobeinterestingandmostofthetimeitis.Ialsolikewhenthewriterdoesnotseem

liketheyaretalkingatme,buttalkingtome.Theyhavesomeonesideddialoguesorwitty
commentsandthataddspizzazztotheirwriting.