Greg Dittman

July 15, 2015

Eng 150 Sec 800

Writing Prompt 3

Favorite Line:
You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that
God hates all the same people you do. Quoted by Annes pastor, Tom, this statement
provides an interesting perspective on the correlation between hate and faith. Annes
jealousy towards another writer was uncovered after she claimed that God doesnt like
her or even stand her. (Lamott, Shitty First Drafts). Jealousy and hate are closely
intertwined and are, in fact, seldom one without the other. Pastor Toms quote created a
unique insight that can be applied in my life today.
Least Favorite Line:
"It's not like you don't have a choice, because you do -- you can either type, or kill
yourself." One writer claims that he says this to himself every morning before he begins
to write. This statement provides an interesting outlook on the hardships that many
writers experience through the unknown of their work. Few, if any, writers know the
outcome of their work and risk wasting time continuing on a bust or faulty writing project.
The reason I liked this statement the least was because, in my mind, it seems to be
extremely accurate. A writing career is very difficult to sustain. Given the uncertainties
and hardships that many writers experience, the statement you can either type, or kill
yourself truly represents the fear that writers can have. My mom is a writer and has
experienced the difficulties of publishing books and I can only imagine the extent of
validity the writers statement holds for all writers around the world.
Stranger in a Strange Land Summary:
In this article, I was informed of important writing tips. For example, it is important to
judge your academic environment (i.e. your teachers grading criteria) and adapt to it.
By not having a uniform grading scale (with exception to standard grammar, english,
etc.), grading written work can be very arbitrary. The article goes on to talk about the
background of writing and its correlation to speaking. An extensive study of a student
Dave and his three professors concluded that writing tasks in different classes are still
similar but interpreted differently, social factors appear to promote writing success in the
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classes, and ways to figure what the teacher wants are fairly consistent throughout the
classes. The rest of the article goes into greater depth and detail of the writing
involvement/requirements that Dave had for each class.

Myths of Writing Summary:

In Myths of Writing by Frank Smith, 22 myths of writing are stated and then batted
down by reality. One myth that I found particularly interesting and will summarize in
greater detail was myth 7, a writer is a special kind of person. Smith goes on to say
that a writer is no different than a normal person with the only exception being- writers
write. He then doubts the genetic existence that some people are just born better
writers than others. I disagree. I do agree that writing can be learned, improved, etc.
but I disagree that all people are born with an equal capability of writing prowess. I
believe we are not. For example: in 3rd grade a female colleague of mine had written a
100 page story while I could hardly write a sentence at the time.

Similarities:
I believe that both articles demonstrate the vast unknowns about writing. Writing has its
myths, uncertainties, and curiosities. In the first article, an intricate research study was
conducted in hopes of discovering more about the mysteries of writing. In the second
article, 22 myths were demystified at the best of the writers ability. Neither article
attempted to provide definitions of writing, but they both attempted to provide an ounce
of clarity to help the reader.

Differences:
In the first article Stranger in a Strange Land, I felt that a status quo was created. The
writer seemed to be contempt that writers write to appeal the reader (the academic
environment in this case). Writers will find, at the best of their ability, the readers
criteria and conform to it-- even the articles research agrees to that. In the second
article Myths of Writing, the standard quo was not created but destroyed. Each and
every premonition of writing was given and then ripped from its hinges. We learned that
writing, itself, cannot be stereotyped or, merely, depicted. Both articles, however,
furthered my curiosity into what writing can mean to me as a business major.