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Vernese Durolin

Professor Gardiakos

ENC1101

22 February 2021

Reading Response for Mike Rose & Anne Lamott

When creating a writing or discourse, the process of problem-solving can be seen within

each experience of writing. Mike Rose, the author of “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the

stifling of Language”, goes into depth to explain how writing can be seen as a problem that is yet

to be solved. Of course, as in all problems that need to be solved, there are ‘rules and plans’ that

must be followed in order to reach a resolution. He breaks up this concept into three parts; the

introductory period, the processing period, and the solution period. Each period consists of

1different processes that all lead to one thing, the goal. I could apply this to my daily life outside

of school and writing because when I come upon a stump that needs to be resolved, I do this by

first presenting the problem that needs to be solved, laying out all possible solutions in front of

me, figuring out which way I should engage the problem that would result in the best solution.

Furthermore, Rose continues by explaining different branches of the composition of rules that

plays a role in the operation of problem-solving. The two categories are algorithms, which Rose

states are “Precise rules that will always result in a specific answer”, for example, algebra. The

Second category is heuristics, ‘rules of thumb’. Rose explains this as “guidelines that allow

varying degrees of flexibility when approaching problems” (Rose, 162). Heuristic rules become

more suitable in an environment that makes use of little to no mathematics. Some writing ‘rules’
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that I follow are planning my thoughts out before beginning. Some may not view this as a rule,

however, I consider it as a ‘rule of thumb’ when writing. Rose utilizes this concept of the rules to

explain the intensity of blockers and non-blockers in writing. Blockers are fixed to algorithms

leading to a closed mindset affecting creativity and imagination. Rose uses different people such

as Ruth, Laurel, Martha, Mike, etc., to exemplify some rules that they feel they must follow in

order to reach their goal, and how each rule becomes blockers in their writing process. After

reading each example he gives, according to Rose list of rules that stand in the way of blockers

is, “A good essay always grabs a reader’s attention immediately”, which was illustrated by Ruth.

“If sentences aren’t grammatically correct they aren’t useful”, “You must always make three or

more points in an essay”, and many more. On the other hand, non-blockers consist of a different

mentality. They try to keep the audience in mind, and when they are stuck, instead of giving up

or stopping, they force themselves to continue, as Rose states “If it won’t fit my work, I’ll

change it”. Depending on the topic, the subject, and the way I am able to comprehend what is

being asked of me, I am between a blocker and a non-blocker. When I am a blocker I compare

myself more to Ruth than the others. I considered the intro paragraph as the ‘grabber’. It is my

opportunity to capture the readers’ attention within just that first paragraph. I can not move on

until I find my introduction worthy for others to read. The element of feedback that Rose

mentions, also helps me whenever I do feel blocked. Receiving comments from others allows me

to gain a new perspective of the matter and it allows me to see their point of view and how they

approach the issue compared to me.

Despite this, Anne Lamott, author of “Shitty First Drafts”, talks about how people deal

with ‘voices in their head’ while writing. She states, “What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to

work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head” (Lamott, 90). She said this Lamott
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means that she quiets all of the distractions that run throughout her head. For example, when I

write the voices in my head vary depending on the events that took place before I began my

writing. For instance, if I had just got in an argument with someone that person’s voice may run

in my head continuasly as I began to write. If it’s not someones’ voice in my head then most of

the time the voices are mine, or some may say imaginary. When it is ‘my voice’ it usually

revolves around what I am writing about, or sometimes the voice in my head critisizes or gives

feedback.
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Works Cited

Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts”, ​Writing About Writing​, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and

Doug Downs, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp.

87-91. Print.

Rose, Mike. “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the stifling of Language”, ​Writing About

Writing​, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp.

158-171. Print.