Advanced Essay Writing, Spring 2013

Hi all,

The information sheet for my presentation, which includes all the resources I’ve used, is attached here!

REVISION

“Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthless. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any though be expressed with more economy?…Simplify, simplify” (p.16). I love that part that “expressed with more economy”. I never though that clutter words were distracting. I though that clutter words around a sentence means sophistication. However, I was wrong and according to Zinsser, a great writer simplify and simplify every sentence.

Another advise from Zinsser that I like is “Never hesitate to imitate another writer”. (p.238). I complete agree with this and I try to do it. Every time I see a new word in a newspaper, I try to memorize the sentence and utilize later.

“You must fight these phrases or you’ll sound like every hack.  You’ll never make your mark as a writer unless you develop a respect for words and a curiosity about their shades of meaning that is almost obsessive.  The English language is rich in strong and supple words.  Take the time to root around and find the ones you want.” (Zinsser, 32)

This is the advice with which Zinsser opens the sixth chapter of his book.  He starts the paragraph talking about journalese, or the idea that writer’s eventually conform to a mundane and monotonous style common to popular magazines, newspapers and other forms of media by giving in to cliches and commonplace words.  Throughout the chapter, he focuses on the importance of word choice and paying attention to the rhythm of writing.  As I reflected on the best pieces that I have written, I realized that I enjoy my poetry the most.  I spend hours writing and revising each line, making sure that the words flow together and convey my emotion in its raw form.  However, it had never occurred to me to put that same editing skill into my other writing.  By exerting the same amount of effort into the choices that I make in my creative non-fiction,  I could potentially give my prose as much prominence and substance as my poetry.

Below are your editing groups. Please check the personal blogs of the other writers in your group and read their drafts (due by tonight at 10 pm).  Just go to our class blog and click on the author’s first names; you will be redirected to their blogs.  Post your response(s) as a comment on the blog post containing the draft.

What do you have to do to get credit for the peer review process?

–Post your response letter(s) as a comment to the blog post(s) so I can see it.

–Post your response letter(s) BEFORE class on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

–Turn in your own draft on time so your editing group mates and I have time to read it and comment.

–Try to answer all the questions on the “Reader Response Letter” handout.

Directions for what to cover in your feedback can be found on the handout, “Reader Response Letter,” which I gave out in class last week. This handout is also available on the Assignments page of the class  blog.

Here are your editing groups for Essay 1. If you can’t find your name, it’s because I haven’t gotten a link to your blog.

Cass, Amzad, Alee

Andrea, Hutch, Rebecca

Avi, Jenny, Kris

Iordan, Jessica, Nakeisha

Darius, Meena, Sofia

Zhanna, Michelle, Javar, Tenzin

A piece of Zinsser advice that has helped me through my writing is, “At such moments I ask myself one very helpful question: What is the piece really about?” (Zinsser, pg 269). Through personal experience, I have caught myself in the middle of a paper and questioning where I am going with it. We have a tendency of wanting to write down so much and lose the essence of what the story is truly about. We are then left with a very detailed story with no direct path or sequence of events.

I think this is good advice for any writer. Writers tend to lose the meaning of their writing and begin to ramble about things that are not true to what they want their piece to be. Usually, writers add unnecessary details that draw them down another path. We then wind up with too much wordiness and lack of direction. I think it is great to really question where you want to go with your story. It allows you to gather the details you need and execute a great piece of writing.

“Is there any way to recognize clutter at a glance? Here’s a device my students at Yale found helpful. I would put brackets around every component in a piece of writing that wasn’t doing useful work. Often just one word got bracketed… Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Reexamine each sentence you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful? Simplify, simplify.” (Zinsser 15-16).

This section of Zinsser really hits close to home with me. Since middle school I’ve been writing essays for class that had page requirements and because of that I wrote mostly to fill space once I ran out of anything to say. I took this advice to heart for the first draft and intend to always proofread my work and bracket off clutter and eliminate it.

”There is a kind of writing that might be called journalese, and it’s the death of freshness in anybody’s style. It’s the common currency of newspaper and of magazines like people– a mixture of cheap words, made up words and cliches that have become so pervasive that a writer can hardly help using them. You must fight these phrases or you’ll sound like every hack. You’ll never make your mark as a writer unless you develop a respect for words and a curiosity about their shades of meaning that is almost obsessive” ( Zinsser 32).

For new writers who are eagerly working to sound like a writer, I think this is a very good idea. Words are all in all in writing that convey the messages of the writers to the readers. A writer writes for its readers and if he is not cautious in choosing the right words his readers will suffer for it and consequently, they will turn away. It’s very simple that when a reader takes a piece of writing and spends his/her time reading it, they only see the words quilted by the writer, not the writer himself.  As a result, choosing the right words is extremely important for a writer. What Zinsser means by it is use nouns to describe nouns, use verbs to describe verbs; we don’t need nouns to describe verbs, nor do we need verbs to describe nouns. If you as a writer do not respect words, you will not get respects from your readers.

The Zinsser lesson that I most appreciated and took to heart was from the Chapter 3 lessons on clarity. Improving clarity is something I’m trying to become better at and smoothing the flow of my writing is one of my major goals. I believe lack of clarity is a barrier to great writing because it usually correlates with wordiness and lack of rhythm.

On page 17 of my edition, it states “Look for the clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly.” This lesson resonated with me because we also learned that from master storyteller Ira Glass, someone I respect immensely. Zinsser goes on to share that “we should be grateful for everything we throw away”- a maxim that at first seems counter-intuitive but makes perfect sense in our cluttered world. I tried to apply it by stripping things down from my first essay, getting the point across without painstakingly describing every scene, such as the doctor’s office. I was hesitant in the past to cut my writing and it still is pretty painful (you are in effect, rejecting yourself), but I’m embracing it because I hope it will ultimately lead to a better outcome.

“Think small. Decide what corner of your subject you’re going to bite off, and be content to cover it and stop.” (Zinsser, 52)

While I found a lot of Zinsser’s suggestions to be very helpful it was this brief quotation that really struck me. Often times when I write I run into trouble when it comes to focusing on a particular topic. Once I’ve chosen a topic and begin writing I’m suddenly flooded with alternate ideas of subjects I can write about. As a result, I branch off starting three separate Word Documents on three different subjects and completing none of them. Zinsser then goes on to suggest:

“Decide what single point you want to leave in the reader’s mind. It will not only give you a better idea of what route you should follow and what destination you want to reach; it will affect your decision about tone and attitude.” (Zinsser, 52)

While I do focus on my reader’s reaction I also try not to be too manipulative in getting that reaction. For instance, when it came to my first draft for this class I had written two versions of my essay. One seemed a little too cliche as if written in order to demand a reaction and a little too preachy. Something which I’d like to work on in this class is identifying that sweet spot where I can tell a story and read it back to myself and have it match up to my own reaction to the actual event, conveying a genuine message whatever that may be.

“Therefore think small. Decide what corner of your subject you’re going to bite off, and be content to cover it and stop… As for what point you want to make, every successful piece of non-fiction should leave the reader with one provocative thought that he or she didn’t have before. Not two thoughts, or five -just one. So decide what single point you want to leave in the reader’s mind. It will not only give you a better idea of what route you should follow and what destination you want to reach; it will affect your decision about tone and attitude.” (Zinsser, 52)

I think this is good advice for beginning writers who are overwhelmed by wanting to express too many things in one piece, like I am. In essence, I think what he talks about is not just cutting out clutter in terms of words, but also in terms of ideas. If you choose one specific thing to express in your writing, it helps you focus in that area, and creates less room for tangents. Ultimately, this would result in clarity of the work, both to the reader and the writer.