Please share your thoughts on what you took away from today’s conversation with author Andy Marino. What part(s) of the talk resonated most with you? Did you learn anything that, if applied, might help you to improve your own writing? In general, did you like having a guest speaker in the classroom? Your response should be at least five sentences long.
21 thoughts on “Blog Post #2: Reflecting on Guest Speaker Andy Marino’s Talk”
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The point that resonated with me the most from today’s conversation was the importance of revision. Revisions allow you to re- work a story, sit on your ideas, and develop new ones. Revisions are useful when it comes to properly pacing a story and developing plots and characters. I feel as though if I were to write down my story in full and then revise, I would be a more efficient writer and better articulate my points. In general, it was interesting to have a guest speaker, especially one who is a professional and a published writer.
I think the two most useful things that I took out from the conversation with Andy are “vomit draft” and “9 to 5 job”. When I am trying to write something, the first thing I struggle with is to start. It is hard to start putting words on the paper when you don’t really know what you are writing about yet. So I think the idea of “vomit draft” is really useful. Just put every crappy idea on the paper, and even if you delete most of them later, you will have some good ones you can work with. Also, I believe the idea of treating writing as a job is helpful as well. You can wait months for the inspiration that you might never get. It is more useful to sit down every day for half an hour trying to put some words on paper than waiting for the magical inspiration and then rushing through things the day before the deadline.
I liked having a guest speaker in our class because he gave some insights into how it is to be a writer. Some people romanticize this career path thinking that writers have inspiration all the time and that they never stop writing good things. Andy showed us that being a writer is a job like any other with all deadlines and inspiration struggles.
In today’s conversation with Andy Marino, what resonated the most is that when writing, I would put down what I have in mind now. Sometimes it is a flash of thought and I would not be able to capture that thought back, so I tend to write things all down first and then go back editing my writing. I learned how to show not tell, I was told by many teachers to “show and not tell,” but they never gave me an example or showed me how to do that, so the strategy of using dialogue is extremely helpful. Also, the use of flashback because with the plots that I have written in the diagnostic writing, I believe that using flashback for my story would make the story more interesting. I think if I were to give the background of the main character in the beginning, the readers would have known the story plot already. I like having guest speaker in the classroom since they have experience in what they are doing, and they can share that experience with us.
In today’s conversation with author Andy Marino I learned that the structure of writing a fictional novel is not like what everyone makes it out to be. It was interesting to know that Andy treats writing like a nine to five job, that his writing is not necessarily inspired off of traveling or insane experiences, and that writing is, sometimes, something you have to discipline yourself to do because the more it is done the easier it may get. Something I learned that I believe could help me become a better writer is the importance of not incorporating too much information all at once, because the point is to draw the reader in with small information at a time such as leaving clues behind or revealing things along the way. Overall, I personally enjoyed having a guest speaker in the class, it is something I believe English professors/teachers normally do not do, and it helps hearing advice from a professional writer based off of his experiences.
I agree with what Sofya said. I think the vomit draft and consistency is something that I’m gonna try to keep up with and apply to myself. I’m overly self conscious about the quality of my work even though I know that it’s not supposed to be perfect, and it is something that should be built up on and improved. This caution that I have leads to me just staring at a paper for hours and constantly rewriting what I have to say, which is very time consuming. Writing whatever’s on my mind, whenever it’s on my mind, and having all that material to work with later on would both save me from a lot of stress and make final drafts much easier to deal with. I enjoyed having Marino be a guest speaker in our class and talk about his experience in this career path.
I liked having a guest speaker because it was great to hear what an actual author goes through when writing a story. I didn’t expect to relate to what Mr. Marino does when preparing a story. Instead, I found I resonated with the feeling of having so many thoughts wanting to spill out at once. I will take Andy’s advice and use the technique of writing many pages (vomit draft) without worrying about the page limit. Then I can begin to slowly edit it down to the required number of pages and start with the final revisions. I have often done the exact opposite and was very stingy with my words and letting my thoughts spill out. I found today’s class very insightful and hope to have a guest speaker visit soon.
In today’s talk with Andy Marino, the part that resonated with me the most was when he shared that he is the type of person to “go with the flow and hope nothing rings false.” He also said he likes to get out his thoughts and then do the editing process during and after. When he said he likes to write from his experience and interaction with others, that caught my attention. This resonates with me so deeply because I am this way. I like to get my thoughts and ideas out and care about editing and research as I go. I am not the type of person to have a detailed and structured plan on paper and put it into writing. I always thought this way of writing was detrimental, and all throughout my life have been told my writing method seems counterproductive leading me to doubt it. When Marino talked about his similar method and said there is no one correct method, it lifted a weight off my shoulders. I was originally going to do my writings in the way I have been conditioned to think was superior, but I have had the confidence to do it my own way since this talk.
I have learned so much that will help my writing, for instance, I should let the characters’ actions and thoughts speak to who they are to let the audience form their own conclusions. I am going to infuse elements of my own life into my characters’ life. I am going to write for the purposes of engagement and excitement while including a realistic interpretation. I tend to lean towards the technical side of things and I will let that shine in my writing, but I also need to cater to the audience. I need to start my story at some interesting point to grab the reader’s attention. Lastly, I shouldn’t bombard the readers with too much information at the beginning, I need to let it all unfold with the story to keep it interesting.
I loved having a guest speaker in the classroom today, speaking on something relevant to a future assignment. It gave me a lot of insight, so many ideas, it helped me embrace my style of writing, and it helped me truly see fiction work and writing in general in an exciting way. Your insight also gave me a lot of ideas and a new way of looking at this assignment. I will take everything I learned today and channel it into what is ahead.
Reflecting on today’s talk with guest speaker, Andy Marino, I took away many great things that both him and the audience touched upon today. I noted that Andy is human just like everyone else and experiences what is called “writer’s block” once in a while too especially with quarantine. Something else that resonated was when Andy mentioned the “vomit draft” in which he talked about putting all the ideas onto a document and seeing how the writer can clean up or sort the details afterwards. I feel as if this was truly useful especially for writing a short story because many ideas can be stuck in our minds until they are typed out and once they are on physical documents, its a great opportunity to sort the details out. I also noted how Andy spoke about how there is no “correct” way of writing something and I agree with that 100% because we all have different ways of writing our stories. One way or another, all of Andy’s stories were written, but clearly they were all written based off different events and his method of spilling ideas may have been different from other books he has written. I enjoyed having a guest speaker because it gave a source of inspiration and a down to earth experienced person to give us as students a run down of what it’s like to be in the literary world. Andy being the speaker was truly interesting and simply meeting him was quite a new experience. Between the professor, Andy, and the classroom’s insight, it was all very well-organized and I learned a lot.
I enjoyed having guest speaker, Andy Marino, in class yesterday. His idea of a “vomit draft” resonated with me the most. When I write I tend to get writers block a lot and I tend to feel really unmotivated when my paper is empty or if I’ve been stuck in the same part. I think a “vomit draft” is really smart because I’ll know I didn’t waste hours doing nothing. Sometimes new ideas start to come to mind when I begin writing so I think that’ll help my writing a lot. Andy also discussed how to take out unnecessary parts of a story which is something I struggle with and he mentioned not to write fiction that’s basic or has been written many times. I don’t have much experience with fiction so I think I’ll definitely write different drafts and have someone read them and give me feed back. It was really interesting having a professional author as a guest speaker because we understood his thought process and how his books come together at the end which is something I was always curious about.
The parts that resonated with me the most from Andy Marino’s talk are when he responded to the questions of how to deal with writer’s block and how quarantine has affected his motivation when writing novels. I come across writer’s block a lot and I never thought of the method of just spilling all your thoughts onto paper first even if it is not perfect just to get past the block. I found this to be a very helpful tip because I frequently spend more time thinking about what to write than making progress on paper. Ever since quarantine started, staying motivated became difficult. It was interesting to hear others were feeling the same way and that turning activities such as writing into a daily routine can help with motivation. In general, I enjoyed having a guest speaker in the classroom because it was interesting to receive tips and learn about experiences from a professional writer.
I gained a lot of new knowledge from Andy, so guest speakers are definitely welcomed. I learned that it helps to make a character realistic if you keep their dialogue short, differentiate it, and give every character a voice. It’s good to give each of them a different personality and do your best to make it natural. I will definitely use the method of typing a rough draft and writing anything that comes to mind without any pressure. I feel like that will really help me get all my ideas on the paper and allow me to get more done faster. I also learned I could use flashbacks instead of having the story moving entirely in a linear format.
I was not in class on Monday so I cannot comment on the contents of the class, but in general I think guest speakers help add a dynamic to the classroom that is not otherwise present. I personally experienced this in my previous English class while studying in Tokyo. My professor chose to invite a guest speaker that had familiarity in the subject of our first major assignment. This was helpful for me because it gave me a new perspective to consider. While I was brainstorming ideas for my first essay, I compared and contrasted both my professor’s and the guest speaker’s perspectives on the subject which I believe helped improve the quality of my paper.
The parts from today’s conversation with author Andy Mariano that resonated with me the most were when he mentioned that it is important to get the reader’s attention in the very beginning of the story to get them interested. Another piece of advice from the conversation that resonated with me was to not use a lot of information in the beginning of the chapter but instead have something interesting to pull people along the story, almost like a fishline that draws people along and keeps them turning pages. Some of the things I learned that if applied would help improve my writing is to follow a format, outline, and guideline when writing such as the revision and draft process. Another thing that I learned that would help me with my writing is putting down a bit of information and parts of the story each day so that I stay on track and continue to make progress. I enjoyed having a guest speaker in the classroom because we got to learn from someone who is more knowledgeable and experienced than us when it comes to writing.
The conversation the class had with author Andy Marino was very insightful on a variety of levels. The first topic mentioned that I really related too was on how to write a first draft. Andy suggested that his method of just “vomiting” all your ideas down to just get words on paper is a good way to start off because it helps you see the story line whosistally. After jotting down all your thoughts Andy explained that you should then go through your draft and expand or take away parts of the story you see fit. Starting my paper has always been the hardest part of writing for me, so being able to just jot down all my ideas and see where it goes will definitely help me create a strong hook that flows well with the rest of the storyline. The second topic that Andy explained was about trying not to overwhelm the reader with all the knowledge you have. Personally, I’ve always had an issue with giving only the required information, I usually blab away with irrelevant details. In fact, this relates to our short story writing because one of the comments Professor Corva gave me before Andy came to our class was that I should not “ just give too much away easily. Make the audience wait for it “. I think this is a very important point because creating suspense is vital in writing. It’s one of the only ways to keep the readers intrigued, so being able to only give the required information without revealing where the story is going is necessary. The last point I’ll mention is Andy’s and Professor Corva’s advice on peer editing. Every writer gets tunnel vision occasionally and it’s important to get others opinions on your writing before submitting a final draft. You don’t have to follow everyone’s different viewpoints, but feedback always gives you a chance to do it better. Overall, having Andy come speak to our class was a great and educational experience.I wish him all the best on his new venture!
The parts of Andy Marino’s talk that resonated with me the most was all the advice and suggestions he provided the class with. He suggested that as a writer you shouldn’t bombard the reader with so much information at once. Allow the reader to figure stuff out on their own. You should be able to decide when it’s the right time to provide clues that thicken the plot or the right amount of information to use when introducing a character for the first time. A progressive and reasonable build-up of information is more effective than a long or immediate buildup. The most effective way to write a first draft is to develop a “vomit draft” where all your ideas are written down disregarding the quality of the ideas. After completing your writing you should enhance it through collaborative feedback. I did enjoy having a guest speaker because it provided insight into an individual’s writing process and it provided us with ways to improve our overall writing capabilities.
The class conversation with author Andy Marino was very interesting. I was able to gain an insight into Andy’s life. More specifically, his experiences as an author and what he does when he’s writing. He gathers all his information first and then puts it together for his writing pieces. Gathering the information consists of hours of research. The part that resonated with me the most was when Andy was talking about writer’s block. It’s common for writers to get stuck in their thoughts. One process that Andy talked about to handle this problem was to get a piece of paper and write all your thoughts down. This process is called writing a vomit draft. It helps you connect all the bits and pieces together. It was fun having a guest speaker because you get to learn a lot from their experiences.
I enjoyed having Andy Marino as a guest speaker for a portion of the class. The Q&A portion was a nice change of pace and completely different from the teaching format that I am used to. I didn’t realize how much research one had to do for historical fiction novels and even learned what a copywriter does. I think it was also interesting to get a look into an author’s thought process and how one begins to start writing. I was also curious to know what writing troupes in his own profession that he thought were overdone or overused. Being able to ask a person in a professional writing position allowed me to reconsider my own writing and what I plan to do for this creative writing assignment. I also found that writing “vomit drafts” is actually used in a professional creative setting and not something my senior year English teacher made up. Overall, the session was informational and I was able to gather tips to improve my own writing skills.
I truly liked having guest speaker, Andy Marino, in our class. He was able to explain me about vomit drafts. It is extremely useful to just put down everything on your mind and work from there. He also taught me the important of mystery inside of a writing piece. It is better to not give all the information to the reader at once as it becomes boring, but rather give it piece by piece. Andy was able to truly give us the inside perspective of a writer and it allowed us to learn from his experience.
The conversation that the class had with Andy Marino was quite insightful. Even though he is a fiction writer the amount of research he does, to have his books be historically correct, is crazy. As someone who primarily reads non-fiction, when I do read fiction I like it when the authors pay attention to historical background. I also appreciated the fact that we had Q&A as opposed to him just lecturing us about how to write fiction, because it gave us the ability to find some tidbits that students might not necessarily know. One of them was how he likes to keep dialogue short and true to each character. The fact that he makes sure each character gets their own “voice” makes a lot of sense. It was enjoyable to have a guest speaker in class and hope that we have some more.
I enjoyed having a guest speaker in our class. It was interesting to hear about his experiences as an author and how he dealt with different literary obstacles. The point that resonated with me the most from our conversation with Andy, was how he deals with writer’s block, I was always someone who struggled with writer’s block and felt anything that I wrote after, wasn’t good enough for submission. He spoke about his “vomit drafts” technique and how he would just write anything even if it was complete crap. During his writer’s block period, he focused more on quantity rather than quality. I also enjoyed and found it helpful when he spoke about starting your story when the so-called “boulder” was about to reach the peak of the hill. This helps when you do you have much to work with and you want to keep the audience interested.
Andy was a great speaker and gave me some good pointers on how to create and come up with ideas for writing. One thing he said at the beginning is that when coming with what you’re going to start writing about try to come up with several things you can and just write them down. Then as you proceed you take out ideas that you don’t think fit or work with your story. Prior to this, I would get stuck on one thought trying to write the whole story perfectly at one time instead of brainstorming. One thing he stressed was the importance of a good hook or introduction. It is the first impression you give to the reader and is what makes them want to read more. If your hook is weak you can lose the reader and they will become disinterested. Another important tip he gave is to get others’ opinion on your writing to improve and see what you are lacking.