Boice to Men

I think Boice offers some fairly sound suggestions for essay and paper writing in this piece, however, for him to blanketly expect all writing to follow these rules is misguided; and by “all writing”, I’m primarily talking about creative writing. For example, Boice’s rule to avoid passive waiting and deadlines, beginning one’s assignment well ahead of time, in order to create motivation is subjective. Just the basic idea of manufacturing motivation, though possible in my opinion, is something entirely subjective. It has to be. Though some people write better when given a large amount of time, just as many need the pressure of an approaching deadline to create. And assuming that this "rushed" product will be necessarily better or worse than work given “the proper amount of time” to form is, again misguided just as it is misguided to think that “binge writing” should be avoided. Tell that to Jack Keroac. These things are entirely dependent upon the writer. Perhaps I take greater issue with Boice’s wording than his ideas; I think these things are great “guidelines”, but to label them as “rules” is to suggest that Boice understands how every single person best writes when the process of writing is as subjective as the appreciation of it. Baring this in mind, I do think such suggestions as making writing a daily habit and setting “stopping points” for oneself are also good guidelines to follow.

Would you tell this guy not to binge?

Response to Boice - Hypomania and Blocking

I must say that the technical difficulties and the late hour are giving me a sense of hypomania in writing this response to the Boice article, trying to get something in "on time."

Admittedly I am skeptical of any advice regarding the writing process. This isn't because I think it is mysterious. I'm not going to say it isn't, but because I think people are so individual about the way they write it is hard to pin-down any universal tendencies. That is why I am so glad Boice cited co many students. This use of citation gave me more confidence in his claims.

Issues of forcing and blocking come up a lot. I think forcing is perhaps the most proliferous of the negative tendencies that affect the writing process.

One thing I think was very resonant with me, in Boice's chapter, was cultivating a habit of writing:

"what might have begun as forcing became an effortless habit" (pp15).

And Justin's comment above, about the conversation, is rather interesting as well. (side note: The Conversation, 70's movie, Palme d'or winner is good... we never know quite where a conversation's border's are). But being a part of a conversation I think also entails having something to add to it... having a stake in the points to be made and the opinions circulated therein.

Admittedly though, I think Kafka wrote The Trial in one sitting, staying up all night (I might be wrong). So if you are really on a roll and can't stop make sure its a darn good roll. The problem however, is that when I feel I've written something intense, something with a lot of momentum to it, I return to it later and realize it was junk. Part of this realization is that my mind was clouded by the hypomania of the writing process, the moment.

Now, I am always skeptical about throwing around psychological jargon, but I think hypomania is legit. Horace, the Roman poet, I think said he'd wait 10 years before returning to a work so he could see it fresh. Donald Hall, former U.S. Poet Laureate, would wait 2 years. I think if you resist hypomanic urgencies and pace yourself you can compose (or just "write") with more skill, more craft. That being said inspiration will always factor, at least I think so.

I knew a playwright who lit a candle everyday and wrote by that. Well, I didn't know him that well, but he was a writing teacher of mine whose opinion I valued. I think this cultivation of habitual writing, pacing oneself in the process, and relaxing seems good advice to me as a writer.

-Ryan

Response to Boice: Getting Others to Write

I'll be honest--when I first began to read the chapter "Motivation" from Boice's How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency, I wasn't sure I had gotten much out of it.  After all, I have written papers and gotten stuck in them knee-deep so many times before; I felt less like Boice was informing me of anything than that he was just reaffirming what I already knew about how ambivalence, waiting for "inspiration," becoming disenchanted about the process and benefits of writing, and excuse-making can be damaging to writing.  At least, I thought, there are others who suffer these pangs as regularly as I do, and it's always comforting to hear a scientist mention that the problems oneself has are common to others, as well.

As I read Boice's discussion on popular methods to gain motivation, I began to notice how much he mentioned the group he was leading and the role he took on there.  For the first time, I realized I was reading a text on writing, not as a writer, but as a (soon-to-be) teacher.  It didn't matter that I had heard it all before, that I had faced problems with motivation or that I had myself tested various ways of getting motivated.

I headed up a Creative Writing club at my old school.  Usually we played games where we constructed stories shaped around characters or plots pulled from a hat, but occasionally we brought works in to be read and workshopped by other members.  Why did we do this so infrequently?  Because I, as the president, found it nearly impossible to motivate my members to write for themselves on top of their course work.  Creative Writing students would usually bring in things they had written in class, and students from other majors brought in old works, written during break, or else skipped meetings where they were expected to contribute.  As a teacher, I'm certain it will be helpful to keep in mind Boice's advice about motivation in order to make others write.  Sure, I've written myself into corners, taken a few shots of espresso, and charged right out again, but is that advice I can honestly see myself giving to a student who comes to me saying he or she is having trouble with an assignment?  It would be much easier and far more helpful to work some of Boice's tactics, such as daily writing, into my own class's work, and hope that this empowers students to find the proper words when reaching for them.

Response to Boice

Boice mentions a writing tactic that I always fail to use despite being able to start it at any time. Rule #4 states, "Practice a regular habit of writing to instil reliable motivation." Although he insists on having only one l in "instill", this rule still rings true and the writer who can take its pith and put it into production will be rewarded.

Hypomania, as Boice hints, has a romantic quality to it. Some of the writers question if Boice has ever been through such harrowing and exhilarating moments of hypomania, and they exalt the marathon session. One of my profs had mentioned writing a twenty page paper in one sitting--two pots of coffee and half a carton of cigarettes later he had his essay in hand. As disgusting as that sounds, I can't help but admire him and stand in awe of his accomplishment.

Regimented writing feels mundane and unsexy compared to an all-nighter--a story about finishing a twenty page paper in two month's time is not riveting. But regimented writing is so useful that I am kicking myself now for not creating a schedule already. My most successful times as a writer--admittedly there are few--were when I had to write every single night. Not surprisingly, I was writing for different courses and for different people each night, which caused me to be more relaxed about writing. I like to think of writing as a building muscle memory. Like the NBA center who practices his free throws every day, we too need to do something involving writing everyday in order to build our writing muscles.

I enjoyed that Boice is grounded and understands that writers won't fully dive into a writing regimen.  Fifteen minutes a day seems reasonable. It may not seem as magical like hypomania, but it seems healthier and more realistic.

Boice Response: The Conversation

When I entered the Honors College at UCA, one the things they gave me was a username and password to get onto an online forum. When I logged on, I found a thread where several past and present members of the college had posted introductions. Almost all of them made reference to "continuing the conversation" and through out my time at UCA "the conversation" was often talked about in this abstract way. I was told that "the conversation" happened everywhere: on campus, off campus, online. It was strange. I wasn't sure what the conversation was about or whether I wanted its omnipresence to follow me back to my dorm room. After going through the program, I am still unsure if I was ever a participate in "the conversation," though I did make many friends in the program and we talk all the time. We even picked up on some of the language that was used in the classes particular to Honors, like "the self" and "the Other," but I am not sure if we entered an existing conversation or just incorporated Honorsese into our own everyday conversations.

Boice and his students speak to my confusion about what "the conversation" is and where it is happening. Looking back, I can see that "the conversation" is not something that I can simply find, but something that I have to, in part, create. What I was able to learn at UCA and which is reiterated by Boice is that there are many different conversations going on in academia, in the public sphere, and within ourselves. Honors tried to teach us that if we could learn where these conversations talked passed each other and get them to talk to each other then we could make a contribution to each of those conversations. The term "the conversation" only stress the idea that through interdisciplinarity and cosmopolitanism we can talk over the walls of academic discipline, national boundaries, or ideological differences, not that there is a single conversation that follows students of the UCA Honors College.

Boice reminds me that when I write inspiration or my muse are not simply going to come and reveal themselves to me. They are products of cultivating an interest. Like the poetic muse, when I first heard it talked about I thought "the conversation" was a ghost of writing fortune. I thought it was something that was just suppose to happen, but Boice reminds that "the conversation" is the metaphorical product of many conversations. He puts the focus of contributing to a conversation on the listening and reading parts of that interaction. In order to continue the metaphorical conservation, I must be an active observer to many actual conversations.

Response to Boice: STOP

As a writer, Boice’s Rule #5 would be the hardest to follow.  It is difficult for me to imagine stopping working on my essay for the day in the middle of a sentence, without finishing my thought.  I question whether or not I would really be able to pick up my train of thought at the next sitting – and I know I would be frustrated if I were not able to find the same wording that had come so easily the day before.  That is another part of the rule that I think I would find difficult to adhere to – that, even if the words seem to be flowing freely from my hand onto the page, I would still have to stop writing at the predetermined stop time.  I would feel, like Boice’s writers, that I had not made any progress.

            At the same time, I understand why Boice wants writers to stop.  He is right about hypomania – when I write for too long and am just trying to finish above all else, the quality of my writing tends to drop severely.  I end up spending more time editing the paper later than if I had taken my time writing.  I also think that it is important that writers have a social life, as Boice mentions, so that they do not become consumed by their writing.  I agree that it is when writing begins to interfere with socialization and normal daily activities that it feels like an even larger burden.  I think trying to stop while I am writing will be extremely beneficial, and am going to try this method out this semester.

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for MA students in English 8010! I look forward to reading your posts and learning with you this semester.