Katy's Writing Journal

[katyswritingjournal]

Roy Peter Clark, “Let punctuation control pace and space.” (Writing Tools) (Reader 136-138)

Instead of teaching the rules of punctuation, Clark instead provides tools that help show how punctuation can be optional in a sentence. By using punctuation, the writer is shaping the words and sentences in particular ways to give direction to the reader on how to read the words on the page. It changes how the audience actually understands the meanings, and each writer has their own style of punctuation and writing to doing so. I sometimes questions my punctuation in regards to the direct rules, but I now know I have options that I can use to aid me in my future essays as well as my revisions.

[katyswritingjournal]

Kevin Roozen, “Texts Get Their meaning from Other Texts” (NWWK) (Reader 168-169)

Although we almost always refer to a piece of text in the singular form, texts always draw from other texts. When we look at a particular text to understand something, we are drawing from a text based upon others to be possibly used or drawn upon in the future. Although it conflicts with the idea of originality, it does open opportunity to connect multiple varieties of text and ideas for people to learn and use. This is helpful in my writing as it’s important to be able to draw from other texts for other ideas, as nothing is truly original, and to recognize this as fact.

[katyswritingjournal]

Roy Peter Clark, “Prefer the simple over the technical.” (Writing Tools) (Reader 139-141)

Writers can turn the simple in complex by using defamiliarization to take “the familiar and” make “it strange” (139). Then Clark moves on to say that the audience dictates the density of the writing as it is targeted to that level of understanding. Also, by using simpler language, you are allowing more people to understand it, broadening the audience. I always struggle with how formal I should make the language and format, so I will use this guide to help me think of my audience’s standards of the future. That way, I will write on the same level, as I am aiming for a certain audience to read it.

[katyswritingjournal]

Kathleen Blake Yancey, “Learning to Write Effectively Requires Different Kinds of Practice, Time, and Effort” (NWWK) (Reader 180)

In order to improve our writing, Yancey tells ut that practice is the key to progress. By practicing fluidity, techniques, and having a preferred way of practicing, the writing can improve. People who engage with one another with writing are also involved in practice, and it can involve revision or looking at other’s writings for examples. It is sometimes hard for me to be able to continue writing for practice, but this article helped remind me of the importance to keep going to keep improving my skills.

[katyswritingjournal]

Roy Peter Clark, “Establish a Pattern, then give it a twist.” (Writing Tools) (Reader 134-135)

Clark describes in this section how keeping or changing grammar can affect how audiences understand the writing. By using parallel phrasing, the reader can put ideas together more easily and see the connections. However, you can also provide emphasis on a certain area in writing by breaking the parallelism. It’s the nature in humans to be drawn to what’s different, and writers can use that to their advantage. I, particularly, I want to start using these methods in my papers to make it more interesting. I want people to lean into what I’m saying, only to be shocked out of it once I broke the pattern, so I will use this in my next paper.

[katyswritingjournal]

Andrea A. Lunsford, “Writing Addresses, Invokes, and/or Creates Audiences” (NWWK) (Reader 170-171)

Andrea A. Lunsford talks about a “rhetorical triangle” in which the “writer (speaker, rhetor), audience (receiver, listener, reader), and text (message)” all share a relationship of conversation with one another (Reader 170). Lunsford also writes about picturing the audience while writing to more clearly understand who is being written to. Then, she discusses how online interaction is a new kind of collaborative conversation that goes beyond one audience. When I’m writing my own papers, I need to start focusing my writing on whom I’m writing to in order to make a better conversation with my reader(s). This will also help build a better connection with my audience as when I have their full attention, I will be able to reach more people.

[katyswritingjournal]

Constance Hale, “The Sentence as a Miniature Narrative” (New York Times)

Constance Hale talks about how we need a subject (protagonist) and a predicate (drama) to create a sentence (mini narrative). There needs to be a protagonist and drama in order to complete a narrative line, otherwise it might not make sense. While sentence fragments can be useful to ad slogans, if it is used for other forms of writing it may confuse the audience. I like the way Hale breaks down the sentence, as next time I’m editing my paper, I can look for fragments by seeking out the protagonist and the drama of the sentence instead of just the subject and predicate. It makes the editing process more exciting, and I’m more likely to pay more attention while I am doing it.

[katyswritingjournal]

Doug Downs, “Revision is Central to Developing Writing” (NWWK) (Reader 181)

In this section, Doug Downs talks about the kind of revisions when reflection of what is done takes place, instead of just editing. Within this revision, not only does the writing have a chance to improve, but new unthought of ideas are created. It produces more material to express in the paper as well as adds more additional thoughts to what has already been said. It also provides a new way of looking at the text that will help sharpen and refine it. This article was helpful reminder to keep revising my essays as sometimes I am too lazy to really revise it, and in order for my essay to be good, I need to do a full job.

[katyswritingjournal]

Peter Elbow, “Freewriting” (Reader 147)

Peter Elbow suggests using freewriting in order to improve someone’s writing skills. By not pausing to edit or censor, all of the words immediately thought of are put onto paper in a concrete form, making nothing into something. It doesn’t block the words like editing does, and it allows the brain to open up to new ways of thinking about the topic that needs to be written or in thinking in general. In order to unblock my mind, I need to start freewriting more to let my ideas free. So, I’m going to start freewriting once a day for ten minutes to start letting my brain open up more, allowing my ideas for future papers and current ones to hopefully spread free on the paper.

[katyswritingjournal]

Shirley Rose, “All Writers Have More to Learn” (NWWK) (Reader 177-178)

In the section of Naming What we Know, Rose talks about how in writing there is always something new to learn or more skills to improve even those who are professionals with years of experience in the writing field. Also, Rose emphasizes that you can't judge a writing ability solely based on one piece of a person’s work. This is especially important for students and teachers as more work is needed in order to truly judge how good of a writer they are as well as where their strengths and weaknesses lie. It’s good to know this as a student, as I often get discouraged when I receive lots of negative feedback on my work. It will help encourage me to keep moving to improve, as no one ever reaches a point where they stop. 

[katyswritingjournal]

Grammar Girl, “Third Person Limited (and More)”

Although this class is not about story writing, I was still curious about the different times of point of view styles, as I can never remember the difference. There is three types of third person: limited, omniscient, and objective. In limited, the audience only has access to the protagonist, and it’s only one point of view. In omniscient, the narrator knows everything and shares with the reader more than what the characters know. Finally, in objective, the style is more like a report or news story and none of the character’s thoughts or feelings are shared with the audience. Since I love reading, this was very interesting for me to read as have never thought about the different specific styles of third person overall. If I ever get a chance to do story writing for classes, I will be thinking back to this post about the different types and make sure I only follow one of them.

[katyswritingjournal]

Grammar Girl, “Does an Adverb Modify Everything that Follows It?”

In this post, Grammar Girl talks about whether or not the adverb effects the immediate recipient or if affects everything in the sentence. In general, most people will take it as affecting the remaining part of the sentence. If the adverb does not affect both words, it’s also a good idea to clarify by adding more precise, descriptive language after the conjunction. I choose this as I have never thought out this as I’m writing sentences with an adverb, and in general, it’s good to know. This will come especially useful if I am ever trying to vividly describe a scene or situation, as then I can give the reader clear indication of what is happening on the page in front of them.

Examples:

The cat quickly ate and meowed. 

The cat meowed and quickly ate.

[katyswritingjournal]

Constance Hale, “Turning a Phrase” (New York Times)

In this article, Constance Hale writes about different types of phrases and how to use them while writing. There are three types of phrases: appositives, prepositional, and verbal. All can build off of one another and can be used to create parallelism or flow. This article grew my interest as I like finding new ways to make my audience more interested by varying phrases and sentences. I will find that some of my writing is bland and all the same, so adding a little variation will help to keep my readers attention.

Examples:

Appositive: New York City, my favorite city, is where all the Broadway shows are performing. 

Prepositional: The kangaroo jumped into the room. 

Verbal: I will be cooking tomorrow. 

[katyswritingjournal]

Grammar Girl, “’Further’ verses ‘Farther’”

In this post, Grammar Girl talks about the difference between farther, which is used for physical distance, and further, which is used for metaphorical distance. A way of thinking about the difference is taking “far” out of “farther” and using the meaning of far to associate the meaning of farther. If used in a sentence, however, where it may be hard to tell, as either can be used, because they are interchangeable. Often when I am writing, I will come across a sentence where I need to use one of these two words, and more often than not, editing feature on word catches my mistake. I often switched them and didn’t know why, so having this post will help me improve on which one to use, even though it does not always matter.

Examples: 

I will jump farther than you.

The lawyer proceeded to ask further questions. 

[katyswritingjournal]

Constance Hale, “The Pressures and Perils of Passive” (New York Times)

Constance Hale talks about the use of passive voice, and where and when to use it. Passive voice is when the action comes before the subject, and can be use to direct the audience to a particular area of the text. Lawyers, business owners, and politicians use passive voice a lot when they speak or write, as they tend to want to confuse their audience or stray them away from the things they don’t want them to focus on. I choose this topic as I often have trouble deciphering what is passive and active voice. I will from now on try and check through my paper to make sure I am taking in the same type of voice so I don’t confuse the reader and have some consistency.

Example: 

Active: The children played with a ball. 

Passive: A ball was played with by the children. 

[katyswritingjournal]

Grammar Girl, “How to Define Abbreviations in a Document”

Grammar girl talks about how to bring in an abbreviations in your essay, which is to state the full name then write the shortened version in parentheses. And as a general rule, you should only use an abbreviation if you will use it multiple times across the paper, not just a couple or in only a certain section of the paper. When I’m writing my own papers, I am always weary of using abbreviations, as I don’t know whether or not it is appropriate to add an abbreviation, especially in shorter papers. This helped me as now I know when and when I shouldn’t use abbreviations, which I will use for when I write longer research papers that may use longer names for certain areas or things.

Example:

The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) announced today that students would no longer need to pay tuition. 

[katyswritingjournal]

Purdue Owl Writing Lab, “On Paragraphs”

In this writing lab, Purdue Owl gives instructions about paragraphs and some basic rules about them. Some of the elements that make up a paragraph is having one focus, coherent bridges, topic sentences, and enough information for it to be a stable paragraph. Also, when starting a new paragraph, there needs to be a new idea, a contrasting idea, or a pause. I read this article as there are times where I’m not sure whether or not to split my paragraph into two. I tend to want to keep the bigger paragraphs as I don’t want my paragraphs to look too small, however, I also need to remember that if it’s a new idea being brought into the second half of the paragraph, then that should be the start of a new one.