Jet Boy: An Autobiography

Taking a gander at Jason and Kerri's posts, I feel like I should have a little introduction as well. Nothing elaborate, but something to help readers who care know who I am.

To be perfectly frank, I'm awesome. This may sound biased, but it's the sad truth. I am cursed with being really awesome. Some may even call me fantastic, but I settle for awesome.

To go into detail, I'm a Creative Writing major here at WSU. I'm a junior. I've gone to about fifty-bazillion schools. Now that I'm here, I work not only as a tutor and as a student, but I'm the Features Editor of the school's newspaper, The Guardian. It's not a job I love or a path I really want to follow once I graduate, but it's not bad by any means. I started at WSU as a Computer Science major because I was pretty handy with technology and Java and I done built my own computer. I wanted to make video games for a living. Now I plan on selling short stories written on the back of post cards on some rainy corner, not far from my cardboard box of a home. I used to write for several websites, picking up small projects here and there or writing a video game-related article once in a while. I had a regular gig over the summer writing for a video game website, but I couldn't do that and tackle everything at school at once. Also, in my past I worked for an ice company where I drove what was basically a giant freezer with an engine in front of it that handled about as well as a giant freezer with an engine in front of it. I've got nowhere to go but up.

The most important part of all that is my major, for obvious reasons. If I was from a different discipline, I'd have a different approach at writing. But I take the low road and make up stories instead of researching facts. I like it. So, like Jason, I'm not really worried about the formality of my posts. As long as I convey some sort of message to the reader, I'll sleep easy. This post is an exception, but it should act as a lens through which to view my posts, to help distinguish them from my peers' posts.

I write for fun, which is pretty much the main reason I'm here at all. I like writing. I love writing. I had a side project dedicated to writing. I write stories for class and I write in notebooks and I write poems for people I really care about on days that are important to them. I write on scraps of paper. I write in the air with my finger, spelling out words that no one will ever read. And I think that is super cool.

I'm not even going to try to tie this to a writing lesson or concept. This is only here for reference, not to educate. But I've got all sorts of cool things to talk about in the future, and I expect that the other tutors do too. I foresee some overlapping of topics, which is also cool. Anyway.

allow me to introduce myself

I want this first post of mine to be a chance for me to introduce myself to those of you who are reading this. I want to do this for a few reasons. First, I think it’s nice for those of you floating around out there in Cyberland to know something about the people whose advice or complaints or arguments you’re reading. Second, I’m not even sure all of the contributors to this blog really know much about one another, and as this blog will likely spur conversation among us as well, I wanted to share at least a little about myself with my fellow contributors. Finally, I think this probably has something to do with the identity I’m constructing for myself as writing.bytes. blogger – fairly transparent and informal. So here goes…

As others have mentioned, those of us who contribute to this blog come from varied backgrounds and currently hold various positions in relation to writing. I currently fall into the categories of teacher, tutor, and student. I have to admit, I find this a rather interesting role to be in. Just a year or two ago, I would have never imagined I would be in this position. Let me explain my situation a little more.

I’ve been studying English at the college level for almost six years now, and am planning to do it for at least four more. But before I applied to graduate school a mere three months before graduating undergrad, I had no clue what I was going to do with a B.A. in English with an emphasis on technical/professional writing. Originally, I thought maybe I’d be an editor or write for a magazine. One of my friends from high school and I always said we’d start a magazine together one day. (She’s now an editor at Seventeen, so at least one of us stuck to our original goal.) But then I was accepted as a graduate student and began studying composition and rhetoric. Additionally, this is my fourth year working at the University Writing Center, where I’ve served as tutor and online coordinator.

So as you can see, I pretty much immerse myself in writing. I work on discovering my own identity as a writer and discovering how to best use the writing process as a thinking and problem-solving tool. I work on finding ways to best transfer what I know about writing to others who are struggling to figure out how this writing stuff actually works. I catch myself unconsciously editing the daily junk mail I receive. I attempt to juggle writing the fifteen page paper for a class I’m taking and grading the twenty-five papers my students just handed in. And because I apparently just can’t get enough, I’ve also agreed to join this blog. I look forward to being a part of this conversation we’re starting (which, of course, is really just a part of a much bigger, ongoing conversation), and I look forward to learning from my fellow contributors and our readers.

And because I feel that I haven’t really addressed our purpose in publishing this blog, I offer a piece of advice in closing: Students, it’s not a great idea to go to the Writing Center during the time you are supposed to be in class. In fact, it’s probably counterproductive.

Lost in the Blogosphere...,

I am wondering if, since this blog is about Academic Writing, there is an across-the-board rule that each post must be grammar-perfect, to the letter.

Cuz if that's the case, I ain't gonna do well on this thang...

So, writing.bytes. is a new baby in the blogging world...so much so that, with few entries currently posted, common readers--that's right, I'm talking to YOU, and will be for the remainder of this post--may not know quite what to expect.

Allow me to quell your fears by letting you know that you're not alone.  I don't know what to expect, either.  I'm not sure what I will impart about this work, this craft, this art.  I'm not quite sure what I'm doing just yet.  I am, to be quite colloquial, lost in the blogosphere.

I come from a hallowed school of writing where the revered Dean was Professor Me (although I would have to give a lot of credit to Professor Roger Ebert, too).  I worked as a film critic--first for the prestigious Online Film Critics Society, and later for nothing more than my own personal obsession--for about five years.  My writing was completely self-taught.  "Grammar School," as many refer to elementary school, was strictly that; "Writing School" took place in my house, in front of my computer screen, talking about how incredible American Beauty was (and it was...don't argue with me).  Not even high school did much to shape me as a writer, certainly not in any 'academic' sense (which, unfortunately, is also the case with many of my clients at Wright State University's Writing Center).

Yet even for me, someone completely confident in his own writing ability, an introduction to true academic writing provided me with something incredibly worthwhile.  It showed me that writing can be taught...it is not just a gift bestowed on a person in the womb.  It also taught me that writing is a process, one that can consistently produce strong work if followed faithfully.  (Following said process is, sadly, something that has always eluded me, as evidenced by this, my wildly rambling inaugural post on writing.bytes.)  In short, everyone can write.  Everyone can write.

Why am writing all this?  Some of you might be confused ("where are the lectures on subject-verb agreement?!?!?!" you must be asking yourselves) so I will try to clear it all up.  This blog is a forum on the many different faces and many different perspectives of academic writing.  Special attention should be paid to the intangible diversity of said faces and said perspectives.  It will be hard to focus on this subject from any other perspective aside from my own.  Yet my own Writing-centrism actually makes me a part of a much larger spread of humanity.  We are all "Writing-centric"--we all have our own perspectives on writing, academic or otherwise. Some of your views may be different from mine, but the exchange of ideas that magically happens over this high-tech Internet wizardry--the conversation we have together--will bring us together in...well, Academic Writing Harmony, if you will.

Oh yeah, I promised I would get to the point.  Here it is: you, dear reader--be you student, teacher, literary scholar, or average-joe blog-hopper--are not alone.  I am just as unsure of my place in this new venue as you are.  I am lost in this blogosphere just like you.

But I intend to settle in and find my home.  I invite you to join me.

Outlines: Keeping students coloring inside the lines since forever.

Outlines. I make almost all of my clients at the University Writing Center do them, several times if necessary. I love them. I don't do them often enough, but I love them. Why do I love them? Because spending ten minutes writing a basic outline can save you hours and hours of sleepless nights trying to figure out where in the world your paper's going. I speak from experience. Without an outline, writing a paper can feel like punching yourself in the head, trying to make the next paragraph appear.

What do I mean when I say "write an outline"? Simple. Write down your ideas, your thoughts. Put them into order. Bam. Outline. Sometimes it's crazy simple, like when you're writing a paper on a personal experience. Start with the beginning and make two line notes of what happens next. Nothing more. Do that until you reach the end, and you'll be staring at an outline.

I'll go ahead and provide an example. Let's say I'm writing a paper on, I don't know. Moving. I've moved a lot, so I'll write my imaginary paper on when I moved from Texas to Wright State.

Decided to move

Told my friends

Drive to Ohio

Move into dorms

Say bye to mom

Make friends

Start classes

There's not much there, and some of it's extra information. But I know where my paper's going and now I can add details. This is where you go back and add some information on each event, breaking them up into smaller paragraphs for more specific topics. You might even find a better "topic" to make your paper out of. For example, I had to say goodbye to my girlfriend when I left. That was a significant moment, and I may want to focus my paper on that. Or maybe I want to start with the drive, focusing less on what happened after I got to Ohio and more on what led up to it. There's always options.

So let's say I decide that I want to focus on the drive, and bring up my past life throughout it. I'm a Creative Writing major, so this is probably what I would do, given the chance. So I rearrange my topics and add some details. Now my outline would look something like this:

Day one of drive

-hotel room

-mom in the room, reading

-wondering if I made the right decision

Why I left

-weather

-atmosphere

-I knew Ohio and had friends here (or so I thought)

More about past in Ohio

-Church

-High School/middle/elementary

Day two of drive

-different state

-mom watching television

-will I keep in touch with my friends?

Friends/Relationships in Texas

-Best friends right before I left

-Friendships from earlier

-Girlfriend

--Saying goodbye

-Did I stay in touch with my friends from Ohio, or did I know I wasn't going to talk to them again?

Day three of drive

-close to Ohio

Days before I left

-tearful goodbyes

-burn bridges or stay classy?

-packing van

-leaving home for the last time

Conclusion:

Campus in sight OR I drive through the town I grew up in

Look at that. I've done and wrote myself a really good outline, and I've listened to four Nick Cave songs since I started this article. That was cake. CAKE. And each of those sub-topics can be further expanded, but at this time I would probably start typing away, switching to a different paragraph if I got stuck. I can go back and add sensory details once I have a working draft, and I can fine tune it and refine the dialogue and add all the razz-a-ma-tazz polish after that. But spending twenty minutes jotting down a rough outline of my paper saved me boat loads of time. I know where my paper is going, and I know how it's going to get there. And I do all that on the back of a piece of scrap paper in a coffee shop or while waiting for a professor to show up or whenever I have some time to kill.

If you're writing a research paper, the same principles apply. Grab a few books from the library, write down some interesting topics, some quotes, and then write down your outline. Then go back to your outline and find places where you can add more details, more quotes. Keep your outline on you when you read texts so you can reference it and find places where you can use good information. I can't emphasis the usefulness of outlines enough, but don't take my word for it. Try it out with your next paper, and I'll give you your full money back if you don't find writing your paper significantly easier.

Show and Tell: How Billy’s Turtle Can Help You Become a Better Writer

How many times do you hear it?
It goes on all day long
Everyone knows everything
And no one's ever wrong
Until later...

Who can you believe?
It's hard to play it safe
But apart from a few good friends
We don't take anything on faith
Until later...

Show...don't tell...

("Show Don't Tell" from Rush's 1989 album, Presto. Lyrics by
Neil Peart)

Students in Wright State’s developmental composition courses are often asked to write narrative essays. On the surface of it, there doesn’t seem to be much connection between the narrative form – telling a story – and other forms of academic writing. I think this superficial appearance can sometimes leave students feeling that they are doing less than college level work. The truth, however, is a different story.

There are a number of connections between the narrative form and other types of academic writing, but I want to focus on just one element: "show and tell." In class and in their writing center sessions, students often hear their teachers or tutors exhorting them to “show, don’t tell.” In some ways this must be very frustrating.

First, the very way we talk about narratives most commonly is to describe it as “telling a story.” Suddenly, this description gets turned on its head, leaving students to wonder “how can I tell a story if you won’t let me TELL?” A secondary factor in the frustration might exist on a more psychological level. After all, this emphasis on “show and tell” must bring on juvenile flashbacks of second grade when little Billy brought his turtle in for show and tell.

What may not be readily apparent in this emphasis on showing, not telling, is that the concept is critically important to success in just about any academic discipline. I remember in Math classes being asked to show my work, not merely give or “tell” the answer. When scientists report on their experiments, they are asked not just to “tell” their results, but to describe or “show” their methodology as well so that other scientists can assess the validity of the experiment. And in just about any course where writing takes place, one is asked not merely to assert or “tell” a claim, but to back it up or show logic and evidence that supports the claim.

This is a “real world” issue as well. Advertisers often use statistics, testimonials, and demonstrations to show how effective or valuable their products are. With the Presidential primary season in full swing, the candidates are jetting from state to state to tell us why they are the best choices to lead their parties and ultimately the country. They’re doing a lot of telling to be sure, but many of them are pointing to their past achievements as a way of showing us what they will do as President.

Even our slang and clichés bear evidence of the value of showing versus telling. “Actions speak louder than words.” “Seeing is believing.” Even the saying, “Money talks, bullsh** walks” is ultimately expressing the concept that “talk is cheap” and some action, demonstration, or “show” is required to lend credence to what is being said.

Rather surprisingly, “show and tell” turns out to be a valuable adult experience. While we emphasize “show, don’t tell,” the two actually accentuate one another. Accepted teaching methodology encourages us to describe something and then demonstrate it – in other words, to both tell and show. In our academic writing for other courses, we are asked to assert a claim or position and then support it or prove it. Assertion alone is not enough, and proof without the context of the assertion doesn’t make much sense.

So when your tutor or instructor urges you to “show, don’t tell” what they are really saying is that the current draft has too much telling and not enough showing. A narrative may well rely more on showing rather than telling, but that’s what makes it excellent preparation for other types of academic writing you will be doing. We’ve all got an opinion about things, so it’s easy to “tell” – we get a lot of practice at that. We don’t always have well-thought-out reasons for our opinions, therefore, we sometimes need to be reminded to show as well as tell.

So “show and tell” might seem like a juvenile concept, but ultimately, it is a potent combination for making and proving your point. Maybe Billy’s turtle was helping you to become a better writer all along.

Welcome to writing.bytes.

Welcome to writing.bytes. This is a blog about academic writing. Wait! Don’t run away. I know that sounds pretty boring. Maybe it will be, but we’re going to try hard to make sure it isn’t, so stick around and give us a chance.

Who are we? We’re teachers and students who value the importance of being able to write well. We’ve come together to share our insights to help you become a better writer. We believe that by becoming a better writer, you’ll be more successful in school and in your chosen career. Why do we believe that? Because it’s been true for us.

Each of this blog’s contributors brings his or her own unique perspective on writing, so there should be plenty of interest for everybody. The teachers contributing to writing.bytes. will talk about why they assign the types of writing they do and how you can produce the level of writing they’re looking for. They’ll talk about other things as well – things that will help you gain a valuable perspective about the writing you do in school.

The students who contribute to writing.bytes. will write about how they approach their own assignments. They’ll likely share insights about writing and make connections to things you actually care about.

You’re part of the blog too. You can use the comments link at the bottom of each post to ask questions or leave comments about the post. writing.bytes. isn’t a lecture; it’s a conversation, and we hope that you’ll write to and with us to share your thoughts.

Like any blog, writing.bytes. is a living document. It will grow and transform over time. The great thing about it is that you can be part of that growth and transformation. So, come join the conversation. We look forward to hearing from you.