Jane’s Meme: Learning to Write

My friend Jane invited me to her meme about learning to write. The assignment is to write about three contradictory practices that helped in my development. Mine aren’t necessarily contradictory, just not obviously connected, but they overlap quite a bit.
1.
I aced my senior composition project in high school. Grades don’t necessarily reflect what students learn, [...]

Ambiguous, Clear, and Sprawling by Design

I’ve been revising some pieces of writing during the past few weeks in my spare time. By “spare time,” I mean that I’ve been sitting my butt down and limiting distractions as much as possible. As a writer with a day job that doesn’t allow me time to write what I want (i.e., like anybody [...]

Unpacking My Lunch Box

At an antique mall today, I noticed many lunchboxes that I coveted as a child. In my early elementary school days, my friends got to carry lunch boxes that featured pictures of the Peanuts gang, the Six Million Dollar Man, Scooby Doo, etc.
I, however, had to shlep a purple box–with a matching handle–adorned with the [...]

Get Inside

I’m wondering if students have trouble learning to take chances in their writing, or if a sense of adventure is worn out of them (by which I mean it may be taught out of them).
Today I covered a friend’s writing class. She told me what they’ve been doing and let me decide how I would [...]

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda Been Gayer

Today, while talking with coworkers about some recent good fortune, I threw my hands above my head and voiced excitement as I might, but probably wouldn’t, do in public. I may or may not have exclaimed, “Woo!”
One of them leaned into me, touched my arm, and said, “Could that have been any gayer?” She smiled, [...]