Writers on Writing

Lamott Summary
In her article, "Shitty First Drafts", Anne Lamott talks about her time as a food critic and explains to her readers how she would start off with a "shitty" first draft. This means that she would usually have long non-entertaining introductions with a lot of information, some useful, and some not. The draft would be a lot longer than what it should be and she was able to combine all of her thoughts to make a fluid and entertaining piece of writing.

King Summary
In his article, "What Writing Is?", Stephen King attempts to explain his view on the importance of taking writing seriously. He states "you must not come lightly to the blank page". This means you must take it seriously, put your heart into it. He also talks about his preferred writing area and the ways he does his writing.

Goodman Summary
In her article, "Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work", Allegra Goodman attempts to explain what the "inner critic" really means. She believes we are all smart enough to see that our talents are limited, that we can convince ourselves to whatever we feel necessary, and that we must follow our imagination.

Haruf Summary
In his article, "To See Your Story Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool over Your Own Eyes", Kent Haruf attempts to familiarize his audience with his exact ways of writing. He talks about the importance of the atmosphere and the knick knacks that lay around your writing space. He says "the things on my desk and the walls above it connect me emotionally to memories, ways of living, people and geographical areas that are important to me". When you have things around you that make you happy, the way you write is enhanced in a better way. He tells how he writes his first draft and that is blind. He actually takes off his glasses, pulls a knit cap over his eyes, and types. It his way of staying in touch with subliminal and subconscious impulses. Everyone has their own writing process.

Sontag Summary
In her article, "Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed", Susan Sontag tells her story of when she was diagnosed with cancer when she was 8 chapters into a book she was writing. Her friend offered to help her finish it but she had to decline the offer because she feels that in order to write to her her best ability she must be able to see, read, and rewrite her writing. She explains that the love of reading thrills the mind for the passion of writing.

Diaz Summary
In his article, "Becoming a Writer", Junot Diaz shares his story on how he became a writer. He tells his readers his struggles and that it took him many years to get over writer's block and figuring out where he was going as a writer. He went through so many ups and downs in his life of writing and his stubbornness and passion for succeeding kept him in the game of writing.

Using These Essays
I believe that all of these articles contain their own metaphors and their own concepts. You can't really compare one to the other because I believe they all talk about different things and different views. I mean maybe the writers would agree with each other but it seems as if the authors are talking about things that apply to them. I believe Tony would have very much so benefited from reading these stories, they are great and very useful.

Meta Movement
1. By reading both research about writing processes and writers' reflections on their own processes I gain the knowledge that every writer is different. Every writer experiences different things and they all think in their own ways. Three things I found useful were, having a "shitty" first draft, I think by getting your thoughts and information out on one draft can really be beneficial, I think learning that having things around you that emotionally tie you to things in your writing are is good for your spirits, and I by reading Diaz's article I feel better about having writer's block.
2. My conception of good writing and writers doesn't change because it all depends on the situation and your own opinions of what good writing and writers really mean. There is no set definition and my view is to always keep an open mind.

Reflections
Lamott- I think this article did a great job expelling the meaning of a shitty first draft and it gave me some ideas about how to pre-write writing.
King- I really enjoyed hearing the thoughts of Stephen King and I thought it was very interesting to hear about what he thinks about writing and some of his own processes. He is just an overall mysterious person and it was great that he was included.
Goodman- I think I understood this article the least. I do understand however that it is important to pay attention to your inner critic at some point, but that sometimes you have to look beyond it.
Haruf- I got a lot out of this article. I had so many notes written down when reading this and it was very interesting to me. I think it's so cool to hear about other peoples writing processes, especially interesting and random one's like Haruf's. I like that he talked about the importance of being attached to certain items in your writing space.
Sontag- This article was pretty common and similar to some I have read before. I think that it was good for her to talk about her struggles and her ways she prefers to write.
Diaz- This article was eye-opening to me. I never knew how severe writer's block could be and I didn't think someone would go through it for so long. It's inspirational that Diaz never gave up.