Blog Post #5 - Victoria Nemeth

During Friday’s class I really enjoyed the “morning pages” exercise.  I thought it was a really good way to check in with myself and put my thoughts down on paper.  This exercise wasn’t the first time that I’ve done something like this. Over the Summer, I work as a camp counselor, and that job doesn’t really leave a lot of time for myself, so I kept a journal to write in.  Although I didn’t write in it every morning, most of the time I would write in it before bed, or just to scribble down some of the things that happened during the weeks. This journal was a combination of being an outlet for my thoughts and a way to keep the memories from the summer all in one place.  I thought that the “morning pages” exercise in class was much like keeping a journal in that I wrote mostly about what I’ve been thinking about in the past few weeks. I stopped keeping a journal when school started, but I think it could be a good idea to bring the practice back. The health science schedule leaves little time for self reflection, and I think it could be a good idea to keep a journal to write in before bed. 

In addition to the self reflection aspect, I really liked the idea of putting my thoughts down on paper as opposed to on the computer.   I was surprised by how much I could write in twelve minutes. Before the exercise, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to write for that long.  But during the twelve minutes, I was able to write for the whole time, and my thoughts kind of flew out of my brain and on to the paper. I decided to try to write out my draft for the literacy narrative, and found that it was much easier to get thoughts down on the page instead of typing.  I find that when I type papers on the computer, I often stop, get stumped, and can’t think of what to write for the perfect next line. I think that in the spirit of “Shitty First Drafts,” the pen to paper method really gets at least something down to start with. Writing on paper helps to get the foundation of whatever the piece is, and I think it’s easier to just keep writing and move past possible mistakes.  Typing later can help to work out the little things that need to be fixed.

 I went to my first session at the EMK last Tuesday, and the teacher had the students writing their drafts on paper instead of on the computer.  It was probably just so that the students didn’t get distracted by the computers, but I think there is something about writing instead of typing that helps the process. The students were writing an essay about a specific book or poem that they had read, and working to get their thesis and introductory paragraph ready for submission.  I thought it was interesting how they were using more of an outline, and structure of a packet to get their ideas organized onto paper. Usually when I write, I use a random scrap paper as a quick outline.