{"id":25,"date":"2022-04-28T18:33:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T18:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/?post_type=chapter&p=25"},"modified":"2022-09-13T13:43:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T13:43:57","slug":"college-writing","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/chapter\/college-writing\/","title":{"raw":"We Are Not Our Writing","rendered":"We Are Not Our Writing"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n

An essential part of this course will be sharing our writing and evaluating each other\u2019s <\/span>work. This can feel stressful, and the reason it can feel stressful is that rather than <\/span>thinking that something we made will be judged, writers often feel that we, ourselves, <\/span>will be judged. So the key to stress-free workshops is reminding ourselves that we are not <\/span>our writing. Oh, and did I mention that we are not our writing? We are not our writing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When you share your writing in a workshop, or when it is published, don\u2019t offer up your <\/span>work with shaking hands like it\u2019s a delicate piece of your very soul. Try to think of it as <\/span>something you made, like a bowl of pasta or a paper airplane. If someone thinks your <\/span>pasta is too mushy and tells you so, it is not because they want to hurt you. That\u2019s an <\/span>opinion on the pasta you made, and it has nothing to do with you. If someone tells you <\/span>that your paper airplane might fly better if you fold the wing tips up instead o<\/span>f down, they <\/span>may be right or may be wrong, but they are doing you a favor by trying to help you make <\/span>better airplanes, and this should not hurt your feelings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another problem created by mistaking something we made for something we are is that <\/span>students become hesitant to offer real criticism and suggestions for fear of, again, hurting <\/span>each other\u2019s feelings, and writing classes and writers\u2019 group workshops often become <\/span>little more than festivals of ego-massage reciprocity. Sincere praise is always appropriate, <\/span>but sincere criticism is just as helpful, if not more so. Thinking about writing is <\/span>speculative, and readers should make suggestions based on possible improvement. <\/span>Students who have nothing to say to writers, or just say, \"it's good--don't change a thing\" <\/span>are failing to help writers think about the range of possibilities in their work. The job of <\/span>readers in peer workshops is to offer writers<\/span> possible<\/span> suggestions. The job of writers is to <\/span>listen carefully to suggestions and decide later what they will use toward improving <\/span>the draft.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Passionate writers may feel that their worth as a person is somehow linked to or <\/span>dependent on their success as a writer. One student I know of sent his writing to a famous <\/span>author, asking if it was any good. The author replied that he didn\u2019t think it was, and the <\/span>student attempted suicide. I see two issues at work here: one, if you want to be a <\/span>professional writer, you need a thicker skin than that, because you are going to have to <\/span>face a lot of rejection. Two, the student misinterpreted this rejection\/failure as a writer, <\/span>thinking it meant he had failed as a person. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

A wise man once said, \u201cYou came into this world with something beautiful, and that\u2019s all <\/span>you\u2019ll take with you when you leave. Look for that something.\u201d Writing is just something <\/span>you do, and in my opinion, nothing you do defines who you are. Not only should your <\/span>self-worth not be based on others\u2019 opinions of your writing, but your self-worth should <\/span>not even be based on others\u2019 opinions of you as a person. How can you develop self-<\/span>worth without other people? Spend some time alone. Learn to enjoy your own company, <\/span>without screens, and even without words. Investigate who you are when everything is off.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the real research, and if you want to have something worth sharing in your <\/span>writing, start here.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"

\n

An essential part of this course will be sharing our writing and evaluating each other\u2019s <\/span>work. This can feel stressful, and the reason it can feel stressful is that rather than <\/span>thinking that something we made will be judged, writers often feel that we, ourselves, <\/span>will be judged. So the key to stress-free workshops is reminding ourselves that we are not <\/span>our writing. Oh, and did I mention that we are not our writing? We are not our writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you share your writing in a workshop, or when it is published, don\u2019t offer up your <\/span>work with shaking hands like it\u2019s a delicate piece of your very soul. Try to think of it as <\/span>something you made, like a bowl of pasta or a paper airplane. If someone thinks your <\/span>pasta is too mushy and tells you so, it is not because they want to hurt you. That\u2019s an <\/span>opinion on the pasta you made, and it has nothing to do with you. If someone tells you <\/span>that your paper airplane might fly better if you fold the wing tips up instead o<\/span>f down, they <\/span>may be right or may be wrong, but they are doing you a favor by trying to help you make <\/span>better airplanes, and this should not hurt your feelings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another problem created by mistaking something we made for something we are is that <\/span>students become hesitant to offer real criticism and suggestions for fear of, again, hurting <\/span>each other\u2019s feelings, and writing classes and writers\u2019 group workshops often become <\/span>little more than festivals of ego-massage reciprocity. Sincere praise is always appropriate, <\/span>but sincere criticism is just as helpful, if not more so. Thinking about writing is <\/span>speculative, and readers should make suggestions based on possible improvement. <\/span>Students who have nothing to say to writers, or just say, “it’s good–don’t change a thing” <\/span>are failing to help writers think about the range of possibilities in their work. The job of <\/span>readers in peer workshops is to offer writers<\/span> possible<\/span> suggestions. The job of writers is to <\/span>listen carefully to suggestions and decide later what they will use toward improving <\/span>the draft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Passionate writers may feel that their worth as a person is somehow linked to or <\/span>dependent on their success as a writer. One student I know of sent his writing to a famous <\/span>author, asking if it was any good. The author replied that he didn\u2019t think it was, and the <\/span>student attempted suicide. I see two issues at work here: one, if you want to be a <\/span>professional writer, you need a thicker skin than that, because you are going to have to <\/span>face a lot of rejection. Two, the student misinterpreted this rejection\/failure as a writer, <\/span>thinking it meant he had failed as a person. <\/span><\/p>\n

A wise man once said, \u201cYou came into this world with something beautiful, and that\u2019s all <\/span>you\u2019ll take with you when you leave. Look for that something.\u201d Writing is just something <\/span>you do, and in my opinion, nothing you do defines who you are. Not only should your <\/span>self-worth not be based on others\u2019 opinions of your writing, but your self-worth should <\/span>not even be based on others\u2019 opinions of you as a person. How can you develop self-<\/span>worth without other people? Spend some time alone. Learn to enjoy your own company, <\/span>without screens, and even without words. Investigate who you are when everything is off.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the real research, and if you want to have something worth sharing in your <\/span>writing, start here.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"College Writing","pb_subtitle":"Brook Bhagat","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-25","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/25","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/25\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":198,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/25\/revisions\/198"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/25\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=25"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=25"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}