Blog 6: Writing: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future

Writing is a fascinating topic, at least to me. I found reading these data sets to be incredibly interesting, especially in regards to how these three separate authors found, or didn't find, their voice in the world of writing. For my analysis, there are a few questions that stuck out as I began reading and re-reading the pieces. One of the biggest questions involves the pre-conceived notions that writers have about what writers are. Sample narratives one and two are both filled with mentions of what they believe writers (and readers) are perceived as by the public, as well as what they themselves believe writers are. My main question of focus is: what can our preconceived notions of what writers are do to us in regards to our development as writers? There is a world of data in these essays that help to answer this question, I have highlighted sections that center around this question.

As for coding:

Fact 

Notion the author has about writers/readers

Notion the writer believes the general public has about writers/readers

Characters with a positive personal influence on author

Characters with a negative personal influence on author

Characters who had a positive influence on the author, then changed to negative 

Change in attitude by the author


My first example comes from Sample Literacy Narrative 1:

"Around third grade, I had transferred to a new school and I didn’t know many people. I had my cousins there, but at the time, I was not really close with them. So I would read. I was that little nerdy kid sitting on the bus next to the window reading a book. I didn't really notice the things around me. It was just my book and me. Normally people who see someone reading a book would find that person unapproachable or unsociable, so they don’t really spark up a conversation with them. However, an unexpected thing happened, instead of being ostracized by my books, I made friends because of those books. I found that my cousins and a lot of other girls in my grade loved reading books too!"

In this paragraph we see a lot happening. It starts off with some facts about the author's childhood. She transferred schools and loved to read, so she explains that she was the nerdy kid reading a book on the bus. I code this as an opinion rather than a fact because the subtext of the line speaks volumes of what the author believed others around her would see when they saw her reading. What follows is the author's belief that people who read are lame and ostracized due to their love of reading. This sets up a change in attitude for the author. The author realizes that there are other people who love reading, and that they accept the author because of this. These girls are a positive influence on the author's development because they encourage reading, and find a connection with the author because of it. 

Later in the Narrative is this paragraph:

"It was around high school that my love for writing came back. I started to get bored of reading the same types of books and stories. I wanted to find something different to read, something raw. Then I found out how amazing the internet could be. I started to read internet writing. I was amazed by it. Some writing was so bad I would cringe. Others were creative and had a lot of potential, but just was not quite there yet. Then there were amazing writers that I found, and I couldn't help but think, “Why is this not published??” It was astounding. I would spend hours on our home computer just reading. It made my parents worry that I was spending too much time on the computer. I told them it was reading and, at first, they wouldn't believe me. But then, they finally saw what I was doing and lessened on yelling at me, even though they still did not like the amount of time I was reading on the computer"

Here we have the author, now older, talking about a "safer" form of writing and reading. The internet has, in fact, become a safe-haven of sorts for writers of all kinds and this author has discovered this world. The author's opinions on writers develops here as well, developing the notion that the internet is full of writers who are all over the map in terms of talent. This creates, sub-textually at least, the feeling that the author is seeing writers as a varied whole rather than a subcategory of loners. There is a reason why I coded the remarks about the author's parents the way I did. Earlier in the story, when the author was a child, the parents were very encouraging of reading. They were completely happy and content with the author reading all the time and they felt it would help the author in school. At this point they have taken a slightly more destructive standpoint. While their minds are in the right place, worrying that their child is spending too much time on the internet, they don't seem to fully accept reading on the internet as being as good as reading a book. This can have a negative change in the author because the author is coming to understand the positive aspects of reading and writing on the internet. Questioning or berating what the author is doing on the computer can make the author feel like they are doing something wrong, and cause them to withhold from continuing along this line of reading and writing. 

I move on to the second Narrative for my next example:

"My older sister Melanie started the habit of reading aloud whenever we took a car ride somewhere. She is another person of influence in my early life of literacy. Most of the books I read were (and still are) at her recommendation. If we didn’t read the book together, we would take turns with it, or at least discuss our readings with each other afterwards. 

I use “we” because I consider reading to be a shared activity. The cultural story would suggest that reading is the activity of lonely, solitary children. However, in my experience, stories are found in the context of relationships. My sisters, my parents, and my friends all had direct and indirect influence on my reading. People formed the backdrop in which I experienced stories, affecting my choices, preferences, and fervor in reading. Reading does not need to be, in fact cannot be, a solitary activity. "

Here we have the author talking about their early influences in reading and writing. The author explains that their sister was one of the biggest influences while growing up, especially in regards to reading and writing. The author then goes on to say that they believe reading is a shared activity, and broadens that to attempt and negate the "cultural stereotype" of readers and writers being lonely individuals. The change in attitude at the end is not specifically a change in this paragraph, but a realization set in the timeframe of the story, where the author realizes they don't have to be a lonely misfit of a character in order to appreciate and indulge in reading and writing. 

My next example is a huge turning point for the author of the second Narrative:

"My older sister was the person who filled the role of “writer” in our family. She could write stories independently, and with the natural talent that “true writers should have”. My younger sister and I were allocated to different, albeit valuable roles. While all of Melanie’s early works are chronicled in the attic the only evidence of my early literacy is some preserved homework.  I was always a good academic writer, but I placed this attribute under the “good at school” heading and didn’t keep the “writer” part for my own identity. That would have been infringing on my sister, claiming for myself what was rightfully hers."

I have coded this entire thing one solid color because of what is being expressed here. As stated in the first example from this story, the author's sister was a huge influence on the author's love of reading and writing. Later in life this became a negative influence, as the author was relegated to the background of the writing world, as the author's sister became more and more successful and talented in the eyes of their family. So one who was able to open up a mind so much later became the shadow in which the author would live in for a time. 

Based on these examples I would have to say that there are many interesting factors that can come into play when inhibiting a writer. The largest aspect of this inhibition seems to be a psychological one that not only stems from what the writer believes the public will see them as (whether it is true or not) but, also, is cultivated (albeit negatively) by the attitudes and opinions expressed by those who have influenced the author. Whether it be teachers with negative comments (as shown in the first narrative), a sister who is praised above the writer (as is the case in the second narrative) or any number of other comments that can get into the mind and fester, these small remarks can become larger problems.

If we were able to fully throw away our preconceived notions on what it is to be intelligent, on what it means to be able to read and writer, or even to love the act of reading and writing, then we may be able to live a fuller and more productive life in the manner that we would most prefer. My hypothesis here is that young readers and writers must try to shed their thoughts on what someone who reads should be and focus on what they, themselves, actually are. We are human beings, not stereotypes. It is entirely possible to be the captain of the football team and also a huge fan of science fiction novels. You can be the second-best writer in your family and still be an amazing writer. The trick here, however, is figuring out how that could be accomplished. Our neuroses are not easily overcome, but they may be dulled if we were told the right things at the right times by the right people.