This semester, I did something crazy: I signed up for a creative writing class, on purpose. The reason this is insane is because while I do some creative writing, I, like many writers, do not want to share it. My creative writing is personal more often than not and it can be tough to
Posts Categorized: Getting Started
Redefining “Writers Block”
Here is the thing about writers block: it is not real. It does not exist. When you give such a term power, then it can take hold, intimidate and cause hesitation through fear. Think about dreams, the way our mind must sleep in order to process, think about how our bodies and minds need to
Creative Writing and Writer’s Block
When it comes to creative writing all students have trouble starting off at some point or another. Something to help that is to think of stories that they like and to have spin-offs of what they may have wanted to happen. You can do this for Netflix shows, movies, books or pretty much anything else.
Writers, Welcome to a New Semester!
College students are writers. No matter our major, papers are required even though we might not consider ourselves writers. We often think that “real” writers don’t struggle coming up with ideas, drafting or revising. Real writers have inspiration to lead and sustain them through paper after paper. In order to encourage each other this semester,
Wit and Wisdom Celebrating a Semester’s End
When a semester begins and academic energy runs high, we in the writing center sign up to lend something insightful to our humble blog archives. Invariably, I sign up for a late-semester date anticipating by then I’ll have something so original—nay, profound—splashing in the mental bucket, it will forever alter the lives of those who
How Do You Play The Game?
“Volleyball practice ends at seven tonight, ” I yelled as I left for school in the morning. “I’ll be there,” would be my Mom’s reply. This exchange took place every morning, with a few alterations of time and sport. As life wound its way forward, I found the same words echoing through my own home,
Know Thy Self: altering your writing process so you can get the job done
By the time I got to my senior year in college, I was so sick of learning about the writing process. Pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading. All right, all right, I get it. Do we really need to go over this again? One thing that we have to pick up from all this repetition is
Using Writing Assignments to Your Benefit
Sometimes, there’s no way around it. You have to write a summary or analysis of a reading handed to you by your professor. Yep. Gotta write it. Go on. Just do it and think about how you are sharpening your skills. Sometimes though, assignments give you some choice. Assignments can be broad prompts that make
Sharing is Caring: the writing center as a resource for everyone
Before coming back to the MEW Writing Center at UM-Flint, I worked at a writing center at a community college. One day when it was a little slow, I struck up a conversation with another writing tutor. I asked him if he had used the writing center recently. “Oh no,” he said right away. “I’m
Purposeful Statement
Sometimes, getting started is the worst part of writing. I always tell writers I work with to first figure out what you are going to say and then worry about how you are going to write it. Sounds simple enough. But, what if you have no idea of what you want to say? Often, I