MARIAN E. WRIGHT WRITING CENTER

Serving students and faculty since 1971

Redefining “Writers Block”

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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

The Important Nothings of Writing

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I have a special way of writing and it begins by not writing. I slouch in my seat like an old man far far away eating biscuits and drinking tea while reading old dailies on the side of the beach. After I have settled into my slouching position, I begin to look at the Hindu

Wind and Starlight by Sydney Markel

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This poem was the 1st Place Winner in our 3rd Annual Poetry Contest.   We were opposites, she and I, She of the earth and I of the sky. She ruled day while I ruled night, She worshiped the ground as I took flight. But even so we longed to meet To have our faces

Hallowed Ground by Bob Mabbitt

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This poem was the 2nd Place Winner in our 3rd Annual Poetry Contest.   Though fallow and brown, it’s a wormhole Transporter in consumption’s own hometown! Set all coordinates to collapse In upon themselves. Fill’er up With holy water; recycle mortal maps. There’s founding boss Jacob Smith With firewater and a pen. Train That water

Windex by Briana Minor

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This poem was the 3rd Place Winner in our 3rd Annual Poetry Contest.   5’3 with an itty bitty waist, with some itty bitty tittys and a pretty brown face 19, with a gap in my teeth, I’m addicted to weave but that’s the only thing fake 96 was when my mom gave birth to

Opportunity for Growth: Have You Seized It Lately?

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“What did you learn today at school?” This question was asked each afternoon, by one or both of my parents as I arrived home. My mother often recounts the lengthy recitations, complete with visual examples, I would excitedly share in my early years of education; for there were those periods of teenage angst and loathing,

Clarity first!

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I’ve noticed that it is a universal desire among writers to sound good. I mean, think about it: your reader can’t see your face, can’t hear your voice, and probably doesn’t know you. Your words are all you have to prove that you know something or have a great idea. And so it’s only natural

Writing Center Appointments and Procrastination Prevention

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This is it. That huge paper is due tomorrow. The prep work is half done. Nothing is written yet. Panic sets in. Sweat breaks out. Tears may even begin to flow. But work must be done, and somehow that paper gets turned in. Then, it all starts over next week. For many of us, procrastination

The Odd Couple at the Purple Rose

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There was a moment in The Odd Couple when Gwendolyn, no Cecily, no Gwendolyn, asks news writer, Felix Ungar, “where do you get your ideas?” Everyone laughs. It’s a sexist joke these days, since we’ve discovered that lots of men wonder about where the news gets its ideas too. But there are layers to this

Chill out, dude

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I struggled thinking about what I should write for this blog post, and initially thought to write about procrastination. Then I decided that this subject was horribly cliched and overdone, and so for a great deal of time I thought about which subject I should tackle. About which subject I could write on extensively, and