PamelaSantos

DePiero
Writing2
7December2015
TheRamblingsofaWriter
OnanunusuallyhotsummerdayatUCSantaBarbara,agroupoffirstyearswaitedfor
theminutetopasstobeabletoregisterfortheirfirstevercollegecourses.Whenthehourstruck,
myheartracedandIjotteddownmyfirstchoice:Writing2.Quickly,Iaddedthecourseontomy
scheduleandcelebratedinhappinessIwasfinallytakingaclassonsomethingthatIreallyloved
doing.However,whenthatfirstclassbegan,myexpectationswerescattered,andonequestion
keptrunningthroughmybrain:
Howarewegoingtospend10weekslookingatagenre?Thats
suchasmalltopic!
(WP3).Tenweekslater,notonlyhaveIfilledmybrainwithinformation
aboutgenres,butalsotidbitsofwritingtipsandlessonsthathaveexpandedbothmygrowthand
lovefortheartofwriting.
Thefirstlookofgenresandtheirconventionswasalreadyaneyeopener,andtheinterest
IhadforthelessonsparkedmymotivationforcompletingWP1.Whatcaughtmyattentionthe
mostwasthatthisinformationthefactthatgenreshaveconventionsthatmakethemwhatthey
arewassomethingthatfloatedinthebackofourheads,butnowitwasinfrontofoureyes.We
hadjustnamedit,andthatswhatmadeitsofascinatingtome.Additionally,thelessonswehad
inclasscorrelatedwiththeassignedreadingswehad,whichIprimarilydreadeduntilIreadthe
firstarticle,NavigatingGenresbyKerryDirk.Somethingaboutthisarticle,alongwiththe
other
WritingSpaces
excerpts,motivatedmetokeepreading.Whetheritwastheirpersonal

voice,thenecessaryinformation,orthewayyoucouldseethepassiontheyhadforwritingjust
bytheirwordsIlovedit.Afterafewlessonsandthereadings,wewerefinallyintroducedto
WP1:comparethreedifferentoutletsunderthesamegenreinthewaytheyaddressthesame
topic.
Morethanafraid,Iwasthrilled.Tome,itwasjustanotherlessoninadifferentform,
and
IhadthefreedomtowriteaboutwhateverIdesired,solongasIstucktotheprompt.Initially,we
weretoworkontwoprojectbuilders,bothfocusingontheanalysesofdifferentgenres.Looking
backonwhatIhadwrittenonmyblog,IknewthatthiswastheportionofthequarterthatItruly
enjoyed.IhadtheintrinsicmotivationtovoiceoutmyopinionsandwhatIknewonmyblog
becauseIwaselatedthatIunderstoodthelessons.Ultimately,Iknewthat
whatoncewasa
synonymforthewordlabelnowbranchesoutintodifferentdetailsandfactorsthatmakeitto
whatwenowunderstandisthegenre(PB1B).Asaresultofunderstandingthelesson
thoroughly,ImanagedtoexcelinmyWP1,TripleTrump,withonlyafewminorchanges
requiredfortherevision.ThemainissueIhadtofixwasmainlyformythesisstatementand
topicsentencestheywerenotasstrongandspecificastheycouldbe.Afterrevisingthemby
addingthesourcesthatIwasgoingtoanalyzeinthepaperandspecifyingtheconventionsIwas
goingtocompare,theybecamestronger.
Unfortunately,Ididnotkeepasteadysuccessforthelaterweeksofthequarter,andI
knewIwasatfaultbecauseIfelttooconfidentandcomfortablewithmywriting.Inoneofmy
thlogsorthoughtblogaddressingWP1,IevenbelievedthatIwasgoingtolookatWriting
Project2rightintheface,andtackle[it]totheground(Thlog3).Thismindsetratherthan
beingabigmotivationcausedmenottotryhardenoughintermsofclarifyingthelessonswe

discussedoverclass,thedirectionsweweretofollow,andtheoverallconceptsofthesecond
writingproject.
Initially,Iwasconvincedthatwehadalreadylearnedthebiggestlesson:theimportance
ofvaryingconventionsingenres.Iwaswrong.Inthebeginningofoneofourclasses,wewere
introducedtotheconceptofmoves.Inourfreewriteresponsesduringclass,Ihaddefined
movesasa
specificactionthatsomeonemayuseconstantlyandareknownfor.Whilethiswas
ageneralconsensusamongtheclass,welearnedthatmovescouldbe
anythingwewanteditto
be.
Thisiswhatstressedmeout.Itwasnearlyimpossibleformetowrapitaroundmyheadthat
moveswassuchabroadconceptintheworldofwriting,andeventually,Icouldnttellwhatto
callamoveandwhattocallaconvention.AsmuchasIwantedtoask,Ifeltthateveryone
aroundmewasunderstandingtheconcept,andIdidnotspeakupformyself.Icontinuedwading
throughthewatersofconfusionbeforerealizingthatIwoulddrownifIdidntaskforhelp.
TheprocessofWP2wasacompleteshockbecauseIhadnevertakensomanycomplex
stepstowritingapaper,butthecloserwesteppedtowardsit,Ifeltalittlemorecomfortable.One
stepthatIhadneverexperiencedwaslearninghowtoproperlyfindscholarlyarticlesthroughthe
library.Thistoolwashelpfulinfindingsourcesandunderstandingthatdifferentdisciplinescan
addressthesametopicwhichwasthedrivingideaforWP2.Thesecondstepwefocusedon
duringclasseswasorganizingstructureandflow.OnetipthatIreallyenjoyedwasbreaking
apartthesentencesofaparagraphandturningitintoastructureofapoem.Ifitdoesnotsound
likeonesentenceflowssmoothlytotheother,thenatransitionisneeded.Thistipwassohelpful
thateventuallyIuseditinmypresentationforTransitionsandFlowandalsotoadvisemypeers
ontheirrevisions.Finally,thelaststepforWP2dealtwithPB2B:selectinganarticlefromthe

coursereaderandlookingfirstformovesthatarealsofoundin
TheySay,ISay
andthenlooking
forourown.Thisparticularstephelpedmeunderstandtheimportanceofmovespriorto
beginningmyWP2.Overall,thesestepshelpedmefeelmuchbetterabouttheWP2,butthe
abundanceofquestionsthatIhadtoaddressstillfrightenedme.
Fearhadtakenovermyskillinwriting,deterringmefrombeingexcitedtofinishapaper,
likeIwaswithWP1.IkeptputtingoffwritingmyWP2becauseIwas
afraid
.IwasafraidthatI
wouldwriteitincorrectly,andIwasafraidthatitwasntgoingtobegoodenough.Intheend,I
believethatthatfeariswhatmademyWP2weakerIfeltlikeIwasreachingadeadend,butit
wasjustallinmyhead.Ultimately,Ilearnedthat
it'sokaytonotalwaysbethebest(Thlog6).
andunderstandingthatinthelongrunwillhelpwithwritingapaperthatcanbelookedatand
fixeduntilitreachesitsmaximumpotential.Withthatnewmindsetinmind,myrevisionforWP
2hadimprovedandchangedcompletelyfromwhatitwasyoucanheartheconfidenceofmy
knowledgethroughthechangesImade.IevenswitchedtitlefromTheDifferentDisciplinesof
theLawoftheLandtoBeneaththeSurfacebecauseIfeltthatthefirstonewassoscattered,
justlikemythoughtsonit,andthesecondonefeltcleanerandmoreconfident.Overall,Iam
definitelymoresatisfiednowwiththatpiece,whichcanbethebestfeelingtohaveasawriter.
Finally,theclasshadjumpedoverthehardestobstacleofthecourseandwentstraightto
WP3,whichwasapplyingtheconceptswelearnedtoownourworkbytranslatinggenres.Out
ofthethreeprompts,Iselectedtheoptionofcreatingaselfreferentialgenrebecauseofthevideo
examplesIhadseenontheclassblog.WhenIcreatedagameplanforaselfreferentialYouTube
onmyPB3A,IansweredmyownpromptofHowdoesathingbecomeathing?by
[researching]howdifferentYouTubersspeaktotheiraudiences,whatconventionstheyshare,

andwhatthe
essence
ofthesevideosare(PB3A).CompletingWP3taughtmemorethanjust
genres,conventions,andmovesittaughtmethatthepointofgenreawarenessisto[grow]in
myexperienceofwr
iting,notjustthroughtheactionitselfalonebutbybecomingabystanderto
thosewhohavetheirownprocessaswell(WP3).
Thiscourse,inoneword,wasdifferenta
good
different.NotonlydidIbecome
confidentinmyownwriting,butalsohadtheopportunitytoimproveit.Fromthesmallest
thingslikelearninghowtoproperlyusebracketsandcitesourcestothebiggerlessonsof
discoveringtheimportanceofhowtoreadlikeawriter(accordingtoMikeBunn),Writing2
expandedmyknowledgeonasubjectwhereIthoughtIalreadyknewenough.Evenwiththis
course,Iknowthatmyknowledgewill
never
beenoughwritingisconstantlyevolvingand
adaptingtohoweveryouwantittobejustlikegenres,writingappealstovariouspeople.
Knowingthis,IwillkeepthelessonsIlearnedinPhelps1525inthebackofmymindanduseit
tomyadvantageinmynextthreeyearsatUCSantaBarbara.