Allen IWA

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Pre-reading Exercise

           

            When I think of experienced writers, I do tend to think they have an easier time writing than I. I think there is a prevalent idea about professional writers that they have a natural talent and that writing pours out of them. They may face some roadblocks, but those are also easier to overcome than the average student. The thing about this notion of the natural writer is that I know that it is a misconception; all writers struggle to work. Sometimes, the act of writing is so defeating because it is not at all easy, and you assume that you are simply not cut out for it—its for the professionals. For instance, there is such mind-blowing talent in Beloved that Toni Morrison seems to have done something not humanly possible, and thus, I assume that her writing process is also something regular people could never do.  

Summary

           

            In her text “The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer,” Sarah Allen attacks the myth of the natural or “inspired” writer, who, because he or she can write well, is automatically bursting with ideas and effortlessly puts words to paper. Allen also addresses the question of what it means to “be good at writing.” Does that necessarily mean that writing is easy? Ultimately she argues that to write is to enter an “alien discourse, an area of study unfamiliar to use. Because it is alien it sprouts fear and anxiety. Although Allen says that even experienced writers never overcome the “alien discourse,” she offers tips to help novice writers enter the community: imitate the organization of experienced writers and let other more experienced writers read the drafts.

Synthesis

            As she deconstructs the myth of the “inspired writer,” Allen also addresses the characteristics of the “real writer.” Like Greene, Allen notes that experienced writers “had to answer to the great works that had been written before them” (Allen 30). They both share the idea that one has to learn the history, do the homework, before entering the conversation. The metaphor Allen uses, however, is a basketball court, not a conversation. Like Margaret Kantz, Allen also talks about the danger of being too concerned with providing correct information than original arguments. Allen describes the work writers have to do to learn the history before them, and come up with an original argument as “digging,” which recalls Kleine’s Hunter/Gatherer metaphor for compiling information.

QD

2. Allen’s suggests that students overcome the myth of the inspired writer by imitating real, experienced writers. Specifically, Allen proposes that students read some effective scholarship and imitate those writers’ organizational patterns and rhetorical devices. She also suggests that students have someone read over their draft, even before a peer-review. She notes that it is important for this reader to be someone who writes better than the

--> writer (a teacher, boss, a mentor, etc.) Finally, she proposes that novice writers begin to view their own work as worthwhile so as to eliminate the divide between their idea of inspired writers and what they do as writers themselves.

3. According to Allen's definition and description of "collusion," I've definitely done this. First of all, in high school, I used to have my mother edit my papers. In college, I've read other people's papers and made editing suggestions. I've also utilized the student writing center in which they've proofed my papers. I hadn't thought of it as plagiarism. I can see it as misrepresentation of your own work, but I think there is a huge difference between fraudulent plagiarism and this collusion.

AE

1. I would say in a more general way that I have utilized Allen's method of imitation. That is to say, I probably write the way I do because of all the scholarship I've read. I know that the way I wrote as a Sophomore versus the way I write now is dramatically different, and all that changed was the amount of scholarship I read. I think the imitation is more of a subconscious thing; certain ways of saying things or organizational patterns creep into your head as you're writing, as they become more and more familiar from the scholarship that you read. I think it's a good strategy, though some rigid people might call it a form of plagiarism. 

2. I definitely agree with Allen that a purpose of writing is connection, although I would definitely change the phrasing form "the purpose" to "a purpose." I also write and read to make sense of things, to find new meaning in things, and to expand my thinking. There are many purposes to writing, but a big one for me would certainly be connection. It is, after all, a form of communication. And anything that inspires empathy or understanding is worthwhile to me. 

Thoughts

     I think Allen's piece will be very accessible to students. I found her narrative incredibly identifiable at different points, and I hope they will, too. Ultimately I think that this piece strives to give students some authority in their writing. Because it deconstructs the myth of the inspired writer and attempts to connect the experienced writer to the novice writer (they both struggle with the same things!), I think that it can empower them or at least instill more confidence in them as writers.