The focus of my blog is my connection to the narrative “My name is Margaret” by Maya Angelou and the narrative I wrote about an emotional and memorable time in my life. The connection that both of these writing pieces share are their appeal to the five senses, as well as being deeply descriptive and emotionally driven. “Look Cooke all you need is a single to bring this run in nothing special, do what you do best” said Coach Giorgio.“ I responded “Ok their right fielder doesn’t look very talented, if I get the right pitch I could square up and take it that way that’ll surely bring our man home” . The sky was slightly cloudy and there was a warm spring breeze on my skin, perfect baseball weather. It was a night game so we played under the lights. There was a lot of parents and family members in the stands. This was a huge game, winner goes to the championship so it was do or die for us both. It was sure to rain because it was so humid everyone was sweating and water was becoming scarce on our bench. I trotted up to the box, looked down the line to my third base coach and strapped up my all black Nike batting gloves gloves. I was wearing dirty and grass stained white Nike pants, a blue jersey, my old black Nike cleats and a pine tar covered black Wilson helmet. I looked up to the pitcher and rested my feet into the box. I looked back at the umpire and he shouted ”PLAY BALL”. I glanced over to right field where I was hoping to plant the ball, the catcher threw the fresh new white ball to the pitcher. The pitcher then leaned forward and got set in the stretch. He looked back at the runner taking his lead on second. He pitched a fastball and it went right past me making a “zipping” noise. I wasn’t fully prepared, I was too intensely focused on my footing. The catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher and the pitcher got ready again. He winded up and threw the pitch, it was high and outside my favorite spot so I stepped into it and “CRACKK” the bat went, the ball lined right over the first basemen and dropped into right field. The outfielder ran for the ball and it bounced over his short body I sprinted to first not looking where the ball had landed. The runner in front of me was rounding third, destined for home I was almost at second and I dropped onto my leg and slid into the base because the fielder somehow got the ball to the cut-off man. I saw what was going around me and made sure to do a standup slide and when I realized the cut off over threw the ball I got up and sprinted to third. The third basemen wanted a run down so he threw the ball to the shortstop but that was also an overthrow. I then rounded third and was well on my way to reaching the plate. The center fielder had a miracle throw to home and the catcher caught it but somehow I got under the tag and was safe. I brought in two runs with my inside the park homerun, I ran into the dugout to jump into my teammates arms. We were now in the lead by two runs with ton of confidence to full us for the rest of the game. The game ended and we fell short, the other team rallied and figured out a new game plan. It was a tough loss but my team and I knew that we were just out played and outcoached, we all left everything on the field. The entire team was upset after our tough loss but we shared a few laughs after, we spoke about my unorthodox homerun as well as how hard we all worked and how much harder we would work in the following season.
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The focus of my blog will be on the writing process and the steps taken to complete a good piece of writing. I will be speaking to three very prominent writers, Don Murray, Mary Karr, and Anne Lamott. We will discuss how we as writers use certain skills and techniques we learned and developed through our experiences with writing
It was a bitter cold January night in Pennsylvania, I was making my way down the street and stumbled upon a small mom and pop cafe. I thought to myself this would be a great place to get some coffee, relax, and warm up for a little. As I approached the door I noticed a gentleman and two women sitting at a table together in the back. I sat down at the bar I took a sip of my piping hot coffee and spilled a bit on my shirt, I proceeded to the bathroom in the back of the cafe and overheard the three people speaking about writing. I then noticed who they were, three of my favorite writers! As I came back from the bathroom I approached their table both nervous yet excited to speak to them. I said “Hey, I am a huge fan and a writer myself I overheard your guys conversation. Do you mind if I join?”. All three of them were thrilled to run into a fellow writer and fan so they said “yes”. We began to talk about how to kick off a piece of writing the correct way so ideas keep flowing as you write, Don said to me “ It is the process of discovery through language. It is the process of exploration of what we should know and what we feel about what we know through language. It is the process of using language to learn about our world, to evaluate what we learn about our world, to communicate what we learn about our world.” I had an understanding for what he just said so I replied by saying “So what you mean is that you must have a full understanding of what it is you are going to use to write not only what it is you are specifically going to write?” They simultaneously nodded their heads to the fact that I was spot on with my interpretation. Mary then added, “Every writer I know who’s worth a damn spends way more time “losing” than “winning”.” I then said “That may be true for some but I think we may have to agree to disagree because I feel as if every small win in a piece of writing means a lot more than the seemingly never ending writer’s block or revision process hitches ever are”. Anne then said that “We all feel like we are pulling teeth”. I said “you’re exactly right because writing is not just about running to the final product, it is about slowly but surely going through the writing process to complete a meaningful piece of writing, yet you wish it was as easy as just running straight through.” We then began to talk about how you can correctly and beautifully include distinct and objective detail in your writing. Mary began by explaining her experiences that helped her as an aspiring writer by saying “Reading through history cultivates in a writer a standard of quality higher than the marketplace.” She meant that how writers explain history is some of the most detail oriented writing you can read. Don added that “Prewriting is everything that takes place before the first draft. Prewriting usually takes about 85 percent of the writer’s time.” I replied with “I always try to gather what detail I plan to add in my writing during that part of the process. This is exactly where you begin your brainstorming for what details you would like to add inside of your plot or dialogue.” Anne began to say that when she started writing she realized that “All I had to do was write a really shitty first draft, of, say the opening paragraph. And no one was going to see it”. She was explaining how you can develop new and better detail through trial and error, it is a full proof part of the process because you don’t have to stress about someone critiquing your writing because you’re the only one who can read it. As the cafe began to close, and our coffee cups ran dry we had a final discussion about the topic of what is the endgame of the writing process? How to correctly get there with an exemplary piece of writing. Anne said “What I do is to work over a piece until it feels just about right, and then I send it to one of these two friends”, two of her knowledgeable writer friends. I said to her “ I do the same thing, once I am comfortable enough with a piece of writing I will send it to a friend for proofreading and constructive criticism.” Don responded and said to Anne “You should have the opportunity to write all the drafts necessary for him to discover what he has to say on this particular subject.” He understood that I was a sponge soaking in every word they said, like I was a student of theirs just trying to learn writing from some of my favorite writers. Mary then finished the conversation talking about the relevance of revision “Revision is the secret to their troubles—and yours.” What she meant by this is that once you learn how to revise yourself then you can revise as you go, with less hassle at the end of your writing. The owner came by our table to tell us that it was closing time, I thanked Don, Marry, and Anne for their wise words of advice and for forging a camaraderie between us as if we all showed up to the cafe together pre planning our long and in depth conversation about the writing process. Marcel Proust, was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu. He also developed a questionnaire that could tell a lot about you, it is a series of questions about your opinions and feelings. Many people use it in interviews or when just trying to get to know someone, I completed the questionnaire below and I feel I learned a little about myself because of it.
__1.__What is your idea of perfect happiness? Pure silence in an empty home. __2.__What is your greatest fear? My greatest fear is easily being buried alive. __3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? A trait I deplore in myself is generosity because many people take advantage of this. __4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others? I deplore Selfishness because I believe everyone should care and help one another. __5.__Which living person do you most admire? I admire Joe Rogan, not only because of how cool of a person he is but for how determined and driven he is to do all the things he does. __6.__What is your greatest extravagance? I would definitely have to say Food either quality or quantity that is where i like to spend my money. __7.__What is your current state of mind? My current state of mind is Tired __8.__What do you consider the most overrated virtue? The most overrated virtue to me is loyalty, because most people blindly follow this. __9.__On what occasion do you lie? Only when it is absolutely necessary or I am joking. __10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance? Nothing, I am completely happy with how I look. __11.__Which living person do you most despise? I would say Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez because of the ridiculous stuff she says. __13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman? Intelligence because it’s worth a lot more and last a lot longer than any other quality. __14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Word” __15.__What or who is the greatest love of your life? It’s a tie between food and my girlfriend. __16.__When and where were you happiest? I was happiest in Avalon, New Jersey as a young kid __17.__Which talent would you most like to have? To be a really good dancer. __18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Nothing because I wouldn’t be myself. __19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement? Discovering a good work ethic. __20.__If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it Be? A bird for the day and a cat for the rest of my life. __21.__Where would you most like to live? The wilderness of Colorado or Wyoming would be a very interesting and cool place to live. __22.__What is your most treasured possession? I treasure My Playstation 4 more than anything else. __23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? The lowest depth of misery is definitely depression sleep __24.__What is your favorite occupation? I really like working at a restaurant but I one day would like to be a lawyer and I am sure I would enjoy that more. __25.__What is your most marked characteristic? I believe my most marked characteristic is my humor. __26.__What do you most value in your friends? I value positive camaraderie __27.__Who are your favorite writers? Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allen Poe __28.__Who is your hero of fiction? My herof of fiction would most definitely be Doctor Strange __29.__Which historical figure do you most identify with? I feel as if I most identify with Ben Franklin because he was courageous and ambitious. __30.__Who are your heroes in real life? People who wake up everyday and protect my freedom. __31.__What are your favorite names? Daniel, Abigail, Edward, Samuel __32.__What is it that you most dislike? People who chew food with their mouths open. __33.__What is your greatest regret? I have none, every mistake I have made was a lesson and has helped me in the long run. __34.__How would you like to die? I would like to die either in my sleep or in a cool way like a shark attack. __35.__What is your motto? Keep on keepin’ on |
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April 2019
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