"How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?"

Do check my blog when you're absent from class. I will be making a conscientious effort to re-cap the week, essays and assignments due, reminders, etc. This should be a benefit to us both. I am glad to answer questions in emails, but recounting "what we did in class" can be time consuming.

If you have not already started posting on your blog, please do so! Post at least two times a week. Don't wait for a formal topic from me. The idea of the blog is that it is a place you can record your own ideas, insights, thoughts INFORMALLY. You don't have to worry about whether the topic is "good" or not; it's what's on YOUR mind and what YOU are interested in. At best, it may help to see your own thoughts made visible. "How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" That's NOT an original quote, but it's a quote writing teachers live by. Thinking and writing are intricately connected; we consider a person who is educated, intelligent, articulate to be able to express himself/herself clearly and well in writing. What we forget is that writing well is NEVER easy for anyone.

Where do you start? How do you start? Does everyone have as much trouble finding a topic or writing an interesting first paragraph? Should you pick something close to your heart to write about, or do subjects that carry great emotion provide a greater challenge? Are your thoughts clear? Do you KNOW what you want to say and yet struggle to find the correct phrasing or the right word? There are endless complications that you face. There is only one solution: WRITE. Revision and editing will come later.

I'm going to add a Blogroll so you can see some of the other blogs that are being created, see how other people are using them, and perhaps discover greater possibilities.

FINAL FIRST DRAFT DUE ON THURSDAY -- on your blog, if no where else.