Writing Homework Help
University of California Irvine Reading and Writing Myths Questions
FOR THESE 3 QUESTIONS BELOW, please respond briefly in writing, and DRAW one or more drawings to accompany your answers. Don’t worry about the quality of your drawings! Your drawings don’t have to be great, just expressive. 🙂
- Of the common myths about writing that Jensen raises, which one do you most find yourself falling into? Is this the same for all kinds of writing that you do, or is it different depending on what you’re writing?
– the magnum opus myth
– the hostile reader
– the impostor myth
– the compared-to-X myth
– the cleared-deck dream
– the perfect first sentence
– the need for one more source (You only had to read the beginning of Joli’s reading for today, but sometime when you’re ready for it, I would recommend reading at least the chapter that goes into your particular myth in more detail!)
2. Is there another myth that gets in the way of your writing that Jensen hasn’t mentioned? What would you call this myth? What other obstacles get you stuck? What obstacles, beliefs, emotions, or ideas do you struggle with when it comes to your writing?
3. Invite one demon in for tea. Freewrite for a while:
- Identify (without hostility or criticism) what you are telling yourself.
- What belief about writing are you taking for granted?
- Is that belief really true?
- If it is, and it is painful, then what can you do to support yourself?
- If it is not, what is more accurate, and therefore more reasonable, to believe?
- What is one truth you could speak back to your demon? (Remember, this goes beyond positive thinking or pumping yourself up with supportive slogans. This is about seeing clearly to the reality of your situation, past the myths, which we can gradually dismantle when we allow ourselves to see them for the untruths they are.)
