two posts in one day!
i'm totally procrastinating.
i have written three pages of my paper--of a possible sevenish--so far. i think they're probably three pages of something like nonsense crap, but since i have to turn in this paper in 20 hours i can't necessarily discriminate (against my own writing?). just need to get it done. also need some chocolate. also, sleep.
yesterday i read something on salon that really resonated with me. it was in response to the question: should i become a flight attendant because it's what i want to do even though i have multiple degrees and could get a better job? this was part of the response:
"Wanting is knowledge. Someone asks us what we want and we say, Oh, I don't know. I don't know what I want. But the truth is we do! We do know what we want! It's just (isn't it?) that what we want isn't the thing we ought to want or want to want or are supposed to want or think we want. It's what we want. It's the potato we want in a store full of ripe oranges. It's the comic book on a shelf full of Shakespeare -- and why are we supposed to not want that? Because wanting is the deepest story of who we are; wanting is who we are more than getting."
exactly.
i have written three pages of my paper--of a possible sevenish--so far. i think they're probably three pages of something like nonsense crap, but since i have to turn in this paper in 20 hours i can't necessarily discriminate (against my own writing?). just need to get it done. also need some chocolate. also, sleep.
yesterday i read something on salon that really resonated with me. it was in response to the question: should i become a flight attendant because it's what i want to do even though i have multiple degrees and could get a better job? this was part of the response:
"Wanting is knowledge. Someone asks us what we want and we say, Oh, I don't know. I don't know what I want. But the truth is we do! We do know what we want! It's just (isn't it?) that what we want isn't the thing we ought to want or want to want or are supposed to want or think we want. It's what we want. It's the potato we want in a store full of ripe oranges. It's the comic book on a shelf full of Shakespeare -- and why are we supposed to not want that? Because wanting is the deepest story of who we are; wanting is who we are more than getting."
exactly.
posted by sarah at 4:14 PM
4 Comments:
susan--ok, done. just for you.
i did get my paper done, and i do still work well under deadline pressure. except for the sleep deprivation part, that's not so fun.
i like your new photo, kate...my, how you've morphed.
Your new photo is cool too! And yeah, sleep depreviation ain't good, but congrats on finishing your paper.
Hi, Sarah,
there is a really good book on writing by Ann Lamont called Bird by Bird. One of the things she says that really helped me write better was that it is not only okay, but mandatory, to write a shitty first draft (her words). I used to spend so much time rewriting the first paragraph that I had a hard time finishing papers. Now, whenever I write anything, I give myself permission to write a shitty first draft, because I know I can revise it later, and make it better. Sometimes I throw out whole paragraphs and ideas, but at least there is something on paper that can be used to write a decent story.
hey sandy!
i read bird by bird years ago and then gave it to my mom, i think, when i was done with it. i remember it being a good read (of course, i remember none of it now...i should probably read it again).
thanks for the advice about writing a crappy first draft. that's coming in handy with the paper i'm writing now. :)
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