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Writing for a purpose
As opposed to the randomized babbling I do on here...
I have started writing for the Red Door Shelter's blog 'Behind The Red Door', and my first entry went live this morning. It's about my former foster-buns the FraidyTwins, aka The Amazing Color-Changing Bunnies.
I have started writing for the Red Door Shelter's blog 'Behind The Red Door', and my first entry went live this morning. It's about my former foster-buns the FraidyTwins, aka The Amazing Color-Changing Bunnies.
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I find this terribly ironic because I nearly flunked out of college because I didn't know how to write at a college level. My high school basically said "Oh, you're smart - go read A Tale Of Two Cities" so I never actually took a writing class. I got straight As there so never worried about it. But after my first quarter in college I was on academic probation.
My parents and my adviser were furious, and insisted that I "try harder" but I suggested that I should take a somewhat-remedial writing class. I had finally figured out that I just wasn't prepared - I'd never even heard the words "thesis statement" at all! I did manage to get them to "allow" me to take that class, and I did managed to get my degree, but I never really caught up after that start and my grades were somewhat average. Luckily it was a comparatively prestigious and rigorous university so even average there was better than advanced elsewhere.
Since the advent of blogging I've done a lot better. I have so many friends all over the world that I originally started all of this just to keep in touch with them. I have evolved a fairly casual style of writing - clear but easy to understand. People who found my blog late always say "You write exactly like you talk", and I take that as a compliment.
My last job involved blogging on a corporate scale, and I did a lot of research into the field. I ended up beine terribly frustrated because I wasn't allowed to do most of the things that all of the information said I was supposed to. My managers viewed a blog as "something you have" and as a sales tool, while all of the advice focused on content. After all, you don't subscribe to a blog to read sales pitches. You go for funny stories, information, to keep up with people, and all sorts of other reasons.
It was SUCH a relief to meet with the shelter manager and some of the board to map out a general direction from the start! They want a positive blog - one that makes readers feel like they are part of the community and then build on that connection for possible donations, adoptions, volunteers, or just good wishes. So that means slice-of-life stories, pet profiles, event info, stories about volunteers, etc. Also some informational stories, but couched in personal terms. Not "how to care for a special needs animal" but "this is fluffy, she has special needs. Here is how we cope with them, and here are some other places that might have info about them.
I have my next 2 stories planned out already, but am waiting for some people to get back to me with info.
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If you speak the way you write, you are an excellent communicator.
The entry was a nice length: long enough to tell the story properly, short enough to read over a coffee break. You got in a little humour, and caught the interest of the reader. I went on to look at other parts of the site. Paragraphs are short, sentences well constructed and of varied length, which is excellent. And there are cute pictured of the buns in the article. As an example of how to blog, I'd be happy to use this as a teaching tool as a good example for this type of organization.
<Teacher hat off>
As for the 'try harder'... Words ALMOST fail me! That is very poor teaching. I went through school with a terrible spelling problem. Nobody could get to the bottom of it, as I learned to read at four, before I ever got to school. Then I went to do Teacher Training at one of our most prestigious teacher training establishments. They were at the front of digging into what are now called 'specific learning difficulties', and were doing a lot of the developmental work for testing for things like dyslexia. I took a LOT of those tests in my time there. And yes, I turn out to be a high-functioning dyslexic. I was too late to get any formal classification, and there was really no help in school or college for folk with such problems, but at least they knew, and steered me towards 'packet top' courses where they could, so I collected credits along the way rather than having to rely completely on end of course exams. I did a dissertation on the education of middle class girls between the 1868 and 1968 Education reports( and spent many a happy hour digging through the 1868 report, reading the evidence given by Miss Buss and Miss Beale) rather than doing the exam course for History of Ed, for example. I got additional lessons in editing that when my dad read it over and my mum typed it up (this was 1977, before the advent of the personal computer!).
As a teacher, I always taught kids how to write a plan and build a structure on which to hang the details, and how to cite sources when used. It looks so impressive in their folders and adds a point or two to their marks. I think it's criminally negligent NOT to teach this sort of thing. Teaching kids how to narrow their research and keep to the point is necessary too: the internet is huge and full if lovely things that are incredibly useful, but you need to know how to find the bits you need, and then what to do with them! Learning FACTS a la Mr Gradgrind is no longer pertinent to a good education, not once you have got beyond the basics of spelling and grammar.
I did eventually go on to do an MA in modern Lit, which was fun and fascinating. The comment I got back from my supervisor on my MA thesis (It's Entertainment, But Is It Literature, based on three novels by Diana Wynne Jones) was: "Its a bit long, Kate (just over 20,000 rather than the 18 max they were looking for!), but I can't see anything you could cut out!"
Keep writing. It gets better and easier the more you do!
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Some subjects I annoyed the hell out of my teachers, as I could sit in the back of the room reading a book under my desk but still always have the right answer when called on. I also test very well, mostly because of a complete lack of "stage fright". Other subjects I just couldn't wrap my head around. Pre-calculus was an example. I was never very good at algebra, again because I apparently missed something crucial early on. Geometry was easier because I was describing actual *things*, which was easier for me to grasp. But I lasted 2 weeks in pre-calc with failing grades on quizzes and a teacher who was unable or unwilling to explain things in a way I could understand. Huge fights with my parents and my guidance instructor finally resulted in my being "permitted" to switch to Basic Accounting and Basic Computers, and I've certainly used those more in my life than I ever would calculus.
I don't consider myself a Writer, but I do know that I communicate well both verbally and in text. As a leader, I also am very aware that not everyone is good at everything and I do my best to pick the right people for the job and then get out of their way. I'm also good at translating between business-speak and tech-speak, which may be my most marketable skill.
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I'm very much a visual learner and thinker. Monkey see, monkey do. Read a list of instructions? Not so useful. See it happening or see pictures? Great! When planning things I drag pictures together and make spider diagrams/mind maps. While I do make lists of things to do, they are not so helpful as a spider diagram of the same tasks. Lists are for sending Himself shopping!