Hello world! This is my first blog post, and I'm going to use this time to discuss why I began writing informally, as well as why I think writing is important (especially) for young people/students like myself.
Some Background
Before I even talk about writing, some background about me is important. This year I'm going to be a sophomore in university. I've always been engrossed in STEM, particularly biology and computer science, and even went to a STEM focused highschool. Like a lot of my peers in these fields, I often felt like humanities courses were things I just had to do for credits, and never really enjoyed or bothered paying much attention to them—a stigma I believe is shared amongst a large majority of college students in STEM majors. In my freshman year, however, I took this Seminar in Composition (an introduction writing course all Pitt freshmen have to take in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences) section with the fantastic Dr. Robin Clarke.
Sidenote, all freshman going into Pitt should seriously try to take her class, because it was a fantastic experience and she's a wonderful teacher.
It was through this class that my perspective of writing and the humanities changed dramatically. Dr. Clarke's class, especially, was incredibly eye opening to me: it really emphasized creativity and expression as a form of analyses—something I typically dichotomized. Prior to this class, what little writing I did do was primarily focused on what I considered to be academic and analytical: that of science, history, and the occasional deconstruction of text (still this was primarily done when I had to.) I avoided creative type writing under the misnomer that it was separate from analyses—something I now think wasn't fair.
Creativity vs Analysis
Autobiography = auto (self) + bio (life) + graphy (writing)
Do these words mean “self writing life?” Or, “writing the life of the self”? What is the difference?
[...Autobiography is] writing that, among whatever else it might do, foregrounds the self as an area of inquiry or a place from which to inquire. By “experimental,” I mean writing that is interested in re-imagining what is possible within an existing tradition or model.
As I mentioned earlier, my freshman year intro writing class challenged to me gain a new, and in my opinion, better, view towards what writing is, and, perhaps most importantly, what it can be. I think that creative writing tends to take on a stigma that is both unfair and misguided. Within the broader spectrum, creative writing tends to get labeled as "fiction", or as a "story". As such, in academia, particularly, it can be belittled when compared to analytical writing—which is often described as anything that de-constructs some body of information to form a cogent argument pertaining to that topic. I believe that this approach to "genres" of writing is a little...odd. I define creative writing similarly to the quote above: as anything that subverts the traditional forms and models of writing. Often, the line between traditional creative and analytical writing can blur and mesh together. Suffice it to say, the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Rather, the two tend to blend together, forming pieces that can be creative in form yet analytical in content.
In fact, subverting traditional writing can be a very powerful tool when crafting an analytical piece. Claudia Rankine, for example, does an incredible job in her pieces Citizen and Don't let me be lonely of using non-traditional writing techniques to enhance her message. In Citizen, she uses short paragraphs, lots of whitespace, and gruesome images to portray a deep message of the prejudices against minorities, or perhaps a larger message of self-identification. On the surface, her technique seems to be entirely out of left field of what would be considered a "traditional" essay, but her short form narration enhances a rhetoric of a one-sided, uphill battle. Rankine combines her unique experiences with a somewhat bizarre form to engross her audience in her arguments pertaining to discrimination, and it works—while reading you feel as if she is talking to you directly. Rankine used the form to leave her mark on the essay.
Self Reflection as a Mode for Writing
Perhaps what was most powerful of Rankine's writing was her ability to weave her own life's story so effectively into a larger narrative. To write is to leave one's mark on a piece of paper, in some sort of message, to some sort of reader. To be creative is to express oneself in a way that's unique to the author—to channel their voice. To be analytical is to identify a position on some topic, to reinforce that position using evidence, and to pursue the goal of convincing your readers of that position. Writing doesn't need to be restricted to any one and only one of these categories. We've already seen that blending creative and analytical writing can enhance the larger narrative—not hurt it. But, one of the most ignored portions of writing is that of the self. In attempt to stow away any bias and subjectivity, we remove our life experiences from the argument we are trying to make. Yet, in many cases clinging to the idea of expressing ourselves in a way that is uniquely our own, it's seemingly impossible to ignore "the self". To leave one's mark in writing, is fundamentally to imprint a piece of their life experiences within the position and expression that is trying to be conveyed. While intrinsic biases and subjective experiences should not dominate an argument (misconstruing objective facts to support a personal position is still flawed), self-reflection can serve as a potent fuel for the narrative surrounding a larger position. Understanding why you might have personal biases on a certain topic, and incorporating that material into the context surrounding that position, adds a highly human element to the piece, invoking pathos in the reader. To convince someone on your position or solution to an issue, you must first convince them on the issue itself—a task that today can seem impossible, if not incredibly uncomfortable.
To Sum Things Up
I began writing partly as a mode of self-reflection. As someone who can be fairly passionate (daresay stubborn) at times, understanding what drives me to form opinions is extremely important. To understand the world around me, I first should understand myself. Writing exists as a medium to explore my thoughts, opinions, and experiences to further shape my perspective on life and events in general.
