,
7 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
Second interview with @emilynussbaum about her new book which really has me thinking about how we approach writing in general and teaching writing in specific. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tv-…
There's a great bit of wisdom in there about what @emilynussbaum does when she's wrestling with what to say (paraphrasing): just tell the truth. Be honest with the audience about what you think and why. How often do we actually tell students this is what they should be doing?
Students struggle with writing sometimes because they think writing is a performance - of knowledge, of "intelligence" (as measured by $10 words) - rather than an exercise in communicating an idea that holds truth. Letting them have the freedom results in improved writing.
Heck. I struggle with the same thing. My worst, most painful writing is when I'm trying to put on a performance that I think the audience wants from me. Writing an application letter for a TT job at the place where I was already an instructor was the most painful example.
I was trying to write a letter to people who knew me as whatever I was (and am) and convince them that I was a tenure-track professor of creative writing. The first drafts of the letter, even though they were entirely accurate, were also total bullshit. They made me cringe.
Later drafts of the app letter got better, but it was never good. I didn't get the gig (not because of the letter I don't think), but in hindsight, my difficulty with reconciling the truth with what I thought belonged in that letter was a bad sign.
Anyway, maybe @emilynussbaum could write a book about writing sometime. This was my write-up of the other interview that I found very instructive. insidehighered.com/blogs/just-vis…
