Rapid-Fire Writing

So we had this assignment in class the other day.

We were to write under the premise that we wake up one morning and we are something else, anything else.

Ready, set, WRITE.

What surprised me was how fast I actually got into the writing. I'm not the kind of person that can just sit down and write--actually, I don't think anyone really is. I need some STRUCTURE, a couple of GUIDELINES.

I knew this about myself, but still, an idea popped into my head pretty much instantly, and I just started to write. It was strange to me, the idea that I could sit down with one tiny sliver of inspiration, without my own set of deadlines and page lengths and be able ot produce something that, whatever length, could potentially get published. Woah. Was it supposed to be this easy?

And on top of that, I was writing at night, which was even better, because I actually felt awake. I know, backwards, huh? But that's just me. Inspiration from the night, when the light sinks out of sight...ok, enough of that.

Anyway, besides the general weirdness of this whole writing thing (which I had been doing for years, but never quite like this), there was something else I noticed.

When people shared in class, they had written concise, engaging, brilliant paragraphs, whereas I had written pages. And while my story was ongoing, everyone else's had nice clean endings. So it occurred to me that I have learned to elaborate far too well.

See, I had this enrichment teacher once. He had this thing about ELABORATING. When I started out in his class, I, too, could write concise little paragraphs. But a few class projects later, my papers were getting longer and longer, and more detailed. I once actually had an English teacher in high school tell me that I just had too many details in one sentence. Of course, this was the same teacher that refused to give me an "A" until everything was AP style-perfect, so that when I came to college, I was momentarily still lost in the world of the three-point thesis and five paragraph essay. So I tend to now question what she told me then. Still, I feel as though I've been ruined. But, hey, if it helps me to make a two page paper four, I'm fine with my little habit.

So these were the things I noticed in class the other day. Oh, and that, strangely, everyone had the same format of revealing little by little what they had turned into, creating a puzzle for the reader. It was quite interesting. Maybe the premise suggested that this is what should be done, but it wasn't really a conscious decision on my part, anyway.

Ok, I think that's all.

Until next class (or until I find something else to question),
~Dale B.