Middle-aged Maverick

Good and easy…except it’s not.

I’m going to be a little self-deprecating with my response to this today. And that is because I’m in my feelings about this writing class I’m taking. When I was a kid, I believed that writing was easy and I was a good writer. Oh how that is ridiculous now! I received feedback on my…

Daily writing prompt
What’s something you used to believe as a kid that seems ridiculous now?
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I’m going to be a little self-deprecating with my response to this today. And that is because I’m in my feelings about this writing class I’m taking.

When I was a kid, I believed that writing was easy and I was a good writer. Oh how that is ridiculous now!

I received feedback on my first writing assignment in the personal essay class I’m taking through Writer’s Digest University. The feedback was reasonable. I could see where she was coming from. I understood what she meant and how to make it better when I revise it.

Then I started the second assignment. I read what was assigned. In this session, the reading was all about how to structure a personal essay and what to do and not do to make it good. Got it. But then I started writing the second essay. And oh how bad it is!

I wrote half of a first draft of that essay the other night and had to stop because I immediately thought: I’m a terrible writer. This is hard. This essay is trash. I put it aside for a couple of days and this morning, I forced myself to finish it. It is still trash.

The good news is, I have two weeks to turn this one in. It’s not due until July 8th. I had Josh read the prompt and my resulting essay and he had some pretty good suggestions for me. So, I’m going to go back and try my best to turn this piece into something…well, good.

I believed I could be a writer when I was a kid. I never really gave myself a chance to be one. Stupid teaching career getting in the way–I’m kidding, I loved being a teacher. Now that I’m actually focusing on writing, it’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be. I taught my students for so long that showing not telling is how you write an essay. As it turns out, all of my writing to this point, that I thought made me a good writer, has been telling not showing. I’ve got to take my own advice, and that of the instructor of this class, and really work on that whole “showing” thing. It’s so hard! But, I will persevere. I am not giving up. I have time. I’m going to do this.

Being a good writer is not ridiculous, I am going to prove little kid Sarah right. Writing may not be easy, but I can be a good writer. Off to do some revising…

Want to help me accomplish my dream of being a paid writer? Buy me a coffee!

9 responses

  1. whimsicalwanderingsofGrinningGranny Avatar
    whimsicalwanderingsofGrinningGranny

    Omg. I remember my writing classes. My teachers would comment & id be luke ok? The teacher let us do rewrites to get a better grade. So I rewrote my assignments until I got an a. Finally one day she hands me my paper and smiles… written on it was… ok you got a 90% but you rewrote it, so I’ll give you a 98%. I also have changed my rules… only 1 rewrite allowed. Lol.

    Reply
    1. whimsicalwanderingsofGrinningGranny Avatar
      whimsicalwanderingsofGrinningGranny

      Keep up the class, it’s been years since I did the class & I still have mYerial ina box. Ha ha. I love reading it again.

      Reply
      1. cathymack62 Avatar
        cathymack62

        I will definitely keep it up! It was expensive, lol! But things also what I want to write, personal essays and so I really want to learn how to be good at them.

    2. cathymack62 Avatar
      cathymack62

      Thankfully this class isn’t for a grade! Lol! I’d be even more stressed about it!

      Reply
  2. All the Right that's left Avatar
    All the Right that’s left

    I enjoy writing and am an avid reader. Anything is fair game for my mind. One thing I’ve gleaned from all that reading is that you style can be uniquely you. Clemens, with his colloquial style humor and disregard for the rules of writing is one of my favorites. The hardest thing is following the rules and still being unique.
    It’s not ridiculous, just scary.

    Reply
    1. cathymack62 Avatar
      cathymack62

      That is absolutely true! And I’m sticking to that with this second draft, which I started over from scratch. I’m trying to tell the story the way I normally would and then go back and somehow infuse the elements of a personal essay that are supposed to be there. It’s a bit easier now.

      Reply
  3. traciekato Avatar
    traciekato

    Omg girl, you got this. You can write, what you are learning now is just the polishing part. Keep on it, you are doing great!!

    Reply
    1. cathymack62 Avatar
      cathymack62

      Thank you! I actually started over and will keep some of what I originally had, but I’m rewriting it so it’s more of what I want in it and how I would tell it versus what I think the instructor wants to see. I’ll still make sure it has those pieces but I’m letting it flow naturally now.

      Reply
      1. traciekato Avatar
        traciekato

        Cool

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Middle-aged Maverick is indeed middle-aged and she’s proud of it. She has a tendency to over think and over analyze many of the things she encounters in her life, as evidenced in many of her posts. She knows how to drive a stick-shift car, prefers Coke over Pepsi, and spent many of her adolescent years being obsessed with Jim Carrey.

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