Candid Beauty

Before this book I had never heard of multigenre writing. But even now as I write this my word processor doesn’t recognize multigenre as a word, so I don’t feel that bad. Three Things jumped out at me as I read the first nine chapters of Blending Genres, Altering Style. The first was I had a nostalgic feeling from reading the first example. As I said I’ve never been exposed to multigenre writing, at least to my knowledge, but it had some quality that made me feel as if I had. Second was one of the shaded in boxes with teacher’s comments. It talked about how much she enjoyed reading multigenre papers, vs. student’s other work. And third, how sincerity and experience with the topic is absolutely necessary for most multigenre writing to work.
While reading “Cosmetic Clips” I was thinking to myself, “This is supposed to be some new, crazy way of writing, but I seem to be absorbing it so naturally.” When I think of new genres of art I picture something trying to be too artistic, like a black and white film narrated and shot by the perspective of a transvestite candy wrapper. Done right, these read like an effortless and authentic piece of writing. Not only does the whole measure up to more than the sum of the pieces, but each individual piece compliments, and adds depth to every other piece.
Multigenre writing is a fulfilling and constructive exercise for students, but advantages exist for teachers too. As Sue Amendt said in Chapter one multigenre papers are much more enjoyable to read than traditional research papers. I could relate for two reasons. One, I immediately enjoyed reading these. Two, much of what I’ve written in my academic career, although well done and crucial to my development as a writer, has been bull*#!@. Voice carries through in these pieces, but one crucial element is needed.
A multigenre paper must be have the honesty and sincerity and that can only come from experience and knowledge of the writer. It’s stated in the text, and demonstrated in class. Trying to take on a topic that’s not a part of the writer will be distant, and maybe confusing. The piece we looked at in class, which eventually was found to be about loneliness, was clearly a valiant effort, but did not have a coherent message. But I may be a bias observer considering I’m a pro-choice, borderline agnostic.
I quite enjoyed this reading; even more so after the examples and discussion in class. If and when I become an English teacher a multigenre paper will definitely be part of my curriculum. I’ve included a link below that will take you to a site where Tom Romano takes you through writing workshop. Although there’s not much about multigenre writing, it still gives some very good teacher advice. It also has audio clips of Romano, which for me, were nice for putting a voice to the writing in our book.

Romano_Link

“How Writing Finds Its Own Meaning” was a refreshing and insightful piece. I fully believe writing is an evolutionary process and that it does find its own meaning. Murray really captures the essence and process of turning a blank page into a final draft of any writing style. With his simple, yet effective illustrations and equally effective concepts writing sounds tangible and fun. And although the piece is down on prewriting and organizing that is sometimes needed, I think it is something every writing student should read.
The first excellent point made is writers are constantly rehearsing, drafting and revising. Even as I write this blog entry I am writing and reading what I just wrote and changing it. These three phases do not coincide with the drafts, but are constantly cycling throughout the entire process. I am not always a fan of illustrations; in fact sometimes I think they are there solely to exist. But figure 1, “The Process of Discovering Meaning” hit the mark. Its illustrating of how exploration plays the primary part in the beginning of the writing process and plays less of one as it goes on, and clarification oppositely plays a small part in the beginning and grows into the lead role at the end, is quite accurate. This concept can also encourage students to get their pen flowing at the start, instead of being bogged down by pressure to create a polished draft right off the bat.
The loudest and clearest message in this piece is in the title: let writing find its own meaning. This is invaluable advice and illustrated no better than when Murray remarks if he knew exactly what he was going to write, he wouldn’t write it. I especially love this concept because it shows writing as a magical and unpredictable practice. Did Tolstoy know exactly what he was going to write when he started War and Peace? Impossible. Writing is too great of a thing to be laid out in blue prints like a building. But with this said I do think there is value in planning.
In this reading having a structure on paper before writing seems discouraged. I couldn’t agree more that writing forms itself during the process, but having a plan gives the confidence and frame of mind so the writer can let it form itself. It’s knowing the rules so you can break them. It’s seeing part of a picture so you can form another. For some just going over possibilities in ones’ head is enough to plant the seeds of a successful piece of writing, but others need a base they can follow, or choose to stray from. Neither should be discouraged.

This may sound very strange, and yes it makes me feel quite old, but before this class I didn't know what blogging was. I'm think I've heard the term tossed around, but in truth I'm not even sure of that. I'd like to blame it on being out of the country for a year, but unfortunately this article just informed me that it didn't just pop up in 2004-2005. I was also quite surprised to find that after all the empahsis and importanced placed on blogs in our first class that the definition is simply a webpage that is updated often with the latest update at the top of the page. This didn't seem revolutinoary to me. Although after reading the article I do see how it can make "powerful writing", and also have an impact on a number of things, I'm not experiencing blog fever yet. I imagine after this class my tune may change, but as of now I don't fully feel it.