I've become a big believer in the 'power and purpose of global revision in order to discover and shift meaning, rather than looking at it in terms of simple sentence and word-level corrections to change the way a reader may judge us. We look at the broader picture with revision and in that picture we discover ways to change or better convey the message. Writing is important to me because its an outlet to make-up stories, and tell my own true story even if I'm only telling myself. I'm one of those students who embrace theories of revision yet struggle to implement the practices at times. I've learned to keep positive and accept that multi-revision is a recommended practice for me. There's so much to consider in revision. I don't think I'll write and publish for a career, but I intend to be a lifelong writer and hope to publish someday. I am often "teetering between optimism and self-doubt," much like Avery early-on in The Emotional Work of Revision reading. The care I have for my writing, too is likely the greatest source of my anxieties. I've tried to fool myself for a long time that I hadn't any anxieties about writing, telling myself that confidence is key, but I am in a place where I need to admit the anxieties I feel, even if they are mostly minor. The more I write and trust in what I learn with each writing experience, the purer my writer's soul becomes. I've come a distance from the days of my one and two-drafters, but still have a bit of the journey to travel yet. Rather than wonder when I'll get there, I'm beginning to embrace each new checkpoint as I peddle my way up the mountain. I no longer wonder where the summit is, nor try to measure my growth and guess at when I'll arrive.
I am joyed to read about innovative learning and theories relating to revision because so much of it makes sense and it serves as a solid reminder that I'm not struggling alone in the writer's universe. I've shaken the idea that good writers are born, rather than developed. Reading writings about writing is fascinating because it explores what is or has been theorized, observed, and discovered among other writers, rather than touting a one-way fix-all remedy for the aspiring writer. They get my mind thinking about and exploring ways and reasons why I may or might not be struggling, and offering food for thought on how I might improve the craft rather than pigeonholing all writers and their experiences into a container. My interpretation of metanoia used to be that it was fluid and surrounding me and my writing at all times, and that every once in a while I'd snag kairos. However, i'm at a new point where I theorize that it is kairos which is consistently fluid and flowing around me, while metanioa can be seen on the other side of a pane of glass, kept at bay, like something which I don't have to endure if I choose not to, or don't let it. I can see it, but don't have to endure it. I like the idea that regret can happen, but doesn't turn into metanoia unless I succumb to giving up, failure, or the "good enough" attitude. I think about this in the longer term as it relates to revision. For me, being a multi-reviser and holding the belief that my writing can always sustain further work keeps metanoia away, and kairos perpetually visible and possible. One of my favorite things to ponder this week is visibility in writing, or what is not visible versus what is revealed as we work through discovery of our own writing curriculum
When I initially attended college, It was about getting through it instead of consuming it. My heart wasn't in it. I believed in myself, but I didn't think anyone else did. I was subconsciously engrossed with self-doubt and layers of accumulated dissonance from years of fighting the current of prescriptive learning. I didn't realize this at the time. When I returned to Boise State in the Fall of 2015 I had a new outlook and was intent on gaining as much from college as I possibly could. There was also the incentive to remove myself from academic probation. Even though I'd matured a lot, I was amazed and almost surprised to see how much there was to learn, absorb, and enjoy. On the one hand, if we think we know about all there is to know about the practice of something, we'll succumb to metanoia, and on the other , if we feel hopeless, helpless, scared or lazy, then that also translates quickly to metanoia. Finding the middle ground between these extremes and interlocking the fingers of the two hands that breed's kairotic opportunity, locking-out metanoia.
Hi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteIt's often such a pleasure to witness your thinking things through, especially because you look back at your earlier self with appreciation. Writing is such a long apprenticeship (god, had I known how long, I might have stuck with botany), and I think it's often difficult to feel generous towards our former novice selves when we run into them. I know I find it so. I have a terrible time reading my early work with any pleasure, or even interest.
You write, "One of my favorite things to ponder this week is visibility in writing, or what is not visible versus what is revealed as we work through discovery of our own writing curriculum." Not sure what you mean by this?
I think what I meant was that I've been thinking about the ability for our sketches and drafts to reveal things that weren't very apparent when first begun, as well as the ability of our writing to reveal discoveries of concepts or ideas without explicitly saying it. I'm still pondering it lol
DeleteJeff, do you think disclosure and visibility in writing go hand in hand? I think particularly in non-fiction disclosure plays an important part in writing although I think the type of disclosure can vary from one set of circumstances to the next.
DeleteHi Becca, thanks for your thoughts. I think they can go hand in hand, epecially if one were to argue that they are the same thing. I see them as independent of each other, but occasionally resulting from the presence of the other. I think visibility is something which becomes, and is often dependent upon the reader or writer, whereas what is disclosed is pretty much just that. I do think disclosure can result from an interpreted visibility too, but I do this more with fiction.
DeleteI really like the image you have of kairos vs. metanoia. The flip in understanding or visualization where it's actually metanoia that we should strive for, because we are constantly missing opportunities, makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteI dropped out of Boise State in 2012 after one semester of my ill-advised biology degree, and by the time I came back in Fall of 2015 (twins!) I had figured some things out about myself. First, that I was not destined to be a science major. Second, that I ought to embrace that failure as being meaningful in some way - which it definitely was.
Hi Elise, my thoughts on this change a bit intermittently, but I think my grasp is definitely becoming more solid. One of the things I wonder about is whether or not we're dealing with metanoic and kairotic issues when we don't regret, even thought we maybe should, and what we can or should do about this. If anything.....If that makes any sense.
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