I do plan on blogging a lot more this summer, just because the experience has been so good. With blogging, I've experienced how it feels to let a bit of steam out, and letting out what's been on your mind lifts a great weight off of your shoulders. Having a blog as an outlet for your thoughts is extremely useful. The best part about it is that you could choose whether or not it's public or private. Make it private if you feel like it should be kept to yourself. Or, be a little bit more open and invite anyone who comes across your blog to input their own thoughts and opinions in response to yours. The possibilities you have with a blog are endless. With you in control, you could talk about a broad range of topics such as cooking(while relating it to science, mind you. So you get a double whammy!) sports, rants/thoughts, and whatever else you can think of!
As for me however, I will definitely continue blogging, but not on blogspot. I'll continue on this now personal assignment on tumblr. I can't promise posts like the ones I did as an assignment on blogspot, but I'll try my best. The most frequent thing you'll see on my tumblr will most likely be Project 365. To tell you a bit about the project, it's basically a photo a day to document what you did in the span of a year. I'm already roughly 150 days into it, and it'll be quite exciting on day 365. Other than that, lengthy blog posts won't come often.
How do the things you read influence what you write about or how you write it?
The things I read are definitely a big influence on what I write about. If I read something interesting, it gets me thinking. Once it gets me thinking, everything just flows from there. I start elaborating on the idea, throwing out what I think, and just some other stuff relating to the topic. There's definitely a lot of places where I've been influenced, one of them being the countless quick-writes we've done in class. The simple format and process of "here's an idea, think about it and then write about it without stopping" can extract a lot of thoughts from someone. And after you've recorded your thoughts on that piece of paper and read it back to yourself, you notice a lot of things about your writing and thoughts.
Whenever I read my quick-writes back to myself, I kept editing a ton of stuff when I had the time because of the errors I made while writing nonstop. So writing quick-writes has definitely taught me how to be more careful when it comes to proofreading and publishing.
In what way(s) have you surprised yourself this semester on your blog? Have you tried topics you didn't think you'd write about? Approached a familiar topic from an unfamiliar angle? Discovered more "depth" to a topic than you first thought was possible? Explain.
One thing that surprised me is that I actually stuck to my goal. In both statement and restatement of purposes, it seems to me that I've both achieved and broke. I achieved my goals of writing more about whatever I want, getting out more, bike riding, and a bit more. And the thing that surprised me the most is about books and reading. As I said in my first statement of purpose:
Writing better is one of my goals; I'd like tobe able to write at a high level. One of my weakest points is analyzing a book and writing about it. I don't like writing about a book someone else wrote and nitpick at all the details. I want to be able to write freely without getting stuck and pausing to think about what I should write.It's funny to read that because looking back to the past three months, I've completely shattered this statement. With the added assignments of monthly reviews and lit circle letters, my view towards writing about a book has completely changed. I've written one thousand words each for three books for a total of three thousand, not including the letters. Damn! With the process of this, I've rediscovered the joys of reading. I completely dove into the story of the first book I reviewed, and the next two followed in suit.
Reading has always been an "oh that stuff is boring, I only do it when it's mandatory" thing for me and I want to change that this year. I know lately I've been craving to read, to feel that feeling when the book you're holding is talking to you and telling you the best story you've ever heard. So far that one book that amazed me was "House of the Scorpion." I'd like to read more and experience a sea of stories.
So, to wrap this up, I'd like to thank Sutherland for allowing me to experience something new, while teaching and opening my eyes to new things. You've helped me convert a dislike to a love, which is the thing I will remember the most from what you've been to me. It's been a great year with a great teacher, and I could only hope to have the pleasure of being in your class next year as well! *crosses fingers*
