Response to pg 14-19

There were couple pieces to this section that really jumped out at me and spoke to me.

"We take a preliminary look at how our usual pessimism or optimism affects our readiness and confidence to write; expectations weigh heavily on motivations" (18).

Lately, I feel like this has been completely applicable to my past attempts at writing. I remember around my senior year of high school/ freshman year of college, I generally felt pessimistic about my writing. There were spurts of optimism that would fill me with confidence. I'd start to write in a frenzy, thinking to myself, "Oh this is good. This is so good!" And I could not wait to share it with friends to hear their opinion. When I expected the outcome to be good, I was highly motivated and charged. When I had a neutral expectation ("this is okay, it's whatever"), my motivation was not there.

The second piece to this section that I absolutely loved comes from the list of points on page 18-19.

"When we wait for the unconscious to provide motivation and materials, we probably err because the most efficient and effective writing has conscious and deliberate origins" (19).

YES.

All of the great writers - Orwell, Faulkner, Twain - they wrote consciously, deliberately, patiently, skillfully. Their masterpieces were constructed with diligent practice, just as the painter diligently practices painting, or the athlete trains for the marathon. We cannot rely on our unconscious - and I'm guilty of it, hands down. With conscious practice though and moderation (my mom always said "everything in moderation!"), we can consciously produce our motivation and materials instead of endlessly waiting.