Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Blog 24

Adrian Rego

Writer's Motivation to Write

Most people, if not everyone, has heard of at least one story that involved dragons and magic at some point in their life. Readers of fantasy enjoy the stories that are given to them and force them to delve into the worlds created by their favorite authors, but if not for the royalties, why do writers write fantasy? Most people would probably believe that writers write only for the money behind publishing, but writing overall has come to help people in many other situations that aren’t entirely connected to a financial premise. So what’s the purpose behind the written copies of a single story that fill shelves upon shelves at stores, homes, and libraries? Writer’s usually use writing as a tool of expression and a means of escaping formal writing. Fantasy gives writers a hand in self-expression by allowing them to express their thoughts and ideals indirectly with looser rules on writing structure. I've been given the idea of Dungeons and Dragons role playing as a center in fantasy writing, but that's not always the case since. It could be a factor to base off of, but it's the author's imagination that weighs heavily on fantasy writing since they are the one creating the rules of this fictitious land.

My curiosity peaked and I asked a friend of mine, also a fantasy writer, what her reasons were for writing and what she was able to do with the writing that she has done, despite the lack of published works. She explained that her motivation to write came from not only solving her own problems, but escaping them and even reality itself as well as formal writing. Her focus on fantasy played more on her role play on forums rather than her own personal writing, but the links were still made with her role play and escaping from reality. Though her escape reigned true unconsciously, her main focus was on self-expression. In “Studies in Writing: Writing and Motivation”, the idea of self-expression being used as a key factor for writer's motivation appears several times from chapter thirteen onward, which I wholeheartedly agree with and am not surprised about. Which leads me to believe that writer's are motivated to write due to the availability of self-expression and escape from formal writing and reality in the case of fantasy writers.

Literature Review
In “Studies in Writing: Writing and Motivation” Chapter 14 Section 4, Oldfather and Shanahan surveyed students from fifth and sixth grades in a suburban Southern California classroom. The research was based on the examination of students and their purpose for their engagement to their in class writing assignments. “Report cards were in narrative form. Students wrote dialogue journals back and forth with Sally responding to what they were reading. They wrote poems. They wrote short stories and some even got involved with writing “chapter books,” often in science fiction or fantasy genres.” (Oldfather and Shanahan 264) The students chose their topic and writing genre for their assignments, which already allowed room for self-expression at the start. “Data analysis indicated, in fact, that students within this classroom culture found that the most compelling aspects of their school experience were in relation to various forms of self-expression.” (Oldfather and Shanahan 264) It turned out that the main means of self-expression that the students used happened to be writing. Because of the students choices of genre, narrative, fantasy, science fiction, and so on, I've come to believe that the use for writing isn't just for self-expression but their escape from reality. Their are no direct references in the chapter itself, but I've come to believe it just because the use of fantasy and science fiction genres were even listed, since genre and that escape from reality play a part in the idea of self-expression. Not only that, but because the students get to write about something they enjoy and write in the way they're comfortable with increased their love for writing. The motivation to write then came from their love for writing as a whole and their ability to continue expressing themselves and their ideas.

Still on the same page, Oldfather speaks of epistemological empowerment, which she defines as “a sense of intellectual agency and ability to know that emerges from a strong sense of the integrity of one’s process of constructing meaning” (Oldfather and Shanahan 264). Through the writing done in class, the students were able to understand and make sense of things on their own accord. Paul, twelve year old student, was contemplating the concepts of knowledge and learning. He then explains his philosophy that “The only thing you can own is thoughts, just thoughts …. The way you say things. I think that’s the only thing you can really own, and that’s how you see the world. How you say the world is” (Oldfather and Shanahan 264). Now it seems that I'm going off topic, but this still ties into self-expression in the way that Paul was able to not only question learning and knowledge, but to understand and create his own meaning for the concepts all done through and because of his writing.

Now I hadn't thought of the idea of writing helping in developing this skill or thought process, but it makes sense. Instead of looking for outside sources, the student thought of a single concept or group of concepts and gave them meaning based off of his own knowledge and developed critical thinking skills. To my understanding, teachers try to teach their students critical thinking skills which doesn't always work the way they intend it; however, in this one classroom, the students were able to develop their own critical thinking skills with some help with communication between classmates and their teacher. From my understanding, giving students full power over their writing gives them the chance to express their full selves which then allow them to think over, understand, and give meaning to what's on their minds.

Methods
In order to get an outside understanding of why writers continue to write, I interviewed a fellow writer on why she wrote in general. Three main concepts that she went over were self-expression and the escape from both reality and formal/academia writing. She explains that most of her writing comes from her role plays on forums. All of the role plays are fictional, which all then divide into realistic fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, and so on. In the interview, I represented myself as Z and her as W. In just the first few questions, W had explained that the main importance to her writing was self-expression.


Excerpt 1:
Z: When did you start, like, tapping into fantasy?
W: Mmm..Fantasy was most likely in public grade Eight/Nine 'cause that's when I started role playing a lot more.
Z: Makes sense. Makes sense. I started role play a lot more in high school, 'cause that's when I found out about it. Um... What got you into writing? What made you want to write in general?
W: Because I was actually able to express myself when it comes to certain things like... 'cause my writing was actually quite good, 'cause I actually took a writing course in sch- high school. And in school right now.

Considering self-expression came into the picture so early in the interview, I'm to believe that it's the most important aspect of her writing. W actually shows her confidence in her writing after she mentions the ability to express herself. I'm to believe she's confident, not only because of her classes, but because she writes with many other people over forums that give her feedback on her writing as well. Despite her love for writing, she explains that one writing turn off is academia and formal writing. W explains that formal writing was “filled with stupid jargon” (Excerpt 2). In order to avoid the silence W brought when touching on academia, Z switches the topic to tap into W's motivation for writing. Ironically enough, even in the interview, there was a sense of escape from formal writing just by the refusal to speak about it. From this time forward, anything writing was understood as creative writing, fantasy writing, and role play. W then explains briefly on how writing allowed her to escape conflicts in life. This ties into the self-expression and even the escape from reality depending on what she writes about. If she's writing on the subject, then she'd be able to express her thoughts on the situation and even try to learn from it. On the other hand, writing off topic would give her that opportunity to avoid her conflicts. True, it's not always good to avoid one's problems, but it's never a fine idea to linger on something that troubles you to the point where you may crack from stress.

Excerpt 2
Z: That's pretty cool. It makes sense. I feel the same way about um.. academic writing and all that kind of -
W: Academia!
Z: Academia, Yea. Because it's-
W: Filled with Stupid Jargon.
Z: -laughs- Welcome to Jargon, Welcome to Academia, but um... Yea, I don't like academia and I doubt you would too if you've tapped into the fantasy genre, and it's all about creative writing.
W: Mhmm
Z: Um... Can you tell me any example of what you've written, like... like why you enjoyed it so much... Maybe?
W: -snickers- Uh... Because I can actually escape out of what I can like- like I can escape out of what's happening in my life. Like, if something's bad I can start writing or I can think, but that's when I got obsessive with role play posts, 'cause I'd be walking around and my mind would be running role play posts of what I should write and what I shouldn't write and, like, multiple scenarios and what the person would reply to and stuff like that.


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Blog 21

Done in Class:

Intro Paragraph:

Most people, if not everyone, has heard of at least one story that involved dragons and magic at some point in their life. Readers of fantasy enjoy the stories that are given to them and force them to delve into the worlds created by their favorite authors, but if not for the royalties, why do writers write fantasy? Most people would probably believe that writers write only for the money behind publishing, but writing overall has come to help people in many other situations that aren’t entirely connected to a financial premise.  So what’s the purpose behind the written copies of a single story that fill shelves upon shelves at stores, homes, and libraries? Even if not for publishing, writer’s usually use writing as a tool of expression and a means of escaping formal writing and reality as a whole. Fantasy gives writers a hand in self-expression by allowing them to express their thoughts and ideals indirectly with looser rules on writing structure. My curiosity peaked and I asked a friend of mine, also a fantasy writer, what her reasons were for writing and what she was able to do with the writing that she has done, despite the lack of published works.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Transcript

Interview Transcript


Z – Interviewer
W – Interviewee


Z: How long have you been writing in general?
W: Probably since Middle school.
Z: Middle School? How many years has that been exactly?
W: Uhh... Let's see, there's... (mumbling/scat) About seven.
Z: About seven years. When did you start, like, tapping into fantasy?
W: Mmm..Fantasy was most likely in public grade Eight/Nine 'cause that's when I started role playing a lot more.
Z: Makes sense. Makes sense. I started role play a lot more in high school, 'cause that's when I found out about it. Um... What got you into writing? What made you want to write in general?
W: Because I was actually able to express myself when it comes to certain things like... 'cause my writing was actually quite good, 'cause I actually took a writing course in sch- high school. And in school right now.
Z: That's cool, That's cool.
(Off topic: Z: Someone's trying to message me in skype and it's getting pretty annoying.
W: Me too, trust me, boyfriend.
Z: -laughs- It's cool, It's cool. We'll get through it.)
Z: Um.. (Repeat from above, just in case measure.)
W: It's when I really started to role play, and that's when I really started to develop characters and stuff like that.
Z: So is that when you started in fantasy and building characters?
W: Yea, like big time. And then that's how I started my drawing.
Z: Alright, What would you say is the best thing you've written?
W: A lot of big replies I'd have to do with role plays, like my paragraph ones. 'Cause, even though I can't write formal writing. I'm gonna say that right now. Me no good at formal writing, but I can do good at, um- I can do good at, um.. at like, non-formal and narrative or something with anecdotes, -light chuckles while speaking- which I actually know what that is, but uh.. I don't mind that stuff because I can be more freedom; not like those persuasives and stuff, like, there just too, neh.. Like, they're straight jackets to me in a way.
Z: That's pretty cool. It makes sense. I feel the same way about um.. academic writing and all that kind of -
W: Academia!
Z: Academia, Yea. Because it's-
W: Filled with Stupid Jargon.
Z: -laughs- Welcome to Jargon, Welcome to Academia, but um... Yea, I don't like academia and I doubt you would too if you've tapped into the fantasy genre, and it's all about creative writing.
W: Mhmm
Z: Um... Can you tell me any example of what you've written, like... like why you enjoyed it so much... Maybe?
W: -snickers- Uh... Because I can actually escape out of what I can like- like I can escape out of what's happening in my life. Like, if something's bad I can start writing or I can think, but that's when I got obsessive with role play post, 'cause I'd be walking around and my mind would be running role play posts of what I should write and what I shouldn't write and, like, multiple scenarios and what the person would reply to and stuff like that.
Z: That's pretty cool. I'd have some times where I'd run scenarios in my head. Uhm... can you give any examples?
W:-snickers- No.
Z: There's too many to bear.
W: -still giggling, snickering- Yea, and they're not exactly “PG”.
Z: Ah, ok. Um... I mean, even if it's.. even if it's “PG13,” but like, anything on um... say maybe a battle scene or maybe like a walk in the city or something.
(Skip. Inappropriate/Off topic.)
Z: So you already told me that how much you um- the reason why you like fantasy, and you said that the reason was because it pulled you out of reality and put you into... into whatever. (W agrees as Z speaks.) Obviously you don't like reality then. Is there a problem with reality, that makes you want to go to fantasy?
W: Well, because you actually, well, it's magical, because of how it's developed, and like you can do- how it's developed in so many ways, like... How it's so interesting for me is how... -side tracked-
(Off topice: Z: You have your T.V on, don't you.
W: Yea, do you want me to turn it off? -snickering-
Z: Yes please.
W: 'K.)
Z: I need you tell me like, stuff like um... how you felt like when you were writing.
W: Like what I feel when I'm writing is that, you can exp-, it's more about expression and how you can do it like, when I first started to role pl- Fantasy write, like, I didn't give a care about grammar. All grammar nazi's would curl up into a ball and go over to the side and in a corner. Like they.. But now I can write proper dialogue and stuff like that.
Z: So everything was just based off making the story.
W: Yea, and not the actual making sense and stuff.
Z: At any point in time, did any of the stories that you went through, did it ever link to you and maybe some part of your life.
W: No.. No.. Either from like some stuff I heard, and I think I did one based off of Alice in Wonderland.
Z: Is that one of your favorite stories or something?
W: Yea, I liked Alice in Wonderland. It's one of my favorites.
Z: Ok, that's mostly fan-fic, but that's still part of you. Um.. gee, what was I gonna ask?...Characters! How do you develop a character, like, what makes a character your character?
W: Hmm... Through names, by looking online for name generators and looking for a good picture, and just go straight to personality, but I try to skip over personalities. Because- when I do big profiles, because if I don't, If I do, I'll feel like I'd have to be accustomed to it. Cause that's why I can't do fan-based characters, I can only do “OCs” like original characters because they're not structure and that's why- Yea I'm not good with structure.
Z: That's cool, so everything has to be Original character, but um, is there any kind of personality or trait that makes your character Your character, like what makes your character unique?
W: Um.. sometimes most of my characters are stubborn and short tempered and I can be both of those very normally because, cause even teachers and my boyfriend have told me that I can be both, “That you are very- you can be sometimes short tempered and you can be very stubborn.” Even- Especially when I'm sick
Z: That's an interesting aspect because, every writer, every one of their main characters, they always put, or even any one of their characters, they always put a little bit- a part of them into the characters to at least make them interesting to themselves. So, what's important I writing to you, like what part of writing is important to you, like, other than expressing yourself.
W: Making sense.
Z: But you just told me that making sense wasn't that big of a deal, you used to say that it was all about the story.
W: Yea, but it has to be a story, but it has to make sense and... if you want them to read it... we did fairy tales, we did fairy tales from a different perspective, and I did quite well because I did it from another persons perspective. And um... and this fairy tale I wrote, it's funny because I found this online. It was from the Grimm Tales, and I did it from a (inaudible) novelist.
Z: A what novelist?
W: Erotic.
Z: Ok.. so what would happen in this fairy tale of yours? Let's focus on this littler fairy tale that you made.
W: Well it was basically based off of- We had to choose one fairy tale but we had to put it in that person's perspective, and some people put it in a scientist's point of view or like Betty White, or maybe like, a politically correct person's point of view. And I can... I can't do it like Jargon based. I can do more like Free-Willed because.... and euphemisms. Ugh.. -Shudders- Not good, not good. Don't like them.
Z: What don't you like about them.
W: Well it's like slowly taking the band-aid off, but then again there's people who just *Fwoop! (Move too fast.) You just wana get to the point.
Z: Alright, so getting to the point, is that something you do in your writing? You're saying that getting to the point is important at this point.
W: Yea, you want to get to the point because, you want to have complexity in your ideas in there, but you also want simple structure, well not structured, but... Ideas you can understand. For example, Alice in Wonderland. It had a lot of Stru- Confusing ideas. Then they had really easy ones like, the Jaberwokee was going to die because Alice was going to slay it. And then there was, how the author, how the director put like... like quotes from the actual series.
Z: So what about in your writing. Does this key of simplicity follow you in your writing?
W: Yea, I do try to put a good word choice in there, but I try to keep it simple because if it's too confusing then I can't even understand it.
Z: I usually try to use a little bit of simplicity. I always say that simplicity is key. So um... if it's it simple, sometimes it'll make it short, at times.
W: Yea, you have to make it complex ideas in there like to make it longer, or develop ideas in there, like in essays.
(Jumping off topic)
W: What's important to fantasy is that you make it believable, you don't make it sound fake. Like you have a believable aspect to it.
Z: Regardless of the fact that all of the stuff in fantasy is not- It is fake because we don't shoot fire out of our fists.
W: No, but like in Lord of the Rings maybe, they make the fight scenes a little realistic.
Z: Ok, so there's a fine line in fantasy, you're saying.

W: Yea.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Blog 15

Short Analysis Essay
(Quick Note: Specific examples may be bold in excerpts.)

When someone first hears about fantasy writing, the first thing they picture is either Lord of the Rings or some sort of fairy tale. There are in fact a large amount of greatly known titles that kicked up the fantasy genre, and fairy tales are a big part of the genre. Of course, that's just the reader's point of view, or even the first glance at the genre. What does the writer think about the genre he or she chose? What are the thoughts of a fantasy writer on the fantasy genre? From a little bit of experience and asking other writers whether in or out of a formal interview, I was able to set that fantasy writers find reality dull and loathe academia writing whether they can write well in it or not, but love to write and put themselves into different stories for, not only the reader's entertainment, but their own as well. Fantasy writers use the genre to express his or her ideas without having too many restrictions.
I ran an interview with another fantasy writer. One of the first things W mentions is that W writes to express herself. W said that W first started writing in middle school, because that's when W first started to role play, which is a form of fantasy writing through co-operative writing. This also got her into visual expression with drawing and art. In the interview, I represented myself as Z and my interviewee as W. Below, I have the first excerpt from the transcript, and W mentions mostly role playing how how role playing. As it seems, role playing was her main source of writing, considering the repetitious mentioning of the co-operative writing. W jumped about on topics in topics, but her message was about self expression, even at an early age.

Excerpt 1:
Z: How long have you been writing in general?
W: Probably since Middle school.
Z: Middle School? How many years has that been exactly?
W: Uhh... Let's see, there's... (mumbling/scat) About seven.
Z: About seven years. When did you start, like, tapping into fantasy?
W: Mmm..Fantasy was most likely in public grade Eight/Nine 'cause that's when I started role playing a lot more.
Z: Makes sense. Makes sense. I started role play a lot more in high school, 'cause that's when I found out about it. Um... What got you into writing? What made you want to write in general?
W: Because I was actually able to express myself when it comes to certain things like... 'cause my writing was actually quite good, 'cause I actually took a writing course in sch- high school. And in school right now.
...
W: It's when I really started to role play, and that's when I really started to develop characters and stuff like that.
Z: So is that when you started in fantasy and building characters?
W: Yea, like big time. And then that's how I started my drawing.

Another point W wanted to make sure that made its way into the record was how much W didn't enjoy formal writing, and how W wasn't very good at it. Excerpt two will be seen below, and as a joke W says, “Me no good at formal writing.” I had my laugh with this one, but in context, formal writing didn't really pertain to business writing and such, but grammar and sentence structure. W even explained how W wasn't good a structure, not to put herself down, but to make a point. That point was that W doesn't need to know structure in order to write because her focus was on the story and making the story something worth reading. One may counter that structure is in fact important; as a matter of fact, W contradicts herself and shares her importance of structure, but W stays with her idea of story being the most important aspect in fantasy writing, and, more importantly, her own writing. Even when she spoke, she portrayed this idea. From first hand, I know her writing and errors like “I can be more freedom” do come out often, but in the end, the bottom line was that we'd continue because the story was interesting. W also jumps into Academia writing, mainly because I brought it up, but just by the mention of academia she made her feelings toward school based writing clear. An interesting point W makes about academia is that she compares it to a straight jacket, and, like the importance of grammar and structure in academia writing, it comes off as restricting and even overly restricting to most fantasy writers.

Excerpt 2:
W: 'Cause, even though I can't write formal writing. I'm gonna say that right now. Me no good at formal writing, but I can do good at, um- I can do good at, um.. at like, non-formal and narrative or something with anecdotes, -light chuckles while speaking- which I actually know what that is, but uh.. I don't mind that stuff because I can be more freedom; not like those persuasives and stuff, like, there just too, neh.. Like, they're straight jackets to me in a way.
Z: That's pretty cool. It makes sense. I feel the same way about um.. academic writing and all that kind of -
W: Academia!
Z: Academia, Yea. Because it's-
W: Filled with Stupid Jargon.
Going hand in hand with academic writing, a common theme in the need for fantasy writing is the idea of a dull reality. It connects because everyone needed to go to school at some point in any form, and most people will argue that reality for the most part is relatively boring. Fantasy writers use the genre as a means of escape, even pointed out by W in the interview. Reasons may even be more personal than what I talk about.
Section of Excerpt 3:
Z: Um... Can you tell me any example of what you've written, like... like why you enjoyed it so much... Maybe?
W: -snickers- Uh... Because I can actually escape out of what I can like- like I can escape out of what's happening in my life. Like, if something's bad I can start writing or I can think, but that's when I got obsessive with role play post, 'cause I'd be walking around and my mind would be running role play posts of what I should write and what I shouldn't write and, like, multiple scenarios and what the person would reply to and stuff like that.”

Even while talking about escaping reality, W retouches on the idea of expression and the unimportance of grammar in excerpt three, but explains how much she learned and improved, despite W's belief in the unimportance of structure and grammar. Despite her need for expression, W explains that nothing she wrote had any direct connection to events in her life, and changes the topic to Alice in Wonderland. This is where W jumps into fairy tales, mainly one of her favorites, which happens to be one of the more abstract slips into fantasy stories.
W didn't explain something directly, but she did explain her becoming obsessed with role play and co-operative righting. This falls into the idea that fantasy writer's continue to write for their own entertainment. She herself was obsessed with role playing and wanted to continue it because she enjoyed it. Her focus wasn't on the people involved in her co-operative stories, but on he own need for posting the shorts or pieces to continue the story for her own purpose.

Excerpt 3:
Z: Um... Can you tell me any example of what you've written, like... like why you enjoyed it so much... Maybe?
W: -snickers- Uh... Because I can actually escape out of what I can like- like I can escape out of what's happening in my life. Like, if something's bad I can start writing or I can think, but that's when I got obsessive with role play post, 'cause I'd be walking around and my mind would be running role play posts of what I should write and what I shouldn't write and, like, multiple scenarios and what the person would reply to and stuff like that.
Z: I need you tell me like, stuff like um... how you felt like when you were writing.
W: Like what I feel when I'm writing is that, you can exp-, it's more about expression and how you can do it like, when I first started to role pl- Fantasy write, like, I didn't give a care about grammar. All grammar nazi's would curl up into a ball and go over to the side and in a corner. Like they.. But now I can write proper dialogue and stuff like that.
Z: So everything was just based off making the story.
W: Yea, and not the actual making sense and stuff.
Z: At any point in time, did any of the stories that you went through, did it ever link to you and maybe some part of your life.
W: No.. No.. Either from like some stuff I
heard, and I think I did one based off of Alice in Wonderland.
Z: Is that one of your favorite stories or something?
W: Yea, I liked Alice in Wonderland. It's one of my favorites.

Now, W did say that she didn't use any of her life events as points to plot down in a story, but she does help bring up a point on character choice and development. When making a character or many characters, writers often, if not always, put a pinch of their own personality in their characters. W explains how she couldn't play off of fan-based characters which would be the main character in known stories, but had to make her own original character to partake in a pre-made world. W creates her own character in order to partake in the co-operative writing, and that falls under expression, which ends up being one of the main reoccurring themes.

Excerpt 4:
Z: Ok, that's mostly fan-fic, but that's still part of you. Um.. gee, what was I gonna ask?...Characters! How do you develop a character, like, what makes a character your character?
W: Hmm... Through names, by looking online for name generators and looking for a good picture, and just go straight to personality, but I try to skip over personalities. Because- when I do big profiles, because if I don't, If I do, I'll feel like I'd have to be accustomed to it. Cause that's why I can't do fan-based characters, I can only do “OCs” like original characters because they're not structure and that's why- Yea I'm not good with structure.
Z: That's cool, so everything has to be Original character, but um, is there any kind of personality or trait that makes your character Your character, like what makes your character unique?
W: Um.. sometimes most of my characters are stubborn and short tempered and I can be both of those very normally because, cause even teachers and my boyfriend have told me that I can be both, “That you are very- you can be sometimes short tempered and you can be very stubborn.” Even- Especially when I'm sick
Z: That's an interesting aspect because, every writer, every one of their main characters, they always put, or even any one of their characters, they always put a little bit- a part of them into the characters to at least make them interesting to themselves. So, what's important I writing to you, like what part of writing is important to you, like, other than expressing yourself.
W: Making sense.
Z: But you just told me that making sense wasn't that big of a deal, you used to say that it was all about the story.
W: Yea, but it has to be a story, but it has to make sense and... if you want them to read it... we did fairy tales, we did fairy tales from a different perspective, and I did quite well because I did it from another persons perspective. And um... and this fairy tale I wrote, it's funny because I found this online. It was from the Grimm Tales.


Just from one interview, I was able to gain the general basis of the purpose of fantasy writing in the writer's eyes. This is even despite the fact that I am a fantasy writer and follow similar rules. I don't normally talk to other writers about the writing, only write with them and observe their principles through their writing. Fantasy writing is used to possibly touch actual events or even instances in one's self in a manner that will let the writer fully express themselves without the restrictions from other genres and even the restrictions of everyday life. Fantasy writing lets idealism reflect realism and even uses idealistic settings to solve realistic problems.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Post 10

When I talk about fantasy writing, the first thing to come out of the other person's mouth is, "So you're into Lord of the Rings" or "So you play Dungeons and Dragons" in a tone that would make me feel bad if I were have seen either played.  I hear stories of people playing Dungeons and Dragons nonstop in their basement, and known as fantasy geeks.
Sure Lord of the Rings is well known, especially to those that are fantasy writers. And Dungeons and Dragons is played by people who aren't even found of writing. I myself as a writer have only spent twenty minutes on the Lord of the Rings, being one sitting, and haven't played Dungeons and Dragons, not to say I didn't want to try it. So now I'm stuck with the stereotype that fantasy writers play dungeons and dragons for a living and such, which isn't always true, just as any stereotype.

Blog 9

Interview Protocol

Topic: Fantasy Writing - Why fantasy writers chose fantasy/

Questions to ask:

  1. What's your name?
  2. Do you have a pen name?
  3. Do you enjoy writing fantasy?
  4. How long have you been writing fantasy?
  5. What got you into fantasy?
  6. Who's your favorite author?
  7. Do you implement any of that author's techniques in your work?
  8. Do you write often?
  9. What do you think needs to be in your story before you can really call it a fantasy fiction?
  10. Is there something you'd normally use in your writing? Maybe a tell that lets people know it's your writing, like a certain character name or style of character names.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Blog 6

My topic is an ethnographic study on fantasy writers. Instead of only focusing only on how fantasy writers work their magic, I also want to go over why they chose fantasy fiction as a genre. I know a handful of writers and know where to look for more that dwell in fantasy, so I can ask around writers questions like, "Why did you choose fantasy?", "How long have you been writing fantasy?", and "Is there something your stories always have to have to make it fantasy fiction?" I want to be able to cover the writers thoughts and choices since most of the focus in other studies have been on the readers.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Blog 5

Jottings:
- Nervous laughter (At start)
- Groups made and stuck with
- Forced to disperse
- Awkward ice breakers
- Basic conversation starters
     - Name
     - Major
-Uncomfortable situation in a semi-comfortable environment.

Headnotes:
Most notes were written rather than mentally noted.

Things I Remembered Later:
(Surprisingly, little to nothing.)
- Most of everyone started with Majors as an ice breaker, which was as long as I was left in a group for.
- Only one person started with, "How was your day?", which was Melanie
- Met with Melanie and John for the most time.
- I stayed back mostly to observe other groups, but I did participate in conversation.

Field Notes:
When assignment started, the first sound people made was nervous laughter while they had their eyes move around the room, looking at people. A few seconds in and people start the conversations, usually with names and majors, or general small talk. The groups changed here and there, but it seemed that most students preferred to stay in their groups unless told otherwise, which brought on more conversation starters that felt relatively awkward and uncomfortable. Pauses were made in conversations after a few minutes of speaking to take notes on each other. Conversations were clustered and difficult to understand due to people talking over each other. The overall atmosphere was generally uncomfortable, but proved to be humorous.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Blog 4

According to Swales, a discourse community follows six criteria in order to be deemed a discourse community. Considering these six criteria, let's see if this class is a discourse community.

1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.

Each student is part of the class and has a set goal be it their own or pertaining to this class. Common goals would include passing the class and completing the class assignments.

2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.

The mechanisms used in class ranges from actual tools to basic interaction during group discussions and assignments. Actual tools that are used for communication between classmates include emails and the required blogs.

3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.

Classmates can see each other's blogs, since they are publicly posted online, and freely view and comment to provide feedback. Any blog posted is read by the professor in order to provide feedback after the due date of each blog post.

4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.

Because our discourse community is a classroom discourse, it's already given two base genres: Student and Teacher. It may seem strange to count the titles as genres, but if you think about it, teachers or professors speak and communicate with students a certain way and vice-versa. Teachers are known to lecture, then speak to students in a manner help answer questions that the students may give, which are expected. In that case, genres can considered ethnicity and personalities as categories to label the way students speak in general.

5. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis. 

Day one, the professor gave students a group of words to be learned and used in assignments when analyzing readings. The lexis was given when the students first joined the discourse community, and it's their responsibility to learn the lexis throughout the course.

6. A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

The professor is already expected to have an understanding of the course and what is to be taught to the students. Because this course is in the middle of the english major, or path depending on the students actual major, they already should have some understanding of the course because of the previously taken courses, or prerequisites.

Considering the class in its entirety meets all the required criteria to some extent, the course is arguably a discourse community.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Blog 3

In a couple weeks, we've managed to run through a number of terms in the discussions. Known or not, they are to be learned to be used in further discussions. Those terms included:

1) Lexis - Language used within a discourse, or Jargon.

2) Discourse - Language in use, or Communication.

3) Discourse Community - A group of people that are members of a certain discourse and are familiar with the lexis within the discourse.

4) Analysis - The examination of an element in detail by explaining the pieces of the element to give the entire element meaning.

5) Genre - A categorization based on expected events or language.

These were only a few that were mostly mentioned. More terms were given during class, but of the many, these were the terms that were most used.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Choice Writing Studies Topic

In all honesty, I'm still not entirely certain what to choose as a topic to cover for the research paper, but there's no surprise there considering I can be rather picky with more than just what I write or choose to write. Though it was difficult in even conjuring up ideas, I do have two basic ideas that I would like to look into. One idea I got from the example papers on the class blog, and the second I got from one of the class examples one of my classmates.

My first choice came from the example paper, Texting and Writing by Michaela Cullington, where Michaela runs through texting in today's world and if it  interferes with academic writing or professional writing skills. This would be, in my opinion, one of the easier topics to gain data from just because Everyone texts, so everyone is a possible research subject ideally. Yet I would prefer to find a more specific target than the general idea of, "Does texting effect writing etiquette?"

The second choice is whether or not academic writing can deteriorate a person's creative writing, which, if memory serves me write, was one of the ideas in class. I got interested in this idea mainly because I feel it does, considering experiences that I've been through, and even am currently facing with school papers. While I prefer creative writing, writing in academia has been making writing more a chore due to rules and regulations in the supposed writing etiquette.