Blog 5

While reading Smith's book when he's talking about writer's block, I couldn't help but think of the writing portfolios that some of us had recently completed. He discusses that there are two main reasons why people generally have writer's block and I could completely identify with the first one. He says, "We may be committing ourselves to a considerable amount of effort, and even risk, and the first few words we put on the page may set a course from which we feel there will be no turning back or even opportunity for second thoughts. This degree of resistance to undertaking the enterprise will increase depending on the perceived magnitude, importance, and probability of succeeding in whatever our aims might be" (Smith 131). I think this is very true and by experiencing it first hand, I will hopefully keep this in mind when it comes time to teach my own students. He goes on to talk about the second concern is the audience of the paper or the pressure of having previous works of excellence. This can apply immense amount of pressure on any writer. To incorporate what I have learned into my classroom, I hope to be able to give my students the opportunity on most writing assignments, the freedom to write whatever they choose. I will probably even use some of the writing activities that we have done in class that will create more of a fun atmosphere to writing than a tense, fearful one.

Along those same lines, Spandel writes "When it comes to writing, surprise is not only something we should tolerate, but something we should seek out and treasure" (Spandel 115). If we continue to assign writing assignment after writing assignment, we are going to be eventually bored by the time we get to our 25th paper. Personally, I really don't feel like reading 25 papers on my favorite birthday party. Let them spice it up and choose to do whatever they want to do. Let them choose a tweed coat with rabbit fur, or a three-quarter length jacket.