- How does the notion of writing collaboratively challenge your sense of what a writer is and does?
- Do you find collaborating on your writing exciting or intimidating? Why?
- What do you think you might learn or gain from collaborating with other writers?
- One of the bullets under the WPA Outcomes “Process” heading reads, “By the end of first -year composition, students should...Experience the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.” Why do you think the WPA Outcomes value the “collaborative and social aspects of the writing process?” What does this say about academic writing and collaboration?
Quentin Tarantino was the rock star of director-writers when I was a young boy growing up. Who needed collaborative writing when you could make "Pulp Fiction" all by yourself? My mom deep down never approved of the movies I watched, but even she would support me openly to pursue a dream like becoming my own writer-director. "If he can do it, so can you", she would say to me. So that's what I chased for years, always having this idea that I'd be my own Tarantino, making great films and great art. The truth behind all of this is that nobody makes films alone, not even Tarantino. His writing would be nothing without the cinematographers to film the actors, nor the actors themselves to deliver the lines. The famous Bible Verse scene delivered by Samuel L. Jackson would've deflated under another actor, and the Overdose scene wouldn't have been nearly as intense without the clever editing of Sally Menke. I can see now that collaborating is essential, exciting, and can bring a whole new life to different pieces and works.
But collaborating can also be terrifying. Sometimes, it's just a few people throwing their skills together to make something good. Other times, it can be a grueling personal process where you lay yourself bare to the other person; it can be scary to open up. I'm not saying all things require this level of personal sharing, but when it comes to writing and improving my writing, it can be a necessary requirement. If you want to improve your writing, you have to show it to others. It's especially important to me because it's so hard to look at my work from a different perspective sometimes without the knowledge of other people looking at it. But I have everything to gain from it, including things like self-exploration/understanding, learning how to communicate, with the added bonus that most people can immediately improve any writing I produce. Luckily I have a wonderful wife who is always there to read my work and to support me in a safe environment.
I think the WPA values collaborative writing because it's such a helpful process, especially for new writers. It teaches so many things about the writing process and who we are as writers interacting with others with our work. We are social creatures and feed off of interactions that enrich our lives. Academic writing and collaboration can build amazing things when they put a group of amazing people together. They understand the need to share each other's work and how it can speed a process along and perfect it.
But collaborating can also be terrifying. Sometimes, it's just a few people throwing their skills together to make something good. Other times, it can be a grueling personal process where you lay yourself bare to the other person; it can be scary to open up. I'm not saying all things require this level of personal sharing, but when it comes to writing and improving my writing, it can be a necessary requirement. If you want to improve your writing, you have to show it to others. It's especially important to me because it's so hard to look at my work from a different perspective sometimes without the knowledge of other people looking at it. But I have everything to gain from it, including things like self-exploration/understanding, learning how to communicate, with the added bonus that most people can immediately improve any writing I produce. Luckily I have a wonderful wife who is always there to read my work and to support me in a safe environment.
I think the WPA values collaborative writing because it's such a helpful process, especially for new writers. It teaches so many things about the writing process and who we are as writers interacting with others with our work. We are social creatures and feed off of interactions that enrich our lives. Academic writing and collaboration can build amazing things when they put a group of amazing people together. They understand the need to share each other's work and how it can speed a process along and perfect it.
Works Cited:
"Go behind the Scenes of 'Pulp Fiction'." Miramax. Miramax, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.
"Go behind the Scenes of 'Pulp Fiction'." Miramax. Miramax, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.