Online Curriculum Development: BDS 7-22-13

Planning: Continue working on Unit 3. Make as much progress as time allows. Make notes as to where I am when time runs out. Continue there during my next BDS later today, 

Comfort Check: My jaw was clenched (blegh) and my legs were curled back under me putting unnecessary pressure on my right knee and ankle. 

Negative Energy from class discussion has carried over. I want to apologize, and I'm planning it for the end of class, but it's taking away the focus during this BDS. Get it back Max. 

More negative energy during this comfort break. I'm having serious doubts about the project as a whole. Not that it shouldn't/won't get done, but of the efficacy, pedagogical soundness, and student-centered-ness of the whole thing. Attempting to return to comfort and fluency in 3...2...1....

Notes for whence to begin again: FIgure out Journal numbering. Decide on Beatles sources. Find library exercise. Stay calm. 

Mindful Reading: Boice pp 30-38

In this section, Boice was at his most practical. He provides many concrete practices for his readers to follow in order to get in the regular practice of daily writing.

To me, Boice really has one goal in mind: to establish a sense of confidence in his writers. At first I was a bit skeptical (like many of the people he cites in the book) about the effectivness of the rules and interventions he lays out. I wondered to myself, what are all these steps aimed at building confidence doing for writers at all levels? But then it dawned on me, people who are taking the time to read this book (or take A Mindful Writing seminar during the summer session) are probably already good writers or they have the mind, eye, and ear to become one. Whether it be a college student, an aspiring creative writer, or a grad student caught in the doldrums of comprehensive exams, these people have been writing a long time and have read a sufficient amount to understand what it takes to be a good writer.

Therein lies the importance of confidence. What stands in the way of these writers from realizing their potential, and I think Boice would agree, is the understanding that you ARE a writer (and probably a good one), and that with these mindful, regular, mildly-happy practices, you can see the fruits of your labor coming out. Regular productivity provides the concrete proof of you as a writer, and therefore can only lead to increased motivation to write.

The rules and practices in this section, along with the ones from the previous sections, all lead me to think that Boice is trying to get his writers to see for themselves that they have something to say.

Mindfulness ----------> Confidence -----------> Motivation -----------> Production

It can be done. We just need to feel like it can.

Mindful Reading: Boice pp 14-19

This section of Boice clarified some of the questions I had about the 'brief daily session' approach to writing. As he talks about 're-framing the problem' he gives some concrete suggestions on how to shift from the passive waiting phase in to the more productive 'active waiting' phase. This made a lot of sense for me because I was having trouble thinking about how to actually get to a place where I'm comfortable writing in short, daily chunks.

The metaphor of 'joining the conversation' is really important for 'active waiting.' Boice describes how much there is to do before you even put pen to page: talking with other writers, reading other works, thinking about what types of problems are relevant (and the subsequent problem solving skills required to handle them), etc, etc etc. If you can see the conversation from the outside, before you fully immerse yourself in it, I think it's easier to see the parameters that will help guide you through your own writing process. If you are fortunate enough to be able (and willing) to see the writing you're about to do as one small part of this broader conversation, I feel like it makes the process of 'starting' that much easier.

The real takeaway for me from these pages was the simple statement Boice makes on page 19. His fourth point in his list of topics that come up in his session really gave me some perspective. He states that "motivation and inspiration follow, not precede, the practice of regular accumulated work... We err in waiting for motivation that impels us to write." Sitting naked in a room waiting for the great-pumpkin of writing motivation to visit us, we could be sitting there (uncomfortably) for a long time. It's not hard to set aside 15 minutes to do some kind of writing. And with most things (meditation, throwing a curveball, driving, Tiger Woods Golf '13 for PS3), the more often you do it, the easier it becomes. Motivation then arises, I assume, because you have proof that you're doing good work, that you're a capable writer, and that you have something to contribute to the conversation.