Maya Chiodo

Zack de Piero / Writing 2

6 December 2015
Im So Bad at Titles
This is so weird. Over the course of this entire quarter Ive never run into writers block
as intensely as I am at this moment. I assume this is happening because I hate writing or talking
about myself; but Im going to take a crack at it anyway because Ill probably learn a bit about
myself and how this course has changed me in the process. After writing only three sentences,
ideas and points are starting to flow into my mind. Ive learned that just by hammering out some
thoughts on the keyboard, kind of like improvising a song on the piano, a bigger picture sill start
to form in my head and I can predict what my paper will look like. Warming up in this first
paragraph is reflective of my first two weeks in Writing 2 -- I was unsure of the future but ready
to tackle whatever lay ahead of me. If theres anything that will stick with me for the rest of my
academic career and hopefully CAREER career, its that I need to just do it.
I find that I dread projects and assignments the most when Im not doing them -- the
second I jump in and get to it, Im on a roll. Thats how I felt with the thlogs, project builders,
and even writing projects in this class. Realizing that this type of thought process is in fact
normal gave me new-found confidence in my writing and writing process. Like I stated in my
second thlog, discussing and reading about first-order and second-order thinking with other
human beings made me feel a little less insane. While it was cool to embrace the creative side of
my brain by really honing the concept of first-order thinking, the challenge was in mastering my
second-order thinking. Though jumping in to my writing was already a challenge, stepping
back and really examining my structure and moves was the greatest test of all for me.

In high school, writing a paper for me would mean writing as best as I could the first time
around and then avoiding looking at my paper at all costs until it was due. After I would receive
first draft back from my teacher, revision would pretty much mean fixing grammar mistakes and
adding vocabulary words. The idea of abandoning a paragraph and totally reconstructing it
terrified me, so I wouldnt. The only improvement from my first to my second to my third draft
would be the most minute differences. Then, I walked into room 1525. Ill be honest, my first
thought was ugh, a computer lab; but, my second thought was this could be cool. Getting
better at digging deep into my writing wasnt an immediate reaction to being in this course,
however. Each reading and lesson built upon the last in my mind and I gained these newfound
skills gradually. One in particular that stands out is paying more attention to transitions. In one
thlog, I focus entirely on how much incorporating transitions has improved my writing. When
reflecting on past writing, I point out that I wr[o]te as choppily as Arnold Schwarzenegger
speaks. After reading As a Result and practicing using Birkenstein and Graffs suggestions, I
think I sound a little more like Mariah Carey and a little less like Schwarzenegger. On my own, I
also came to the conclusion that transitions arent necessary 100% of the time -- at a certain
point, using transitional words in every single sentence begins to sound like fluff. So, the trick to
flow isnt using as many transitions as possible, but rather using just the right amount of
transitions to get your writing to sound both smooth and concise. This is an example of how this
class not only taught me useful tips, but how it encouraged me to come up with my own.
In an attempt to keep my writing moving, Im going to start a new paragraph now; not
because Zack told me to, but because Im thinking about who my audience is and how extra long
paragraphs would not be appealing to them. I wouldnt be writing with my audience in mind if I
had never learned about genres in the first place. As I write this paragraph, I sit in the UCen

surrounded by other students cramming for finals while simultaneously cramming their mouths
with food. To my right is a poster advertizing for a UCSB Gaucho Bundle sold by the UCSB
Bookstore. I realize that this small poster belongs to a genre, just like country music, horror
movies, and resumes do. Like many other of my Writing 2 peers, I now see how many things in
my everyday life can be classified into genres. But why is this important? And what does this
have to do with how Ive improved as a writer? I think that in order to be a writer who can
captivate her audience, it is necessary to be observant because doing so directly translates into
being descriptive. In explaining to you how I now see genres all around me, I gave you context
(UCen), I described something funny (cramming students), and shared some features of the
poster I saw. By paying attention to everything around me and how almost all of it could be put
into genres, seeing genres and their conventions has become more and more of a subconscious
sense.
Beyond being able to apply genres to my day to day life, I can and have used them in my
other courses here at UCSB. In a critical analysis paper for my Feminist Studies class, I even
based my entire thesis around the fact that the author strays away from the regular conventions of
the genre she writes in, and in fact has created a kind of genre of her own. In one of my
supporting paragraphs, I explain one way the author does this: By writing from an insider
perspective herself, Hogan disrupts and disables [the] mainstream expectations that come with
mystery novel writing. I think that the coolest part of being able to apply my genre knowledge
to another field is how relevant the idea of genres truly is -- I didnt have to force the idea into
my writing. While sitting in my feminist class, I would listen to lectures about how different
groups of oppressed people are exposed in film and literature. Then, one Sunday, while staring at
my laptop, I realized my two classes connected in a way I never expected them to. Basically, my

entire Feminist Course focussed on genres and how certain directors and authors defied them.
Understanding this gave me a huge leg up in interpreting the course material and writing about it.
Though it isnt likely that I will take a course that is so closely linked to Writing 2 from
here on out, I will still always be able to apply genres and conventions to any writing or text that
is part of the course. For instance, while I appreciate consistency -- or, more appropriately,
parallelism -- when it comes to slideshows, lectures, and readings, its also nice to see professors
and teachers think outside of the box a little. When I say this, I mean defy the genres they are
working in. This, however, can be a risky move for them, or so I learned in Dirks Navigating
Genres. For me personally, the most surprising characteristic of genres was the fact that writers
should look at past works in their genre to be able to construct their own work. When I read this,
I wondered Isnt that stupid? Shouldnt writers just write however they damn well please? Now, I
know that following conventions serves a far greater purpose than simply being a follower to
the writers that precede you. Rather, sticking to most of the conventions of your genre can be a
rhetorical device. As a writer, you need to always be thinking about your audience; when you
write within the conventions of your genre, you are making reading easier and more predictable
for your audience -- which is usually a good thing. I learned this through my own writing. I
didnt defy the conventions of academic essays by writing mine in poem form or audio recording
form (though those are pretty cool ideas) because that would detract from whatever my purpose
was. So, I learned that every convention that is either utilized or dropped is actually a move
made by the author to either make reading easier for her audience, create a new subgenre, make a
statement, and so on
I journal every day now. Sometimes my entries are totally conventional -- I have the date,
a title, a greeting. Other days I flip my journal and write in a different direction so that when I

read it in the future, those entries will stand out and Ill wonder why I wrote them differently.
Though Im probably the only person that will ever read my journal, I cant help but write with
the genre of journals in mind. Why is that? Thats because genres matter a whole lot more than I
ever thought they would. Even people are categorized into genres in certain ways. Arent I just
another individual in the genre of Writing 2 students? What conventions do I follow? Which
conventions do I ignore? At the end of the day, thats for me to decide.