WHY DO PERSONAL WRITING?

I define “personal writing” in this course as prose essays (not poems, not stories) that you will compose from a first-person perspective, in which you attempt (another word for essay) to express what you think and feel about subjects you desire to address in writing.

By doing so, you will come to realize that the process of such self-inquisitive writing can lead you to discover and develop ideas and attitudes you had not previously articulated.  While simply cogitating may generate new notions, the more tangible action of writing proves more provocative and productive as it transcribes into explicit language, in sentences and paragraphs, what that process evokes from your mind.

“How do I know what I think till see what I say?” is our operative question in this course.  As you write your draft, you will compose your mind and reveal to yourself and others what only becomes explicit when vague notions unfold themselves in prose composition.

To practice such writing reinvents your mind.

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