Toni Morrison's Essay 'Peril'

There are many who strive to become famous writers and although some succeed, many do not find such great prosperity. In the words of bestselling author Stephen King, “while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one,” (142). King’s thesis from his novel On Writing can be debated because with “hard work, dedication, and timely help” it is possible for a writer of any skill level to improve to become better. On Writing is intended to teach the basic skills of writing so readers can develop writing skills to progress to be better writers. If one has passion for writing, patience, and the willingness to learn they will succeed in becoming great writers.

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

In Shannon Nichols’ “Proficiency”, she bout her dislikes writing due to her experiences. While I was growing up, I never knew I would not like writing. People remind me of how I had great handwriting and loved to write stories. In college, I continue to struggle in writing essays and it is a challenge for me. Although Shannon Nichols and I despise writing growing up, we both have grown to become successful writers.

Writing may be an enthralling experience for one and a clever way to decompress for another. In general, however, writing has different purposes for a variety of people. “Why I Write,” written in the late 20th century by Terry Tempest Williams, describes various reasons for writing narrated from a female’s perspective. The short essay begins in the middle of the night with a woman engulfed in her own thoughts. She abruptly goes forth by reciting the multiple reasons why she continues to write in her life. Through a variety of rhetorical devices such as repetition, imagery, analogies, and symbolism, Terry Tempest Williams produces an elegant piece of writing that offers the audience insight into the narrator’s life and forces the audience to have empathy for the narrator with the situation she is incurring.

There are many aspects for my mind to conceive while reading the articles why I write by George Orwell and Joan Didion. There are many different factors in triggering an author’s imagination to come up with what they want to write, and why they want to write it. In most writings a purpose is not found before the writer writes, but often found after they decide to start writing.

"To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one" (95).

Writing is a powerful tool for communication and connection. As an extension and expression of the mind, writing is as much about the mental processes of the author as it is about the final marks laid to paper. As we write, we hold in mind our own thoughts on the work, anticipate the reader’s thoughts, and think both in concrete and abstract ways in order to accomplish the task at hand. Whether an academic research paper, a novel, or text message to friends, writing seeks to engage, persuade, or impress concepts upon an audience. Like language and other art forms in general, the practice of writing is ever-evolving and is subject to cultural and contextual influence, expectations, and conventions. Each writer holds a theory

Writing is not a meaningless task, writers do not form a complex formula of words just because they can. A reason that writers have the drive to do what they do is because they have a compulsory force pushing them to share their viewpoint with as many as will

Many people hold their own personal experiences and opinions about writing. Whether they be positive or negative, those viewpoints one may obtain will shape them as a writer. For example, if someone has had a traumatic past with writing, they might be afraid of it. On the other hand, a healthy writing background may aid in alleviating the stress one feels towards their writing. Several factors play a role in how people write and the emotions they feel about it. Surprisingly, even famous authors have insecurities about their work, such as, Anne Lamott and she revels them in her piece called “Shitty First Drafts.”

I want to thank you, Toni Morrison, for writing this book. Maybe I didn’t get the message you were trying to send, but the message I did discover, changed who I was as a person and in a good way. I am moving away from the shy, scared, hidden girl that I used to be, and unlike the unyielding Earth and the dead marigold

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

For centuries, poetry has remained an effective method of expressing ones’ emotions and aesthetics without excessive criticism. Some distinguished individuals participated in this literary exercise and despite their motives, they acquired the profound ability to empathize with their audiences’ ambitions, fears, and misfortunes. During the lamentable times of racial and economic turmoil, a brilliant woman named Toni Morrison was introduced into this world and would later be a remarkable influence on literature. Proactively, she channeled her frustrations and fears of racial prejudice into her literary works, earning an admirable reputation for her bravery of discussing sensitive topics regarding racial prejudice and injustices. Likewise,

“To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one” (95).

In today’s society one would not be able to communicate effectively with the world if writing was not involved. People all around the world send emails, texts, and letter to numerous amounts of individuals each second. Talking on the phone is slowly becoming a thing of the past while the writing side of technology is taking over. The meaning of writing is changing in society. Writing used to be specifically for academics or the occasional letter to a loved one. As time has passed writing has taken more forms and more meanings. In the world we live in now writing is classified as texting, emailing, instant messaging, and even comments or tweets on social media. Although writing has these multiple new forms, it still holds its academic side strongly. Everything with meaning in turn affects a person’s day to day life. Writing has the effect of making one more intellectual. Writing has become a bridge between communication and the cultures and people of today’s society. It gives way for different options in stating sentences or phrases. (Olson). Each affect should change with age. As a person grows older, their writing styles should mature and take on a more professional aspect.

Toni Morrison is a black African-American novelist of the twentieth century. She is the first African-American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. She describes a brief history of the African-Americans of the early times of the nineteenth century and shows us the darker aspects of humanity, the troublesome circumstances within which the slaves had been forced to live, and the destruction that was delivered to their lives by the Whites. Toni Morrison has tried to represent the past of slavery, which degraded African-Americans from individuals to that of the creature to be exchanged and traded like dairy cattle for which the slave master needed not to take permission from anybody, not even from the slave’s mother. Masters had fully