Writing Is Easy Steve Martin Summary

To read like a writer is to build like an architect, I know you may ask yourself how are the two comparable? How does building help me to “read like a writer” ? In The article “How to Read Like a Writer” author Mike Bunn discussed techniques you can use to construct your own writing style and to better help you understand what you are reading. There were many great tips he gave in what to look for when reading, but i will only list the technique i feel are most useful in the beginners stage of “reading like a writer”. Recording your personal reactions by writing down how the reading made you feel; that way it allows you to connect with the author's purpose of writing. once you understand the author's purpose you can understand what genre

In the article from Ken Macrorie’s book Telling Writing we are introduced to this concept of Engfish. A language or a writing style that is developed as children grow up and are taught how to “write”. School has a way of socializing children, squishing the creative and vibrant minds they possess in an attempt to “standardize” and create “unity”. The imagination of a child knows no bounds in its earliest forms; trees can talk, colors can sing, and the most trivial of tasks can be great adventures. Macrorie states at the end of this article “But there is a way out.” the question becomes, what are those ways. A few suggestion could be free writing or even poetry classes that break the traditions norms of writing, where grammar and punctuation are almost completely meaningless. The focus of most English classes today are the grammar and the technicalities of writing that the meaning and the words are lost. Writing becomes a tedious and boring task when it should full of passion; it is stressful when it should be energizing. Writing just to write, writing long emails to friends, journals, or even letters are all but obsolete. The personal aspect of writing has been removed. Writing is now done out of necessity for the job or a class, the true meaning of expression has been taken away and standardized. Everyone has a strength and a voice, we are each unique and to taught to conform to writing norms create “dead” writing, paper with no voice, no passion, and no desire or hunger for

The essay “Writing is Easy”, by Steve Martin, is a hysterical essay that is comical in a way that I don’t think the author intended. I think the essay is funny mainly because there is a part that is ironic for me that I can relate to. Although there is other parts in the essay that could be humorous as well, I couldn’t get over one certain section of it. The funniest segment of the story is, “Go to an already published novel and find a sentence that you absolutely adore. Copy it down in your manuscript. Usually, that sentence will lead you to another sentence, and pretty soon your own ideas will start to flow. If they don't, copy down the next sentence in the novel. You can safely use up to three sentences of someone else's work - unless you're

Early on McCarthy states the the point of this study and article is to, “Contribute to our understanding of how students learn to write in school.” (234). McCarthy literally wants to make the point that learning to write should be viewed as a growth process from both a social and individual aspect depending on the situation. (234). McCarthy observed a college student as he took three different courses composition I, poetry, and biology. McCarthy explains that through her examination of the the

When I was reading Writing is Easy by Steve Martin, I was thinking if writing was actually that easy. Then I finished the article and realized that writing will never be easy. Mr. Martin examples on how to make writing easier make no sense. His tip to getting over writers block gets the writer nowhere. He says “got to an already published novel and find a sentence that you absolutely adore. Copy it down into your manuscript” (Martin). What he is saying is plagiarism. If I was to use this method to overcome writer block I would be thrown out of college. I still believe that writer block is real because even the greatest authors struggle with writers block.

In literary education, from childhood to maturity, individuals are taught how to write not to improve themselves as critical thinkers, but to fulfill the requirements given to them in a prompt. Whether to analyze or argue, this form of writing has led to a cease of literary improvement in students today, making many question the effectiveness of writing classes. Mike Bunns, in his article “To Read like a Writer”, explores this topic and stresses the necessity for young readers to critically examine the author’s choices in order to improve their own pieces of work. Bunns effectively argues to his audience of college students that improved comprehension comes from focusing on the rhetorical choices authors decide to make in their compositions by tying personal narratives with repetitive questioning throughout his article.

In the short essay, “Becoming a Writer,” penned by Russell Baker, he spoke of a memory from his past that later changed his perception of writing. After reading his piece, I reviewed the response questions listed below the essay to further my understanding of the piece. Almost like looking through a list of prompts as Russell did.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a book written by author Stephen King, published in 2000, which documents his experiences as a writer and also serves as a guide book for those who choose to enter the craft themselves. On Writing is both a textbook for writers and a memoir of Stephen King’s life and will, thus, appeal even to those that aren’t aspiring writers. If you’ve always wondered what led Steve to his career and how he became the success he is today, this will answer your questions. Not only does King give descriptive and rather humorous stories about his stages of writing but also gives power advice to the readers from the learning experiences he’s had both is success and failure. King reveals his

In 2009, America was pulling out of the second “Great” depression. The market crashed and the money burned. In the midst of all the havoc, the world found peace in creativity and music, and the arts flourished. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of best selling book Eat, Pray, Love gave her speech, “Your Elusive Creative Genius”, at the annual 2009 TED conference in Long Beach, California, to encourage reflection upon the times. Gilbert is known for her humor in her written memoirs, novels, and speeches. In Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2009 TED speech, “Your Elusive Creative Genius”, she uses rhetorical devices including: tone, metaphors, and allusion to take a humorous approach to bring light to the darkness of writing and encourage writers to never give up on their own writing.

In the third section of the book, Stephen King talks about more about the writing process. In this part, he describes how he feels about writing. Immediately, King establishes the fact that writing is a tedious and time consuming process. However, it is a portion of his life that brings him happiness and healing. To King, writing is a form of magic; something that is a creative outlet for him. In the first segment, labeled C.V., King says, “Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around. Here, King opens up to speak more about his sentiments towards the art.

Whether while writing an essay or a birthday card, we have all struggled to find the proper words to illustrate our thoughts or feelings from time to time. Upholding the occupation of a writer would multiply that struggle tenfold. An occupation that depends on interesting, fluid pieces of writing every submission requires an adequate number of attempts and patience. Lamott expresses that writers “all often feel like we are pulling teeth” (Lamott), which proves the difficulty of writing is still there no matter the level of writer behind the work. Lamott also emphasizes that a writer “has to start somewhere” and shares her friend’s ideas in her writing to simply “get something - anything - down on paper” (Lamott). Lamott, and the other writers mentioned in this piece, carry incredible track records, while still admitting that perfection did not come initially, or even easily. Thus, proving that the Shitty First Draft has a place in any writer’s notebook or Word document. Lamott’s admission to struggling to properly begin a piece of writing surprised me, given of her success. I could not imagine a woman of her accomplishments stressing out over a food review, yet I felt relieved that someone of Lamott’s title relates to an amateur writer like myself. I often put off my writing as well when I cannot articulate a proper introduction. I do every other possible homework, or shy away from homework in general because the

King, Stephen E. Stephen King On Writing: A Memoir of The Craft. NY, Scribner, 2000.

I found “Shitty First Draft” interesting due to humorous tone remains throughout the essay. After reading this paper, I realized how important to convey different tones of writing in accordance with the situation or the story you are telling; it is reflective of your writing style, current mood and even your point of view towards certain subject matters. For example, in “Shitty First Draft”, the author reveals some facet of writers in face of challenging themselves to finish writing. Instead of being calm and relaxed, those writers are anxious and worrisome as the author states, “It is not like you don't have a choice---because you do---you can either type or kill yourself.” By telling the readers a few writing stories in an amusing way, the author successfully makes the difficulty of writing understandable to the readers. It is like telling yes, I understand your pain because I went through it before and everyone did. By doing so, the author makes herself approachable to the students who struggle with writing and those potential readers are now more willing to listen to her advice.

The standard impression most people have of writers is that they can sit down and just let a perfect composition flow from their heads onto paper. In her writing career, Lamott has observed how “writing is not rapturous. In

When I first looked at the book “Writing Is Easy” by Steve Martin, I though he was crazy! There is no way writing is easy! I guess it just depends on who you ask maybe? But for me, writing can be quite the challenge. When I first started reading I was all like ohhh okayyy this might actually be funny. I could first tell that the author was taking a comical approach to writing when he said “Writing is the most easy, pain-free, and happy way to pass the time of all the arts” (Martin 114). I could tell he was being sarcastic right off the bat. I feel like no one enjoys writing that much, just sayin.