Writing Center Wisdom for Halloween, featuring Stevie Wonder

Happy Halloween, blog viewers!

In honor of the holiday of free candy, let’s talk about certain wisdom that was imparted to us by the artist known as Stevie Wonder.

Very superstitious, writing's on the wall

Very superstitious, ladders bout' to fall

Thirteen month old baby broke the lookin' glass

Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past

When you believe in things that you don't understand

Then you suffer

Superstition ain't the way

Whether you are a superstitious person or not, there are certain writing center superstitions we at the Milller Writing Center want to declare “ain’t the way.”

Superstition: I have to sit in a quiet environment in order to write.

Why It Ain’t the Way: Each writer is unique and requires a certain atmosphere to write in. If you can write while watching your most recent Netflix show and cooking your dinner, more power to you.

S: My first draft has to be a good draft.

WIAtW: The whole idea of writing a draft is that you’ll have to write other drafts. It is okay if your draft is just getting all of your ideas on to paper. That’s when we come in! Write that first draft and let your friendly neighborhood writing center consultant help make your next draft even better.

S: The RBD writing center location is booked! Now no one will help me with my paper this week!

WIAtW: We have multiple Miller Writing Center locations! You can view hours and locations here.

S: I’m working on my debut novel and I’m too broke to pay an editor...there’s no one who will read through it and give me constructive criticism.

WIAtW: Anyone on our entire staff would like to read your novel. In fact, we will probably fight over who gets to work with you.

S: But...I’m an engineer. How can a staff full of English majors possibly understand how I approach writing?

WIAtW: We’re not all English majors! We have a variety of educational backgrounds at the writing center. We have tutors studying Electrical Engineering, Nursing, Pharmacy, Audiology, Biomedical Sciences, French, Spanish, etc.

To check out our tutor and front desk worker bios, click here, and click on “Miller Writing Center Tutors” or “Miller Writing Center Front Desk Staff.”

These are just a few of the many writing center superstitions that writers at Auburn may hold. If you have any others you would like to discuss, make an appointment with a tutor today!

Happy Halloween. May your bellies be full of delicious candy and your papers be articulate and well cited.

-Dianna

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Meet the Staff Interview: Ben Croomes

Ben Croomes

Major: SociologyYear: Junior

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I have a lot of hobbies. I've been an amateur carpenter for a few years.

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you about writing?

I was in a group of writers that consisted of myself and 5 elderly women. After reading one of my short stories, the oldest of the group said, "It doesn't make sense. It should make sense." The simplicity of her statement killed me, but it's also stuck in my head.

What has been the most rewarding part of your job at the Miller Writing Center?

The people I've met. Every client I've had has shown me a new way to look at writing, a new way to relate to people.

Is there anything challenging about your job? If so, what is it?

Working with dissertations in hard science fields.

Hidden talent?

I have a degree in culinary arts.

Any good book recommendations?

"Less Than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis. I'm fascinated with the excess and ruthlessness of the Reagan 80s. This book captures the depressing nature of the popular drug culture during that decade and its juxtaposition with the overwhelming desire to be something more.

Ben is a priceless member of our all-star Miller Writing Center team! He is qualified to work with all writing, but his specialties are creative writing, literary analyses, and essays. Hope that you’ll come visit him in the RBD location of the Miller Writing Center on Tuesdays from 4-7PM and Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-7PM!

~Ashley

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The Miller Writing Center: Escorting Students Off The Struggle Bus

By Morgan

The commonly coined phrase “The Struggle Bus” is a bus that seems to house many students. This bus drives along the Writing Process Route, makes no scheduled stops, and reeks of assignments and deadlines. And sometimes body odor from the people who haven’t had a chance to shower or sleep because of that looming deadline of a ten-page research paper.

I understand the pressure to write “the perfect paper” in college. Professors can be intimidating. You wouldn’t want to turn anything in that the professor would laugh at or use as the “what not to do” example for next semester. Well great news! You can bring your paper to the Miller Writing Center for a trial run. We promise not to judge you for what you wrote last night at 2 a.m. And chances are, your paper is NOT as bad as you think.

It’s great to have an extra set of eyes to read your paper and give you a refreshing look on the words you’ve been analyzing over and over. I can’t make any promises to give you “the perfect paper,” but we can help relieve some of the stress and apprehension that writers often experience. We strive to improve your paper so that you feel more confident in your writing ability by the time you leave the session.

So how does the Miller Writing Center actually help to improve your writing?

We’re not an editing service. The tutor and writer will work together to generate ideas for the discussion. It also helps us when the writer decides where they would like the session to go. Will we be looking to make sure the content corresponds to the assignment? Or do you need to make sure your paper follows the APA Style guidelines? It can even be something as simple as figuring out that word that is on the tip of your tongue that you just can’t get right.

The Miller Writing Center tutors can help at any stage of the writing process, from brainstorming to finalizing your final draft. Many clients who come in have great ideas, but they just can’t figure out how to word it. Unfortunately, we cannot write your papers for you, but we can help lead you down the right path.

Although we all have lots of experience as writers, the truth is, we don’t know everything, and we’ve probably written some embarrassing papers ourselves. But we’ve learned from those experiences and are ready to pass our knowledge on to you. So don’t be intimidated by the looming deadline of your paper. And don’t be afraid to pull the “requested stop” wire to get off the Struggle Bus. The Miller Writing Center will be waiting along the Writing Process Route to escort you off.

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Semicolons: The most Feared Punctuation on Earth

I have the unenviable task of following H.R. Puffenstuff’s recollection of his encounter with one of the more elusive specimens of good writing:  the thesis.  I’ll be honest, writing that is as good as Prof. Puffenstuff’s is tough to measure up to.  While my prose won’t be as riveting(let’s face it, I’m a historian, and, other than David McCullough, our writing is somewhat banal), the point that I’m going to raise is important for anyone wanting to be a good writer:  how to properly use a semicolon.

So, what is a semicolon?  It is a punctuation mark used between two independent clauses (it can also be used for listing, but that’s for another blog).  Or, to put it another way, it links two phrases that could be sentences in their own right.  Here are two examples:

“Alabama fans like to claim national titles that their team never actually won; they did so in 1941 in spite of the fact that they lost to SEC bottom-feeders Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.”

or

“Alabama fans claimed a national title in 1941; however, in that same year, they lost to SEC bottom-feeders Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.”

In each example the text before and after the semicolon could be a sentence on its own.  By adding the semicolon, we link the two together, add a bit of flair to our writing, and, if we use it correctly, look brilliant.  The latter is especially important, and, in fact, I think I read somewhere that 9 out of 10 Alabama fans don’t know how to use a semicolon correctly.

Happy writing, and War Eagle,

Jake

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Famous Author Coming to Auburn This Week!

The other day I got locked out of my apartment (sans cell phone or wallet) and ended up sitting on a cold, concrete landing for three solid hours. It was awesome. Why, you ask, was this awesome? Because a UPS guy appeared, with angel wings protruding from his brown uniform, and bestowed upon me the literary gem that is Cristina Garcia’s Dreaming in Cuban.

The book has it all-- unforgettable characters, gripping plot, and language that drips from the page like pure poetry. Reading it, even on cold concrete, was a pleasure.

But this story gets cooler. How, you ask, could it get cooler? I’ll tell you how.

BECAUSE CRISTINA GARCIA WILL BE IN AUBURN THIS WEEK. As in, the famous author of aforementioned amazing novel will be here in the flesh and you can meet her.

She will give a big public talk in Foy this Thursday, October 17 at 3:00 pm, and she will give the keynote address for the Auburn Writers Conference at 8:00 am (early, but worth it) at the AU Hotel this Friday, October 18. Both events are free. Plus, she’ll sign your book for you if you bring it or buy one there.

There are miraculous things happening in the literary universe that is Auburn this week, people! Get out there and grab some of the magic for yourself.

Oh and here’s the link to the Auburn Writers Conference, in case you’re interested.

http://www.cla.auburn.edu/awc/auburn-writers-conference-2013/

Cheers,

Gabby, Creative Writer in Residence

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An Observation of the Thesis Essayus in its Natural Habitat

By: Sir Henry Reginald Puffenstuff

October 7, 1924

          While taking a stroll through the vast, carpeted savannah of RBD this afternoon, I happened upon one of nature's strange miracles. I shot it before it had the chance to move. Then, lowering my Kodak, I inched closer. What I had glimpsed was, indeed, a wild Thesis Essayus. This Thesis was sleek, its strong central idea supported by three slender, arching secondary points. I hoped to get a closer look, but it skittered off before I could lay hands on it. I reproduce it as best I can below, although my words serve as a poor representation of this magnificent beast:

Through the use of metaphor, grim word choice and alliteration, Chaucer drives home the theme that life is fleeting.

          Truly spectacular, to stumble across such a beast unawares. Especially on a grim Tuesday in RBD, as the stormy seas of midterms approach. But such is the nature of the thesis, running past on soundless, integrated quotation-feet. It takes the skill of a veteran essayist to affix one to the page for further study, and in this respect, I have failed. But I must keep a stiff upper lip.  

          Until I have a Thesis successfully mounted above my fireplace, I must take comfort in reproductions I encounter in the storybooks of my youth. Only with careful training will I recognize my quarry when I stumble across it.

          Ever have they analysis-coated limbs - three, often, which manifest themselves as paragraphs, an unimportant technical term in the hunting world. The central carapace, the main “point” of the beast, is supported by these. These supports are integral – without them, the beast will wander aimlessly, awaiting capture by some Professorius Englishae, which will gleefully stain it red with ink, effectively killing it.

          Included are some of the different beasts I’ve recorded in previous entries, to refresh my memory. Of course, the Thesis can camouflage to fit its surroundings, and my descriptions focus mainly on the literary sort. Therefore, when in search of other big game, it’s necessary to recall that different shapes and sizes can inevitably be stumbled across.

One particularly strange thesis:

Lord Byron shows the importance of apples through his reliance on fruit-vocabulary, time spent washing fruit, and a metaphoric comparison of his wife to (a?) Granny Smith.

Another, still young and undeveloped:

Through the use of (a), (b) and (c), document “d” uses a more effective argument than “e,” persuading readers that unicorns are both very real, and a major contributor to global warming.

          Oh dear. That’ll have to be all for the moment. I’ve spotted a Comma Spliceadontus. I’m not a certified Grammarian, but I’ve heard they’re dangerous, I might be in trouble, I’d best be off.

Faithfully yours,

H. R. Puffenstuff

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