Lesson #1: Freewrite

Assignment from my first lesson in the online writing class. We were asked to write for 5 minutes each time.

Undirected freewrite

Ok, I am freewriting. When I was still teaching composition, I had my students do this. I always thought it was sorta pointless. It;’s hard to write about just anything. The voices in my head constantly edit, tell me good or bad things. I am freewriting with my head phones on, music playing. I can’t just sit in silence besides the fact that at home next to a freeway, it is never silent. I have upstairs and neaighbors next to me with kids. They are always so noisy. The ones upstairs jump up and down and it sounds like a troop of elephants practicing for ballet. The music becomes white noise, so I can tune out the background noise. Eating and drinking coffee.// That sound is done and I keep wondering if I should check the timer but I refrain. Ok so I backspaced a little, trying not to look at the screen, kinda helps me not focus on what I an writing and just write. What e;se do I have to say? Or write as the case maybe… I am excited about this class. I had a thought that maybe I should start with the next one or something, but I have never taken a writing course that wasn’t about literatue or something. So I think this is where I need to be right now. I am second guessing myself and I said I wouldn’t. If I think this is my calling, that I really want to write creatively then I have to invest my time and energy into it. Don’t forget the lessons I have been hearing all over the place. My personal rule is if you hear something three times, it’s the Goddess’s way of saying PAY ATTENTION! So that is another reason I am here. And I am not as worried about people reading my stuff as I thought. Of course I HATE rejection… time.

Directed freewriting
Ok I am writing about my cat, not that I am the crazy cat lady or anything, but I couldn’t think of anything else and I saw a picture of her so it made me think of her. I forget how old she is… 8-9 and getting to be a an old lady now. She is a pretty tortoise shell with black and orange all mixed through. You can see a hint of stripping but not really. Sort of like she thought about it and said “Nah, I don’t like that” and took an eraser to parts. Her eyes are golden, more honey colored. I have read that description in books and never thought it was a natural shade on a human. I don’t think I have met anyone with honey colored eyes. So back to Vega, that’s her name. She told me it, I didn’t pick it I swear. But she also said it was from the movie/book Contact by Carl Sagan. I remember watching his show when I was a kid and I hated billions and billions… ugh, I still remember that. Anyway the movie Contact was out… a few years by then I guess and it made an impression on me. Sort of reinforced what my idea of time/space travel is. I mean E=Mc2 is impossible. Your mass as to increase exponentially with the speed so you would have to have a HUGE space ship and its just not feasible. So nowadays people are looking into alternative. The TV show… what is it called with the artifacts that are magical or cursed and they have to run around and get them back from the general population… anyway one episode was about time travel and it was the consciousness that travel, not the person… end