Johnathan Arnold

FSU Writing
FSU Writing
Writing has always come naturally to me. While at Tallahassee Community College, I
was trying to figure out what kind of major I wanted to do and changed my major a few times.
At the time, I was taking Persuasive Writing with Mrs. Diana Peck. She was a very patient
woman and dealt with the classs shenanigans quite well. While taking this class, I had an

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epiphany that I like to write and that it comes naturally to me. I went to talk to Mrs. Peck to ask

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questions about the field of writing. She was amazing and really opened my eyes to world of
writing, as I always thought of it as a singular field of study with the only job offer being in
education. She told me about copywriting, technical writing, fictional writing, and instructional

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writing, along with others. She told me that if I could communicate through writing and do it

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well then I could get a job anywhere. Every job needs writers, some jobs more than others; that
there were more jobs that I could choose from than just being a teacher. With this new

Comment [MR1]: This sentence combo doesnt really flow,

Im not sure what youre trying to say.

understanding of writing I switched my major from computer science, to business, to now

creative writing. Once at FSU, I switched it again to editing, writing, and media. The more I

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asked students in both creative writing and EWM majors, the more I realized I wanted something
a bit broader than just writing and went with EWM.

Comment [MR2]: Asked them what?

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My experience here at FSU in writing has been a complete learning experience. Its
taught me how to really work to have a piece of writing thats worthwhile. My first two classes
in writing and my specific major were Rhetoric and WEPO. This was an awesome experience
and one that really surprised me. I was mostly surprised that the school and classes werent as
intimidating as I thought. I didnt know what to expect at a university. I came from a community

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college; a place where I knew everyone since Im a local. I expected some grand style ballroom,

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and elite classrooms and classmates, but that was all out the window once I had my first day of

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class (which was in a subject that no one seemed to know or understand) and a class where the
teacher was about my age and required that we down load Instagram to complete assignments for
the class.
In WEPO we did a lot of digital media writing. For example, the blog assignment where

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up without the parentheses to make it clearer!
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the class had to make a Wix page, and in the page had to be your blog section. Blogging was
cool. It was the first time in school I felt I could really say what I wanted with no real restrictions

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on how much or how little you wanted to talk about something. This class introduced me to the
world of digital writing, which is so open and vast. We talked a lot about copy right laws; what
they are and what they are for, as well as where copy right laws are heading since they are

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getting a bit out of control. My teacher (who was young and into music, as he played in two

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different bands) used music mash-ups as prime examples of copy right infringement issues, since
the mash-up artist are taking other peoples work cutting it up and claiming it as their own. We
also talked about intellectual property rights (owning an idea, not a physical thing or object) and

Comment [MR4]: Id use these parentheses sparingly; it

messes up the flow of your writing a bit!

what that means.

Rhetoric, on the other-hand, was a pain for me to understand. Now after being at Florida
State for a few semesters and having other writing classes, I appreciate it and Im glad that
Rhetoric was my first class. In rhetoric, we did a project on Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato where
we had to not only do research on them, but compare their theories and thoughts on the same
subject; all while finding our own definition of what rhetoric should be. We read a lot of other
rhetorical writers also; like Bitzer, Hobes, Bacon, etc. It was interesting to see different
generations and how they would alter or better define rhetoric to best suit their needs by adding

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or taking away ideas. In both classes, we did daily discussion board writings and responses of

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250-500 words, which became easier as the semester went on. The final (in WEPO) was a digital

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portfolio of ourselves and what we have accomplished as writers (because now Im a writer;
which I didnt know until then). This is when I kicked myself for being a throw-away student,
meaning I tossed out my writings at the end of each semester along with anything graded. Now, I
know that Im not just getting a degree, but that Im becoming a part of something. Something
that has its own community with its own accomplishments to strive for. This made me serious
about the major and means more to me now. I have a new understanding and appreciation for
school and its meaning.
My next writing class was Poetic Technique. I took this class to improve on my poetic
writing skills. It was a lot of fun. This class was the first time I had to read stuff that I didnt like

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and felt uncomfortable reading it because of content. Then not only did I have to read it, I had to

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comment on it without just bashing it. This was a huge challenge for me, as I have never had to
read stuff like Sylvia Plath where one could see someone tragically fall down a road of

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depression and ultimately to death. As a parent myself, I hated reading Ariel and the struggle she
lost to, but this is college so get over it. I did, and in doing so I became more understanding of

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things and especially things in writing. I like writing fiction, so to have better depth and
understanding means clearer, better writing. I use poetry to unwind the mind now and develop

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better tone and language for my writings. This was my first workshop class. Poetry is amazing to
me, as it is recorded emotions of the writer. No matter what, anything can be poetic and seen as
poetry. It is usually something sad or a true expression of the authors self. Having said that, it
was hard to be workshopped on my and comment on other peoples recorded emotions. To see
peoples true self as well as my own self opened up my writing to be more expressive. To add

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the human element to lifeless words on a blank piece of paper thus in turn giving it life was a
definite learning experience.
History of Text Technologies and a Fiction Technique class were next up for my writing
classes. History of text was awesome, but its the history of a book so how thrilling can the class

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Comment [MR5]: This is a little misleading to a freshman,
it covers all texts!

get? That class made me understand writing in a whole and what its importance is. It also, made
me realize what reading, writing, and the internet are all about; communication. Regretfully, I
had to take this course twice, never failing, but never getting the grade I needed for my degree.

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Both times were interesting learning experiences (no two teachers teach alike) and covered the
subject completely for me. We did a lot of interactive projects, where we had to do research on a
subject then apply it. For example, we created paper by cutting up and soaking egg crates making

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a slurry, then pressing the slurry to make a sheet of paper. We also made clay tablets by using
clay then writing a simple poem of our choice on it using hieroglyphs like they would have in
ancient Egypt. Then finally, presentations. The presentations were on specific things that had to

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with or relate to the chapter we were reading at the time. In both classes, we had to go special
collections at Strozier and see their collection. There were so many old world writings, books,
posters, etc. This is where I realized the importance of writing no matter what kind of writing it
is and how its changed through time and regions. We were all left with the thought of where
writing is going in the future as the digital age takes over, and some fear that the physical book

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will become extinct. My fiction technique class was with Misha Ria who doesnt take anybodys
bullshit and demands 100 percent from you. I learned so much from her on how to become a
better writer and a better student. We read about twenty different short stories. A lot of the

Comment [MR6]: You should probably explain what made

you uncomfortable to give young EWM students a heads up

stories, yet again, made me uncomfortable but developed me more as a writer. After each story

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we read we had to write a 500-word response using a specific writing technique to respond. Our

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responses consisted of what we liked about the writing; highlighting specific techniques the
writer was using in their story. We also had to ask questions about the writing. The questions

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could be about anything, though we were strongly encouraged to ask meaningful questions that
were impactful as we would then Skype with the author (or they would come to class, if on

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campus) and we would then ask our preapproved questions to the author. The fact that these
were everyday people (most with simple degrees not in writing, yet some that were) really
encouraged me. It took the urgency of needing to get a degree to be a good writer out of my
mind to where I could write without fear of being wrong in some kind of manor (thats where

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editing comes in play). The final was a ten-page short story that we had critiqued and finalized

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through workshopping it. This was freaking awesome and my first piece of writing that was
workshopped and critiqued by others. It set me back as well. I didnt quite get the responses I
was hoping for. A lot of people got confused as to what I was writing about, but it did the job I
needed it to. It lost people, but kept them intrigued and a few asked for more. Though it wasnt
some perfect piece of writing like I had hoped for, it was the first time I had people asking for
more of my writing, which feels amazing. My story was a short story where this creature came
from somewhere, not of Earth, but came here to change the world for his host to arrive. The
change would happen through wars and bloodshed. The change was also happening to save
Earths inhabitants (meaning humans) from themselves as we are a destructive race. The short
story was like a first chapter of a book; I think now I should have left it with a hard ending,
instead of a cliff hanger that left most asking questions. It was a very good workshop and left me
humbled with the notion that no ones perfect and people have to work to make their master
piece. That master pieces do not just come without effort or trial and error. One of the most
important things she taught me was to practice, practice, practice, and this could be done by

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having a journal and writing in it every day. I now have a journal that I practice writing in along
with my poems, but this does not happen every day like I should.
Even though it wasnt a writing class, Media Technique had me doing fictional writing as
a part of its assignments. This class was for my minor, which I took online. Since it was online,

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the teacher used writing to act as attendance. We would read the chapter (or other readings) and
then write a 250- 500 word short story regarding what we read. Those short stories were very
imaginative, as we were to act as if we were some advanced alien race that was sent to Earth to
spy on humans and record what they did on Earth. The focus was about technology like phones,

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internet, computers, printers, etc.. At the end of the class, we had to finalize our reports of all that

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we had seen and reported and why we felt that those inventions were important.
So far Rhetoric, WEPO, poetic technique, fiction technique, and History of Text
Technologies are my major specific writing classes. All classes have their own ideas and their

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own types and styles of writing. Each semester helps me develop more as a writer and helps me
better understand what kind of career I want to. It also seems the more advanced the classes get

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the more professional and longer my writings are, which is how it should be in theory. Here in
advanced writing, I am finding that I need to work on my editing skills and develop more
techniques for my writings. I like that we get to play with blogs and that we have to do a few of
them before the semester is over with. I cant wait to do the collaborative composition with my
classmates. These kind of writings are always fun, as you get to see into this persons mind-set
and add to their ideas to make a harden piece of writing. I think that the Wikipedia project will
help a lot with my editing skills. I hope to end this class with an internship for summer, a
portfolio (both physical and digital), and a revised version of my short story to be ready to turn
into some kind of writing competition. I hope to better hone my editing skills as I have learned

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so far that my editing skills are lacking and needs some definite improving, as Im sure will
happen by the end of this semester.
As far as a career goes, Im hoping to travel and write. To either have my writing pay for
my traveling, or my traveling pay for my writing. I am somewhat a hippie at heart and love to go
to festivals like music festivals. It is my dream to be able to travel from festival to festival
writing about the scene and the music, since it seems that these festivals are getting a bit out of
hand and are now everywhere. Or to be a nature writer, writing about my travels and the things
that I have seen and experienced like a journalistic piece, though I dont want to become a
journalist. Another job that I would love to do is to write stories for some comic book franchise.
To me, comic books are the ultimate creative writings. You can write about anything, fantasy,
sci-fi, drama, whatever it is that you want to make into a story. If people dont like it they simply
dont read it, no strings attached.

John,
This was very helpful! I like how specific you got when you were talking about the
writing, examples always help. Though, I do think you included a little more personal details
than necessary. This will be a Wikipedia page about EWM, therefore hearing about careers plans
or how you felt about the class doesnt fit the objective platform of Wikipedia. When you talk
about classes I would avoid saying feelings about them and stick to explaining the composing. It
would make it much better for the readers. Also, the sentences got a little long at times. It always
helps me to read stuff aloud so you know how it sounds to an outsider.
Mackenzie Raetz

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