"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way... people look at reality, then you can change it." - James Baldwin
I joined a scholarly writers group made up of faculty members at my at my grad school today, many of whom are authors with published works in scholarly journals and even popular news magazines such as Newsweek. I see two problems with this scenario:
1. I am not a faculty member at St. Cloud State University.
2. I can't write worth a damn.
And so I am starting this new blog. Now don't get me wrong, I can obviously write, I'm doing it right now, but I can't write well. Furthermore, what I choose to write about doesn't change the world. I want to change that, and seeing as I have to start somewhere, this is it.
I want to make it clear from the outset that my faith WILL influence and bias what I choose to write about. A person cannot separate what they do from why they do it. Just a disclaimer.
I am also going to try to stay as far away from my personal life as possible. If you want to know why I'm not married yet at 23 having graduated from my Christian college, why the heck I live in the middle of no where Minnesota, and what dirt I may have on so and so from high school, you won't find those answers here. This blog is primarily to bring up issues that concern, interest, inspire, and confuse me. God has placed this world and his people on my heart, and I fully intend on fulfilling my purpose in this world by attempting to get people thinking about the same issues that plague my mind everyday.
So, if you've made it this far, thank you. I hope that through my writing our hearts can break for the things that breaks our Father's.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Be the change
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2 comments:
Yay Shannon!! Write, write, write!
Ms. Dabelstein,
I'm hoping that you've continued to read Pipher's book...she does talk about how one does not need to be an expert writer, that writing is a process that can be learned.
As a matter of fact, I thought I was a terrible writer when I was in college (as evidenced by my professor's low marks and comments on my papers!) but everything changed when I took a technical writing class my senior year. I was taught the process of writing and finally! the light bulb went on!
So keep writing and keep blogging!
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