Where do I stand

Where Do You Stand?

I never thought about it but I think it depends on the situation that I am in. As a foundation I stand on my feet. When I am upset I stand on my emotions and I try to use my brain and think. When I love I stand with one foot on my heart with other on my brain. When I feel I try to see and hear. What I see and hear doesn’t mean that I will believe in it. Of course I always stand on my brain to think.

Defining foundations of writing is a very challenging and interesting exercise. To start writing, firstly, I learned letters and symbols. Teacher taught me to hold a pan and to spell my name. And when I already knew reading and writing I started reading kids magazines and writing stories. Although magazines didn’t publish my stories, I still was happy when I received their letters that discussed my writing. What was especially revealing for my understanding of writing foundations was my experience of teaching my children to write. When my daughter learned writing it was such an excitement. She went through the same steps as I did. When she became confident, I asked her to write about her everyday activities. As a result, she started her own log. At the beginning her writings did not concentrate on a central idea and wandered a lot. But we kept practicing and she learned to concentrate her thoughts, to use words and she became comfortable with her writing. Finally, yet another revelation to my understanding of writing’s foundation was when my husband started learning Chinese. I took for granted that learning to write takes memorizing only a few dozen of symbols, and that the rest of effort should concentrate on grammar and style. Yet Chinese script was so difficult, even brutal in its complexity. So, in terms of the imagery of this assignment, it takes months of practicing writing simple phrases and characters before one can stand up on his or her feet in Chinese language.

What upsets me about writing?

I generally enjoy writing unless I have to produce an essay in fifteen minutes. Still, there are plenty things about writing that usually upset me. One of these problems is the language. I am still learning English grammar, spelling and syntax, so I cannot write professionally yet. I know I have to practice a lot, so I try to enjoy it. I also used to have tremendous difficulties with expressing my thoughts and writing clearly. Constant search for the right word also frustrated me, especially under pressure of deadlines and grades. Typically I would write something then leave it for a moment, come back with fresh thoughts, and still not be able to produce a concise thought. Writing also takes more than just a pen and paper: I have to maintain quiet conditions so I can concentrate.

What do I love about writing?

I love communication and sharing my opinion. Also, writing emails to friends and family makes me feel good and connected to them. For example, I write my opinion in online forums. I love to write about my life, and that is why I created new website http://www.gulshat.com/. My blog is on http://gulshat-gulshat.blogspot.com/. Finally, I love to get positive feedback about my writing.

What do I feel about writing?

Sometimes writing makes me feel happy, sometimes it makes me feel upset. I think that the satisfaction from writing stems from its purpose: readers that clearly understand what you are trying to tell them. When I plan on writing something, I prepare a first trial balloon, and ask my friends to look at it. Then I correct it and send it to the intended recipient.

What do I hear about writing?

I think you can tell a good writing when you hear one, so I try to read my stuff out loud to test it on my ear. If it sounds good probably I am on a right track.

What do I see about writing?

I see that writing is an important part of life. In XXI century people can take pictures, or videos, or speak on radio, or use an internet but they still need to write. They watch news on TV or movie but they don't stop reading books, magazines and newspapers. They can talk to each other on the phone but they still need to write emails and so on. All these are not eliminating the writing on the contrary they are being part of writing. For example one of the greatest inventions of our time is the internet. People are using more and more website links to prove, or share in their writings and in my opinion these are lifting writing to the next more developed level.

What do I think about writing?

When cavemen first started drawing and painting in his cave, it was, in my opinion, a sign of people’s need to write, because people needed to record their thoughts and memories. Later this need to write expanded to include a need to record business transactions, to spread news and to communicate. Apart from needs writing served as a source of fun, too. For example I enjoy writing stories, or poems. There is always audience to your writings, or at least you yourself can always come back and read it.
I think writers write because they love it. Even in XXI century writing skill requires some knowledge, practice and you can’t buy or download it. Writing strengthens your language and puts your thoughts in order. I can’t imagine intellectual, social, economical, innovational and scientific progress without writing. In the whole writing is an important part of our lives.