Writing...the good, the bad, and what i write

Today was a pretty easy day, PSYCH 101 where we were asked to differentiate between 6 oral passages; 3 from a schizophrenic patient and 3 from "modern" poets. Easy right, well not quite so. The distinction between poetic and neurotic is seemingly as fine a line as that between confidence and arrogance.

Psych 101 was followed closely by ENG 101 - writing for academia or something of the like. This is the course for those who have in the past, distant or near, have already been to post-secondary education. As i am a illustrious graduate and distinguished alumni of Mohawk College (Slowhawk Cottage) I am not allowed to take the Global Issues class that all other newbies are required.

First off, the class size was far more manageable than that of pysch, or chem or bio for that matter, all of which have 130 plus plus in them. ENG 101 had about 30. The prof, a "mad woman of the attic" by her own admission, went through the first day rigamarole of rules and etiquette and all that jazz that we would be required to live up to for the next 4 months or so. But unlike the other 4 classes, she actually made us do work! Incredulous i know. This lovely woman, was passionate and i had a front row seat to the action, mostly due to the fact that all the freshman students seem to arrive to their classes redonkulously early. Keeners humph.

The first assignment was a 3 minute drill to free write to the question, "why write?" She then asked if anyone would be willing to share. Completely out of my character (very introverted, don't like to read aloud), i freely (well no one else was forthcoming) offered my response. It was well received with something to the effect of a "wow" from her to which i responded, "I'm old". She then asked me to read it again so she could pick it apart, all this was done in a loving manner, one that was extremely building and uplifting. Sometimes it pays to stick your head out, as the guillotine isn't always looming to strike.

We then ended with a "what is good writing? and how does that label apply to you?" question to respond to for submission no less all in 10 minutes...i could have probably wrote on it for a little longer but was generally pleased in my thoughts and the order in which they came out.

Nothing better for a procrastinator than a very tight deadline.