I will go looking for me...

"Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can't- in fact, you're not supposed to- know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing." Lammott proposes that I can't know what I'm going to write when I start writing, but that I am supposed to write anyways. I guess this sort of freaks me out because I like to go into the stories that I write with a plan in mind. In life I am a "go with the flow" kind of person. I have plans in general, but I am not worried if those plans need to change in order to accommodate unanticipated circumstances. Throughout my learning experience I have found that there is an ongoing critique of all my writing. Almost every teacher said I lacked organization in my writing. So I guess it's my tendency to get all fired up about having a plan, otherwise my writing might just be unorganized yet again. After reading these chapters by Lammott I feel a little more relaxed about my future writing assignments and endeavors. I can see how writing should be natural like life. 

My son- Isaac

The emphasis on character that Lammott writes about feels right to me. By that I mean that I feel that writing should be about the characters, not the plot. Lammott writes, "every single one of us at birth is given an emotional acre all our own." This makes me think about my five-month old son, Isaac. He is his own little person and he has his own little moods. Some people think that babies are all the same, but the reality is that every child is unique, no two are the same. That is one of the reasons why it is so hard to take of babies! Why should writing be any different than life. Every character that I write about will inevitably have his or her own personality and finding that personality will take time because getting to know people takes time. Getting to know ourselves takes time. Lammott writes, "You are going to love some of your characters, because they are you or some facet of you." All of my writing comes from within so how can I deny that my characters are part of me. I love that writing is a very concrete way of getting to know yourself. Many times I feel like I don't know myself and I feel helpless to find a way to learn about me. What does it even mean to "look inward"? Writing is nice because it can guide me into the caverns of my heart where I can gain knowledge about who I am. Who I am will come out in my writing, if I let it out. 
We can only write what we know because writing anything other than that would be lying and Lammott warns against lying in writing.  She says you won't get away with it.
John Gardner says, "that the writer is creating a dream into which he or she invites the reader, and that the dream must be vivid and continuous." Nobody wants to read a dull novel. I would know because I read boring textbooks every day in order to accomplish my assignments. I have a desire to keep my audience attentive and doing that takes being "vivid and continuous". I love when Lammott writes, "Outside the classroom, you don't get to sit next to your readers and explain the little things you left out, or fill in details that would have made the action more interesting or believable." I love how Lammott takes a lesson and puts fresh perspective on it. I have heard bunches of teachers say over and over again that I need to pay attention to detail. I have never felt the importance of detail until now. Nobody can truly understand the world inside my head or how I perceive my reality, but I can try my hardest to describe it. In order to allow people to see what I see I need as much detail as possible to "show and not tell." Lammott tells us that details are important, but she also emphasizes the need to insert details appropriately. 
When Lammott talks about dialogue she says that it is important to have compassion for your characters, even your villain. Every character that I create is actually a part of me. That means that I undoubtedly can understand them unless I cannot understand myself. In order to have great dialogue it is essential that I know my characters. It all goes back to getting to know my characters and spending time trying to learn their voices. Every character has a different personality and therefore a different voice. That means they all say different things in their own way. It is my job to listen to my characters to find their different voices. 
I am actually excited to start writing a story. I feel like getting to know characters and myself should be an interesting experience. I realize that it may not be as fun as it seems right now, but I am up for a challenge. I am willing to fail so that I can eventually create something great.