Sherry Rich
English 111-15
May 4, 1998
Writing is a Trip to the Fun House
A trip to the fun house. Sounds like fun, or is it? I don’t know about you, but when I have to do something that I’m not sure of myself about, it scares me. Just like a trip to a fun house. Some may look at it and be excited, saying, "Yes, this is going to be a lot of fun; I can do it." But I look at and say, "What if I fail? What if I can’t come out, and I make a fool of myself?" But if I am to succeed I must enter, so enter I do.
Okay, I’ve thought it out. I’ve come up with a subject; perhaps I can do this. Perhaps I may even do well at it. I begin my opening paragraph. Hey, this isn’t so hard, and this makes a lot of sense. I’m making all the right turns, not running into any dead ends. I think I may get to the end in record time. Then, oh no, how do I word that right? Do I have good sentence structure here? If only I had someone to guide me. I think I’m at a dead end. I could go to my trusty handbook, but nah, that’s not my style. I don’t take this that seriously; after all, I’m not a writer! So, I look over my dilemma, and hope I’ve chosen the best way out.
Now I’m off and writing again. I retrace my steps and come to the conclusion that I’m not doing too badly. I trudge boldly onward thinking I’m going to master this thing, when "WHAM," straight into a dead end. I can’t think of anything else to say; surely I’m lost here forever. I need to take a break; I need to think this thing out. Okay, I think I’ve come up with a plan. I’ll take it slowly; sentence structure isn’t usually to hard for me, if I can just master my misuse of commas I know I can make it.
I set out again; I feel the end is in sight. I reflect on where I’ve been so far, it hasn’t been too unpleasant, if only those haunting words would go away: "Sherry, you can write better than this." "Not bad Sherry, but rather thinly developed." Okay, I push those fears aside: whether I’m the best or not, I know I can still do this. I’ve made it this far; I format a plan to conclude this thing. Yes, this is the way. I think I hear noise from the outside world, I must be close. Left turn here, right turn here, comma here (or not--but who cares, I’ve almost reached the end). There it is, there’s the end. I can almost see my "A" now. Or is that a "B?"
I come out into the light. Wow, what a sense of accomplishment. I’ve completed the task. I've finished another paper. I’ve passed the class with a good grade. Will I do it again? Not willingly, but if I’m to succeed I’m afraid I’ll have to face the fun house again.
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