Pipher's Chapters 8-10

The reading for today was full of good ideas and writing tips that I would like to incorporate into my writing. There are things I had never considered and some things that I had considered, but had never really given a second thought. 

In Chapter 8, Pipher says that "writing is like building a house" (115). This is something I need to take into consideration about my writing. Sometimes when I write, I get so caught up in finding the perfect adjective or an original verb that I lose sight of why I am writing in the first place. I need to refocus on why I am writing ... after all, "my house" can't be pretty if it has a crumbling structure.

Another part of this that I enjoyed was the section "Organizing Paper." I am bad about organizing my writing. I have a catch-all folder on my computer that I put my writing in, but it holds so many different pieces of writing, from school essays to poetry, that it is really hard to find a certain document. Also, I am really bad about writing down thoughts on whatever paper I have handy at that moment. When I try to find that thought later, I have to dig through all of my school notebooks to find it. I need to do what she suggests and carry around a little notebook for sudden thoughts. I also need to find a better way to organize my writing so that it is all in one place and easy to locate. 

The last idea that I loved was from Chapter 10. Pipher states, "Success means we have done our best" (162). I wrote this on a piece of paper and hung it above my desk. For some reason, I have this nagging voice in my brain that says that I have to write something perfectly. I just need to slow down and ask myself, have I done my best? If not, I need to revise revise revise. If I feel that I have done my best, I need to pat myself on the back and be content.