“Writers Histories, Processes, and Identities Vary” by Kathleen Blake Yancey begins by discussing how while people all share basic similarities, everybody is different in the sense of their environment, upbringing, and experiences, which contributes to their writing style and makes it unique. Writer identities are partly due to the time in which they live in. While years ago the common way to “write” was through cave paintings, writing has come a very long way since then and is constantly changing, as in todays time we write by using symbols and letters to form words and sentences. Writers identities are also, in part, formed by attributes like their gender, race, and sexual orientation, as these give each person their own uniqueness in life experiences compared to one another. These all contribute to our writing styles and self expression.
Similarly, “Writing Is Informed by Prior Experience” by Andrea Lunsford discusses how our previous experiences shape our opinion on writing and how we do it. Basically, if you’ve had a lot of negative experiences with writing, you are more likely to dread when you have to write and have little confidence in it, and vice versa. One example the text gives of experiences that may impact our view on writing is what our earliest memory of writing is. Andrea Lunsford spent two decades asking people from all over America what their earliest memory associated with writing is, and while some people said theirs was learning the alphabet or how to write their name, others had less fond memories, like having to write something a hundred times as a form of a punishment. is It also discussed how events and experiences that have happened in our life help to shape our writing as well.
In my opinion, Elementary schools specifically do a good job to help shape positive experiences in writing, as they tend to give you a lot of freedom to be creative with it. For example, when I was younger, I spent countless hours in my room writing stories about whatever popped into my head. Up until recently, I never thought about what persuaded me to do this, but looking back, I now realize that the fact that I was able to express myself freely through writing in school is what influenced my love for it.
The readings “Writers Histories, Processes, and Identities Vary” and “Writing is Informed by Prior Experience” are important because they highlight the fact that personal experiences can drastically change how you write and your opinion on writing. Considering this, I believe that anybody that teaches writing shouldn’t treat it as if its black and white or there’s only one way to do it, and should take into consideration that every student has different personal experiences and identities, meaning they will have different approaches to writing.
