Kevin_Frey_InClass_May9

After reading through the some of the articles that were selected for today’s readings I’m going to discuss those about Paul Simon, Jennifer Nelson, and T.C. Boyle. I found these articles related to me more directly then the other because of the process that each of the articles subject describes. In Paul Simon’s case he talks about how he decided to write his new album, a process he had not done in twenty some years. Here he sat alone in a room with his guitar just singing words or creating a base melody. I’ve always been fascinated with musicians’ ability to just create music but when he started talking about using clichés I realized many a times artists need creations from the past to influence their new work. When I write many times I try to just invent something new that is very difficult depending on the subject. I’ve never thought to revisit me own work to help me get idea for a current project whether it be form, subject, or content.
In the second article I choose which is about Jennifer Nelson I really got the sense that teamwork is the name of the game in her profession. Although a base idea is sometimes generated by one person that idea almost always goes through a change before it reaches it’s end product, as seen in the article. This imparts the importance of peer revision and editing to me because without other people inputs, a project is never fully complete.
Finally in T.C. Boyle’s article I learned the importance of self-editing as a continued learning experience. As he mentions, many a time technology takes away from the editing process that is so important to the creation process. As a rule I generally try to write out my thoughts on paper prior to typing them on the computer because I feel that I can see and edit the words easier. This in turn helps me put the paper together into on coherent piece later on down the road.