You are a writer. Congratulations.

You are a writer: get used to it.

Let’s go ahead and demystify the word Writer. If you sent a text message this morning then you are a writer. You used words to convey a message. You wrote. You are a writer. Dorothy Parker said, “Writers write.” Don’t get hung up on “real writing” “Serious writing” or “legit writing”.

All jobs are writing jobs. In any career that you will select, you will need to put down words to communicate with them. If you are a doctor, you will be expected to be published in a medical journal or to submit messages to your support staff. If you are an engineer, you will be asked to write grants in order to fund your research. Lawyers can write 150 pages or more a week. Business plans, reports, charting, emails, memos: these are all formal writing that almost all professions require. Everyone is a writer.

In this class, we will be writing. We will use words to express ideas. However, we will also be using sounds and images if necessary to express ideas.

First, we need to see what is in our toolbox.

I want you to read this selection from Stephen King, from his memoir On Writing.

What is in our class toolbox:

• Course Policy Sheet and Week by Week : Look at these regularly, because our deadlines are frequent. You almost always have something due in this class. It is all for the purpose of making you stronger writers and thinking about how your words matter as well as the images, gifs, and links matter.

• Time Management System: Do you have a system to manage your time? In college, everyone is going to be asking you for your time: teachers, friends, jobs, organizations. I advise you to put a time management system in your toolbox: something which you will want to look at every day. Either grab a paper planner or set up a Google calendar and write down EVERYTHING required of you in this class for the rest of the semester. Our deadlines are set. If they change, you will be sent an announcement.

• Your Textbook: Assigned readings from the textbook begin next week. If you have not purchased your textbook, do so IMMEDIATELY. It needs to have the Gold cover (not the burgundy one). Your textbook has examples of projects and an MLA style guide.

• Library website: On Canvas, we have been provided a link to library resources. When you write your researched paper, you are required to use the FSU Library Database.

• Citation tools: Any information you use from another source needs to be cited. For Blogs, you can hyperlink to the website where the information came from. For your research paper, you MUST use MLA style. Your textbook provides a style guide, but otherwise use The Purdue OWL website. Go ahead and bookmark that page.

• Class Twitter: Online classes can feel isolating. This is why we are building an Online Community. Twitter is the perfect way to do that because you learn how to be a specific writer. You only have 140 characters, so your writing is more concise. Having a Class Specific Twitter means everyone who follows you is in the same boat in regards to this class. It is a space to share ideas, projects, tell stories and ask questions. Successful Twitter accounts post often: like 10 Tweets a day. They do this because the more information they are posting, the more likely people are going to see it and engage with it. You are only required to Tweet 10 times for a week. That is only two times a day. And feel free to converse with your classmates about what we are reading and addressing in the class. This is not a space for complaining or for language which violates the Civility Clause.

• Microsoft Office: As a student, you get this for FREE. Download it immediately.

Other things you may consider adding to your Toolbox

• A good dictionary. Whether digital or analogue, a dictionary can help ensure you are selecting the right word.

• Grammar resources. Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style is the go to reference book for good writing, however, you might also consider adding Grammar Girl to your bookmarks. I also recommend Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark.

• Self-Care plan: Around week 3 or 4, students often get sick. Change of seasons, allergies and (if on campus) the exchange of new germs will likely land you in the doctor’s office. Have a plan. Work ahead if at all possible. Get lots of sleep. Drink lots of water. Look at pictures of baby animals.

Due FRIDAY 9/1

• Compose a post for your Wix page (minimum of 200 words): What is your Pop Culture weakness? Favorite show, Personality, Movie, YouTube tutorials? What can you not resist when it comes to pop culture and entertainment?

#Classpolicies #CivilityAgreement #Toolbox #StephenKing