collector

I really liked, from Chapter 4 of the book, the idea that a writer is not just a selector, but a collector. I find that everything about that statement makes sense to me.

Yes, writers need to be able to select the information that they want to use. They need to be able to select an argument, a subject, a way to organize it. This is all true, and all something that I've been taught in some form or other in all of my writing classes, beginning, technical, and creative.

But writers also need to collect things, collect research, ideas, organizational tools, notes, visual prompts, etc. Being able to rearrange these things, or design them, into one project is a skill that will translate across curriculum and across the boundaries into the professional world.

For example, if a scientist is taught to be a collector in his writing classes, then he will collect his information and learn to rearrange it coherently for his lab reports and research later. Outside of academia, collecting information on a client will help to produce a larger picture of how to help and handle the client and insure future business with the paying customer.

I'm sure that the way to organize these things could be broadened. I like boxes more than the average person, just ask my mom, but for a composition course it might also be interesting to see how these things would be organized in other formats, like a notebook, blog, or magazine.

I think that my high school teacher was operating under this sort of idea, too. When she made us create those idea notebooks, keeping a notebook of visuals, lyrics, words, ideas, drawings, and such everyday of the year, she was really making us search for something that struck us every day. It made me look at the world a little differently, dissect it and understand why I liked the things that I did. Organizing those to make them represent something larger for my teacher was eye opening.

I just want to say that I find it interesting that the way that Cornell collected things is such an awesome discovery; we have television shows on nearly every channel that help people get rid of this sort of "junk." We want them to not be "hoarders" and join normal society. That's just a side note though.