Introduction, Blog Purpose, and Splatter Writing

Being an educator, researcher, and writer, I feel the compulsive need to stay organized; I guess that same inclination has seeped into my blogs. As this is the first blog on my site, I wanted to give a quick overview of not only me, but also my blog’s topical purpose. I am a current graduate student studying for my English literature master’s degree at the University of South Florida. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tampa in secondary English education with a minor in French. I have had the wonderful opportunity to have been introduced to the pedagogical arts early in my career, and I look forward to learning more and more about teaching to serve my future students.

This blog will encompass a broad range of topics close to my heart, including pedagogy, literary/film studies, graduate student life, and other things which pop into my head. In short, this blog will give a glimpse into things I hold dear which I wish to share with others. Additionally, being a writer, I am continually growing in my craft. While organization is great, I tend to over plan much of my writing (some of my outlines for seminar papers are as long as the paper’s themselves). This blog is going to be a space where I practice “splatter writing.” In the same way a painter might splatter a canvas without a definitive plan, so too will I be composing these blogs. The blogs will focus on a topic I’ve been contemplating, and I will let my current thoughts guide my writing at the moment.

While I don’t think I will get rid of my marriage to outlines anytime soon, I do want to practice what I preach. I currently teach research and composition at the University of South Florida. During class, I ask my students to free write on a topic; no planning, just free flowing writing from the first things that come to their minds. In the same vein, I will be practicing a similar exercise with my blogs. Don’t worry grammarians, I will be reading through my entries before posting them on my site, for I cannot stand incorrect grammar. However, I want to free myself from my typical compositional mannerisms. This blog serves as a venue for me to share my unplanned thoughts on an array of topics with others. Please pardon me for drawn-out language, for I will not be conducting in-depth edits on my blogs. That’s what my academic research writing is for. (However, if you want to get your paper down from 25 pages to 23 by making minute, painstaking changes to your sentences, check out the “Belcher Test” in Wendy Laura Belcher’s Writing You Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success, pages 255-280.)

I look forward to sharing this blogging excursion with you. If you have any ideas for blog ideas or questions you would like me to address, feel free to send me a message at the bottom of my home page.