Writing 17: Post-Workshop Memo

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Important Note

The guidelines that follow are exactly the same as for your previous post-workshop memo (Writing 10). I have only adjusted the deadlines.

What’s important to remember, though, is that this will be your last chance to get feedback from me before you prepare the final, to-be-graded version of your Essay Two. And so I urge you to approach this assignment thoughtfully and to compose a detailed memo. Help me help you. You stand to gain from doing so.

Post-Workshop Memo

After your workshop, I would like you to email me a memo detailing your plans for moving from Draft 1 to Draft 2. The subject line for your email should be Post-Workshop Memo. Your text should include three sections:

1) Summary of Feedback

• What feedback have you received to your writing so far? In your workshop? In written comments? From me? From other readers? Which parts of this feedback do you find most useful? Which do you have questions about?

2) Plans for Draft 2

Add

• What do you plan to add to your current draft? Where will these additions go? Be as exact and detailed as you can. For instance, rather than saying, “I plan to add more from Odell”, point to the specific passages from Odell that you plan to add. Or rather than saying, “I’m going to give more details about this exeprience”, explain what details you plan to add.

Cut

• What passages of your current draft do you plan to cut? Again, be specific. And bold. Don’t be content with bland paragraphs or sections. If something isn’t working, get rid of it.

Change

• Which parts of your essay do you plan to rework for style, voice, and clarity? What issues in your prose do want to address?

3) Questions for Me

• I will write a reply to your email. This will be my response to your first draft. What do you want to ask me before you prepare a version of your essay that will earn a letter grade?

My general rule is to write no more words in reply than you write to me in your memo. So the more detailed and specific your memo is, the more feedback you are likely to get from me in reply.

I must receive your Post-Workshop Memo by next Tuesday, November 17, at 4:00 pm. But I encourage you to send it to me earlier, so you can write with the memory of your workshop and your questions for me fresh in mind. I will try to respond to your memo as quickly as I can, so the sooner you are able to get it to me, the longer you’ll have to prepare your final draft. I will also be happy to talk more on Zoom with you about your essay after I’ve received your memo.

Deadlines

• Tues, 11/17, 4:00 pm (or earlier): Email me your Post-Workshop Memo (Writing 17).
• Tues, 12/01, 4:00 pm: Post the second and final draft of your essay to Medium.com. Email me the link.

Writing 10: Post-Workshop Memo

Photo by Neel on Unsplash

After your workshop, I would like you to email me a memo detailing your plans for moving from Draft 2 to Draft 3. The subject line for your email should be Post-Workshop Memo. Your text should include three sections:

1) Summary of Feedback

• What feedback have you received to your writing so far? In your workshop? In written comments? From me? From other readers? Which parts of this feedback do you find most useful? Which do you have questions about?

2) Plans for Draft 3

Add

• What do you plan to add to your current draft? Where will these additions go? Be as exact and detailed as you can. For instance, rather than saying, “I plan to add more from Odell”, point to the specific passages from Odell that you plan to add. Or rather than saying, “I’m going to give more details about this exeprience”, explain what details you plan to add.

Cut

• What passages of your current draft do you plan to cut? Again, be specific. And bold. Don’t be content with bland paragraphs or sections. If something isn’t working, get rid of it.

Change

• Which parts of your essay do you plan to rework for style, voice, and clarity? What issues in your prose do want to address?

3) Questions for Me

• I will write a reply to your email. This will be my response to your second draft. What do you want to ask me before you prepare a version of your essay that will earn a letter grade?

My general rule is to write no more words in reply than you write to me in your memo. So the more detailed and specific your memo is, the more feedback you are likely to get from me in reply.

I must receive your Post-Workshop Memo by next Tuesday, October 13, at 4:00 pm. But I encourage you to send it to me earlier, so you can write with the memory of your workshop and your questions for me fresh in mind. And I will try to respond to your memo as quickly as I can, so the sooner you are able to get it to me, the longer you’ll have to prepare your final draft. I will also be happy to talk more on Zoom with you about your essay after I’ve received your memo.

Deadlines

• Tues, 10/13, 4:00 pm (or earlier): Email me your Post-Workshop Memo (Writing 10).
• Tues, 10/20, 4:00 pm: Post the final version of your essay to Medium.com.

What Does a “Reset” Really Mean?

Throughout “How to Do Nothing,” Odell continuously mentions the idea of a person going through a period of removal “…that fundamentally changed their attitude to the world they returned to.” She argues that it is through these experiences where real change occurs and one can finally resist the attention economy.  It is important to understand that when Odell is talking about these retreats of doing “nothing” she is urging the reader to experience a reset rather than a simple pause of their life. This is because to pause means simply to temporarily stop and eventually return back to its normal state, whereas the idea of resetting suggests that there must be actual change occurring which is what Odell is encouraging. 

She uses various examples to back this idea of a reset such as the revolutionary experiences and stories of Levi Felix, her father, Michael Weiss, and others. This is made clearer in chapter 2 when she says “I’ve already written that the “doing nothing” I propose is more than a weekend retreat.” The story of Odell’s father returning to reality after quitting his job and living cheaply for two years struck me in particular. During his Journey, he learned not only to understand his anger but also found a new compassion for creativity and openness. “With renewed energy and a different perspective on his job, he went from technician to engineer, and has filed around twelve patents so far.” This story is remarkable and as she sums up “… made him understand himself not in relation to that world, but just to the world, and forever after that, things that happened at work only seemed like one small part of something much larger.” Although this experience is amazing, the truth is revelations like these are rare to come across and it feels like Odell is neglecting the smaller stories that  have a minor change in one’s life but still yields great importance. 

These examples that Odell uses lead me to believe that she is looking at the definition of reset through the lens of a computer’s definition which implies a complete overhaul of its settings or a massive change in a person’s view of life . Personally, one issue I find with this idea is that she seems to say that a reset is black and white and can only be done on a large scale to really resist the attention economy. Although I agree that a reset is necessary to resist, I believe a reset should be seen as any  form of adjustment that results in being different whether it be on a large scale or a small scale. It is important to recognize that there are minor instances of removals that can still teach an individual how to grow and even resist the attention economy.

Truthfully, I have never had a period of removal from the attention economy that would be considered a massive reset with tremendous change such as the examples Odell gives us from Levi Felix, her father, Michael Weiss, and others. However, one sort of disconnect that brought about great change in my life was the summer going into 7th grade when my parents sent my cousins and I to live with my grandparents in Brazil for four weeks. There, we stayed on my grandfather’s coffee farm which spanned around 35 acres with no internet. At first, I remember being an obnoxious middle schooler furious that I could not use any social media or play any games, but as time went on I learned to enjoy myself and live in the moment. I remember traversing the large plantations with my cousins, fishing for food, eating guava from the trees, and listening to my grandfather play his beloved accordion at night whilst I layed on a hammock looking up to the stars. This small experience also taught me the idea Odell brings up of sensitivity versus connectivity. I realized the face to face moments I had with my cousins and grandparents will never amount to any online interaction we will ever have. Going to Brazil for four weeks may not seem like a long period of removal in the eyes of Odell, and may have not changed my entire view on life like the people that she mentions, but it was still a significant experience that helped me in a strange part of my life. The temporary raw lifestyle that I had to live, manifested into me and taught me to appreciate the value of family and the roots of where my family came from. It also helped me see that I previously had a dependence on the internet and that there are other things in the world that I gain happiness and productivity from. 

Although this experience that I went through was not a radical change in my life that Odell suggests is necessary, I learned a lot about my family, myself, and even the attention economy.  Of course I still use social media and browse the attention economy regularly, I have learned to disregard the negativity and truly not care about factors such as likes and followers. Furthermore I do not get bothered by political posts and would rather ignore them as I know they are designed to intentionally hook me in. Overall, although Odell’s idea of a reset being necessary rather than just a simple pause in one’s life to resist the attention economy holds true, I believe that this reset does not have to be a massive life changing experience. Instead it could be obtained and seen as any adjustment in one’s life that inspires a new understanding or change whether it be small or large.