Writing 4: Forwarding or Countering Odell

Odell’s idea is that readers should develop the skills to be able to separate themselves from the attention economy without completely denying that the attention economy exists. This idea is obviously appealing to anyone who is struggling with questions like “Who am I?” and “What is the point?” so that they aspire to change and alter themselves so that they can create goals with an open mind that can see past their immediate situation. Odell is hopeful in this goal and should be commended for taking charge, but I believe that there are a few sections that could structured differently or even completely changed.

Odell explains that the people she respects are those with “’the power to switch off’” quoting Laura Portwood-Stacer who is quoting Kathleen Nooman(Odell, 91). This double, now triple, quote shows that many writers other than just me and Odell have seen the importance of this quote. I believe that this is what Odell wants readers to understand from her writing here in How to Do Nothing. Here I believe Odell has finally started to give readers an idea why this book is a persuasion piece. Odell has recognized that everything before this point is for the readers’ understanding and now, they can learn  what Odell wants readers to find out and realize from How to Do Nothing. Odell wants everyone to have “the power to switch off” so that they can recognize what their environment can do for them and recognize what they can do with their environment(Odell, 91).

Now I like to follow along with a writer’s work. Often, authors take many hours, day, months and, even sometimes, years to write their books. And for that reason, I do not like to criticize or heckle writers about their own intent. However, I do believe that Odell has distracted readers on more than one occasion in How to Do Nothing.

This will be the last time, I promise. I think that if I add or change Odell’s writing it no longer is Odell’s writing, it would be a shared work. Not better or worse.

I would stress to Odell that while she and many other writers have the capacity to spend long sessions studying and sitting in thought about a topic, many potential readers will not see the benefits of spending time with How to Do Nothing. Many of us in this English class would have never read Odell’s writing if we did not have to write essays about it. And while I am glad, I have been reading it, How to Do Nothing’s beginning can be viewed as distracted and disorganized. The goal of the writing is hidden behind stories and quotes that seem to be leading somewhere but are never put together to amount to one clear idea. Even in the Introduction readers are left with Odell’s vague idea that “everything we wanted is already here” (Odell, xxiii). I know that many readers do not want the goal of the book on the first page. But if you have ever read the ending before finishing a book, you know that the point of reading is to be shown an idea or concept.

I am not a writer. I am a student, both a scientist and engineer. I am young and ignorant of many things.

While reading more than one passage of How to Do Nothing I want to skip sentences, paragraphs and occasionally pages. A recent read example in chapter three was when Odell tried to connect Henry David Thoreau on pages seventy-four to seventy-seven. These paragraphs read as if they are either a tangent or are simply meant to fill space. Most of these pages are Odell quoting Thoreau or restating what Thoreau said in his quotes and I believe that this section can be taken out or altered. Earlier, Odell reference how she took time to visit a cabin in isolation and starting on page seventy-four Thoreau is “explaining his need to live sparely in a cabin away from … the comforts of society”(Odell, 74). What I am saying is that the writing about Thoreau is related, but out of place in its current place in How to Do Nothing.

I would like to think that my changes would only improve Odell’s writing, but what I describe is not a simple addition or subtraction of obsolete paragraphs. Odell only prints what she believes to be her best, most interesting work. Genuinely, the idea of inspiring readers to change for the better is truly noble.

Writing 4: Forwarding or Countering Odell

Image: David Hockney, A Bigger Splash, 1967

Please read chapters 2 and 3 of How to Do Nothing (pp. 30–126), and chapters 2 and 3 of Rewriting (pp. 35–73).

In chapters 2 and 3 of Rewriting, I suggest two ways in which you can push beyond simply restating what you’ve read. On the one hand, you can forward the work of a writer, take one of their ideas and apply it to a new situation or problem. On the other hand, you can counter a writer, push back against one of their ideas, suggest that there’s a different and more productive way of looking at things. In either case, forwarding or countering, your aim is to add to what a writer has to say, to move the conversation forward.

At this point you’ve read about half of Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing. So while you’re not yet in a position to make a judgment about her book as a whole, you should by now be able to identify a particular idea that you might try to run with, extend, or forward—or an idea that you think you can improve upon, suggest an alternative to, or counter.

That’s your task in this assignment—to either forward or counter one of Odell’s ideas in the first half of How to Do Nothing. This will involve you in doing a number of things:

• Restating the idea from Odell that you’re working with,
• Identifying what you find appealing or troubling about that idea,
• Applying your new version of her idea to something else you’ve seen, done, read, or watched.

It’s that last point I’m most interested in. How can you take an idea from Odell’s book and relate it to your own experiences and thinking? I’m curious to see what uses you make of Odell’s writing.

The technical requirements for this piece are the same as for Writing 2. Shoot for a piece of about 750 words.Write in a voice that feels your own. If your style tends to be more conversational or informal, that’s fine. But be professional. Proofread your work carefully.

Post the final version of your piece to this website. (Again, see Posting to WordPress under Writings for details about how to do so.) Use Responses as your category, and come up with at least two or three good Tags for your work. Begin your post with an interesting and relevant Featured Image.

Deadline

Tues, 9/15, 4:00 pm, posted to this site