This is how I feel about writing. I despise the process, but I relish the results. Not exactly the most Zen choice of Major (because for me it is about the destination, not the journey), but I have an interest nonetheless.

I wish to study writing because the formulation of words permeates my life, whether I like it or not. I mean to say that whichever way I turn — to YouTube or to the man sitting next to me on the bus — I am forced to listen to the influx of sound waves (insert whatever scientific jargon is appropriate here), and make something of it. This…I am not so good at it. In fact, listening has always been my Achilles heel.

On the other hand, writing does not require an immediate reaction. That is, the written word often exists in isolation from an audience. In this sense, writing is a more pure form of expression than speech. It doesn’t necessarily exist for others, and even when it does, it is meant to be tossed and turned like an insomniac in the middle of the night. One read is never enough. Two reads even usually leaves something to be desired.

So, along these lines, I want to achieve a level in my writing where my work can be interpreted in a variety of ways (depending on the number of reads) by the same person. I don’t want to create something that is intentionally confusing; but instead, intentionally challenging. I want my work to break down the barriers that prevents the reader from seeing, before showing them the way (whatever that way may be).

So, I guess the problem or question to which this class is the answer is: How do you make the reader so vulnerable that he/she has to accept whatever you say as fact. I’m thinking along the lines of Ayn Rand or other notable writers who seem to encapsulate their readers and deliver them a philosophy that they never knew they needed.