Morgan,+Tracy+E.

Proposal: Stream of consciousness writing would be my first option for the unfamiliar writing project. I really enjoy reading stream of consciousness writing and find it an insight to the writers psyche kind of. I have tried writing in stream of consciousness before for several papers for a creative writing class, however it never turns out the way I want it to. I feel like it always sounds like I am complaining or just rambling. I am not sure if there are any guidelines in writing stream of consciousness, which makes me excited to research the topic further.

My second choice would be to work on a resume. I know there are many ways to write a resume. I have a resume that I have put together but I think researching what the most effective and employable resumes would be interesting and enlightening. I think that having this knowledge would also be valuable for teaching a lesson and having generally as well.

**__Primary sources:__** Joyce, James. "Ulysses." //The Literature Network//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. < [] >. This website allowed me to access one of the most famous and renowned stream of consciousness writers of all time. I was able to scan and study some of the Episodes of Joyce's work. I decided to look at some examples of stream of consciousness from famous authors/poets to see the major technical and stylistic components. Dylan, Bob. "Like A Rolling Stone." //AZ Lyrics//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. < [] >. I chose to look at how my genre, stream of consciousness, can be incorporated in another genre. It seems through my research that stream of consciousness is a genre that can be coupled with other genres. This is a perfect example. Elliot, TS. //The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. < [] >. This is another example of how the genre I chose being used with another genre is this famous poem. This poem shows how poetry, like lyrics and prose, can be stream of consciousness. What is interesting about looking at this poem is the technical differences from that of prose and poetry. This will be helpful while choosing how to start writing in my specific genre of stream of consciousness. HC. "C3F." //Cognitec/Third Force//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. <[] >. This particular example had some profanity in it, but is a great example of writing what you are thinking. I think that it is useful in that it has a very unique structure and purpose. It is also prose, which was a different genre that I have not researched yet. The technical aspects and content in this example are especially interesting because it shows the importance of thought order and placement. **__Secondary sources:__** Turner, Laura. //How To Write Stream Of Consciousness//. //Ehow.com//. N.p.,n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. <[] >. This source was very informative and gave a basic idea of how to write stream of consciousness. The speaker gave pretty accurate and descriptive instructions on what she thought was the best way to write in this genre. She gave suggestions on ways she thought was better to write in stream of consciousness, such as writing rather than typing. "How To Do Stream Of Consciousness Writing." //Bratling//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. This site is kind of harsh in terms of what it tells its viewers they should be writing/ streaming, but its directions are legitimately precise. There are step-by-step instructions on how a new writer should start writing in this particular genre. It gives phases the writer should go through to complete stream of consciousness writing. Steinberg, Erwin R. //Stream of Consciousness Technique in the Modern Novel//. Post Washington: Kennikat Press Corp., 1979. Print. This book was useful as both a primary and a secondary source. It was gave examples from famous authors such as Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust. It also gave techniques and theories that these famous authors used to write their works. User's Guide to Stream of Consciousness: User’s Guide To Stream of Consciousness 1. Clear your space or desk off. You need to be in a very open area where you are able to access your inner most thoughts without being bothered or distracted. 2. Clear your head. You should not be thinking about what you have to do tomorrow, in 20 minutes or what you have to make for dinner. You should focus on you and your thoughts. In order to do this I recommend doing something that can clear your head like surfing the web or doing some sort of puzzle. 3. The next thing to do is get out paper, pen, a computer, anything and start writing your thoughts. Do not think about grammar, spelling, mechanics, anything. All of that will come later on. 4. There is no right or wrong way to write a stream of consciousness paper. You can write it in bullet points on a napkin or just one long paragraph. 5. It is generally a good idea to a time limit on how long to write for. That way you have an allotted time you can stop writing for, just keep thinking and writing. 6. After writing leave the writing for at least a few hours. There is no use in trying to proofread your paper right after you wrote it. 7. After a few hours, at minimum, come back and proofread for grammar and mechanical errors. Do not change your thoughts 8. Depending on your purpose you could rearrange the order of your thoughts to make them evoke different meanings or messages, but it is generally bad to move words around in a sentence you have already created. Tips: * If you are writing a poem in stream of consciousness it is more likely you will need to alter the words in your sentence, which is fine as long as the main idea of the sentence remains the same. * Stream of Consciousness is the presentation of your thoughts and shows them your point of view so be unique. There is not right or wrong way to write. * Structure in Stream of Consciousness is extremely important. The way the words appear on the page, order of the sentences, etc. are crucial to the meaning of the piece. * Write with a purpose. If you are writing about dogs that bark loud, continue talking about this or things in relation to this. Some writers can get away with random and sporadic thoughts, but most beginning writers should stick to a single topic. @Final Draft: Reflection: Before I began writing this genre I definitely overlooked the complexity and the planning that goes into writing it. I assumed that writing stream of consciousness was simply writing your thoughts down on paper and letting them flow. It is kind of like letting your thoughts flow freely but it also consists of organization and structure of the thoughts. Something else I overlooked when I chose this genre was the difficulty in figuring out what to write. I chose to write in this genre but I had no idea where to start. With a genre like greeting cards there is a narrower group of topics and topics that are generally more mass-produced. However, with stream of consciousness the topic choice is completely open and up to you. I have to say that I sat at my computer completely baffled and not knowing what to write for about an hour. I decided to write about the hour that I was doing nothing on the computer because I think that was when my thoughts were flowing most freely and widely, which I feel is a characteristic of stream of consciousness. As I said earlier, I think that the structure of your thoughts is the most pertinent and important part of writing stream of consciousness. You could write a stream of thoughts and it would be pointless to the writer, but by organizing your ideas a specific way you make your ideas seem important or interesting to the reader. I found it extremely difficult to write something in stream of consciousness that people would want to read. I personally would want to read what I wrote but I am not sure other people would. Another difficulty I had was trying to give thoughts to someone that was not myself. The narrator in my piece is supposed to be a freshman in high school, or about that age. It was difficult for me to put my self in another persons mind, even though I was there only 7 years ago. I am not truly sure that I accomplished this voice. I think that my overall discovery with this genre is that I have so much respect for prolific writers such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce who write in this genre. It is extremely more intense than I anticipated. These writers, knowingly or unknowingly, wrote in a genre that was poetic, interesting and gave the idea that it was easier than writing prose. Like the other reflections we have written I am going to end by asking you three questions. First, do you think that the structure of my piece was okay? Did I capture the “essence” of stream of consciousness? What do you think I should add or take out of my piece?