Rachel Smith

Happiness is appropriate

[Hank Green @hankgreen]

Retweet this if you are going to vote every single chance you get until you're dead.

[nik 🌿 @nikkikatalinic]

whenever i’m sad i just think about this one time sophomore year when a girl gave my teacher this cake to commemorate the 3 month anniversary of us turning in our essays that still hadn’t been graded

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Don’t worry so much about all of the stuff you have to do. Most things don’t take much time when broken down into smaller steps and done with confidence. #optimisticmusings

[Visakan Veerasamy @visakanv]

we already live in a boring dystopia

[NPR @NPR]

Hospitals, government agencies and nonprofits across the country are starting to do more to support some of the estimated 42 million people who are primary caregivers of friends and family members. https://t.co/5U8t1WYuVK

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Digital pointing: the illustrious and kind Amy Hempel stirred my emotions with her gripping depictions of dogs in a shelter; lingering with me still is the pile of bodies, the warm ocean, and the dogs’ soulful eyes, a trope made fresh by Hempel’s writing prowess #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

It seems that both of my pieces in workshop struggle with time stamps and spatial indicators. Perhaps this is a reflection of living in my own head. Perhaps it is trauma-related. I wonder about the ramifications of this blind spot in my communication thus far. #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Grateful because my class was so so gentle and empathetic on my critique day - I’ve already started reading through the stack of suggestions. I think today’s class was cathartic for all #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Today in class I learned that critics who blame writers for being overly indulgent in their emotions might have other agendas for maintaining the status quo. Time to stop judging myself so much #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

This revising week I need to work up the nerve to dissect my classmates’ annotations on my earlier piece. They had such lovely feedback in class, and I know that engaging with it will be a worthwhile experience. #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Feeling super naked ever since I submitted my most recent draft for workshop to read. Everyone knows my story now. Everyone can judge both my story and the way that I wrote it. I have to trust that it’s in good hands. #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Show, don’t tell is rough when much of your time is spent deep in your own head #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

I bet that every reader will resonate with a different aspect of my multi chunk story depending on their prior experiences. I need to revise and revise so that the playing field can be leveled, and even those who aren’t well versed with the topics can be in touch. #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

It’s taken me about three weeks just to access the memories I want to write about at a decent level of detail. Writing about people we’ve lost is hard for that reason, as the mind tends to hide the facts behind emotionally salient material #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

I don’t remember everything in neat sections. This makes it hard to organize a nonfiction story, as all of the background knowledge taken for granted must end up with the reader. Choices now feel more artistic than expository, but I don’t want to play with truth. #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

@galemassey @_JoyCastro Thank you!

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

In my short life, I’ve lost a lot of people who were close to me, to early deaths. I think about them constantly and want to translate this into writing, but something always stops me - I am afraid of misrepresenting them. How do I navigate this? #ENGL3220

[Rachel Smith @RachelS46626393]

Trying to pull apart the difference between writing for catharsis and writing for communication. #ENGL3220