I just realized I posted this to my WRT site and not this one :-/

It is strange that Writing Arts is not a more common major. Given all the career options such as journalism, copyediting, advertising, and speech writing to name a few, it seems that the major would be more popular. And considering that writing is a prevalent skill even in careers not related to writing arts, one would think that more colleges would offer it. While there are so many career choices that involve writing there is one that prefaces the other. That is the occupation of a writing professor.

Without writing professors, it would be difficult, if not almost impossible, for writers to really perfect their skills and hone their craft. While Professor Sanford Tweedie, a Writing Arts Professor at Rowan University, claims that the journey toward becoming a writing professor is long and arduous, it also has many benefits.

The RU Career Management Center has an online database for hundreds of professions and what they entail. Unfortunately, because Writing Arts is a rare major, the closest professor information offered is for communications. While this isn’t exactly the same, the information is still fairly relevant.

According to the site there are eight skills necessary for the job. These skills are helping, listening, managing time, reading comprehension, listening, speaking, teaching, writing and authoring. These are all skills that Professor Tweedie lists in his interview.

                A graph under the interest profile tab displays the interests of communications professors and to what degree the level of interest is. For a communication professor, in order from highest to lowest, their interests are artistic, social, investigative, enterprising, convential, and realistic.

                There are also several conditions that apply to being a communications professor. These involve having the authority to make decisions, having and maintaining an E-mail account, having face to face communication, leading others, having good public speak skills, being organized and structured, working with others, and often times working inside.


Outline

I.                    Intro

II.                  Skills/values/interests necessary

A.      Compare CAP center database info with interview

III.                Pros and cons of being a writer/comm professor

A.      Compare with interview

B.      Incorporate US Gov data charts

IV.                What is needed to be a Comm/WA Professor

A.      Interview

B.      How to website

C.      Additional advice from Prof Tweedie

V.                  Conclusion

I dropped the ball this week....I need my day off tomorrow to shake it off and get back in the game. That was pretty cliche. my apologies.

    The chairs are arranged in a sloppy circle all facing inward. Each seat is occupied by a student. Some of them allow their eyes to wander around the room probably singing a little tune in their heads as they pay my no attention. Some are sneaking shots of whisky while others are trapped in a constant loop of sitting up with a quick jerk and hesitantly descending back into slumber. All of them look like me: bedraggled with dark circles painted prominently beneath both eyes, wild manes of hair that haven't felt a comb in days, donning sweat pants and t-shirts that envelope stomachs full of coffee and other caffeinated beverages. I clear my throat.
"Hi. My name's Lacey and I'm a procrastinator."
"Hi Lacey," they mumble back robotically.
    This is the help group that I imagine I would be a part of if it existed here in college. I'm not proud of my procrastinating tendencies. And I certainly hate staying up until the wee hours of the night trying to complete tasks I put off (See this morning's Twitter post: 'Hello again 3am. I didn't miss you #tired) . It's not because I am lazy, but because I get too stressed out by assignments, big and small, that I just keep putting them off to avoid that stress. Now I know what youre thinking: "Don't you realize by now that stress is minimal when the assignment is first given because you have so much time? The apex of stress occurs when the assignment is still not done and due in a few short hours."
    You are correct. That is the truth. it is also true that I have tried to change my ways and not procrastinate. But multiple failures have lead me to continue putting things off to the last minute. Now I may have sold you on the idea that my work is shitty. This however is not true. While I do waste a lot of time I think I work best under stress and pressure and still manage to get everything done pretty well. Some of my best work was procrastinated.
    I'll be honest. I did my interview with Professor Tweedie today even thought we were supposed to have our interviews completed over break. I think I had a better interview this way. Why is that? Because I knew I didn't have any time to go back and ask him more questions so I tailored my questions to receive the best possible answers. If I knew that I had plenty of time, I probably wouldnt have taken the interview so seriously. But I didn't have time to mess around. I had to meet with him, get as much as possible from the interview and go. Because I went in with this mindset, I think I received lots of good feedback. And, I still had the interview completed before class. I have completed each assignment before class and received 2 gold star blog awards. 
    I have already planned out my week for when I will get things done. I don't usually stick to my to-do lists, but since I have made room for the culminating project I will hopefully still do it in that time frame despite getting an extra week to work on it.
    Right now, my biggest obstacle is finding info specifically on writing arts professors. most info I'm finding is for writers and for communications professors.      

Aidenofthetower. "Being a Writer: Pros and Cons." HubPages. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://aidenofthetower.hubpages.com/hub/Being-a-Writer-Pros-and-Cons>.

The author's credibility may be questionable but her biography says that she is a freelance content writer for various online sites. The information is kind of a no-brainer though so it should be safe to include. Just as I am including the pros and cons of being a college professor in general I think it's important to include the pros and cons of being a writer because maybe someone wants to teach but isn't sure about teaching writing. Weighing the pros and cons can help with that decision.

"Communications Professor." Occupation Database. Focus, 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.focuscareer2.com/LoggedIn/OccupationSearchByName.cfm?Unique={ts%20%272012-03-20%2001:43:54%27}>.

While this site does not list “Writing Professor” as a career option, it does list “Communications Professor”. The site has a menu which is broken down into an overview, skills, values, outlook, earnings, interest profile, working conditions, and areas of study. This site really breaks down the career and gives fairly detailed descriptions about what it entails. Since it is directly linked on the Rowan University Career Management Center website, it is safe to assume that this is a legitimate source.

"How to Become a College Professor." WikiHow. 2 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-College-Professor>.

This site offers 9 steps that are necessary for becoming a college professor.
The site also offers other resources such as tips for becoming a professor. There are warnings as well and a list of things you’ll need (A PhD, finances, motivation)
While I think this is a good starting point and the site does offer some seemingly legit info, I don’t think I will be using much of this information. The site is written by non-credible authors. Each heading has an “edit” button next to it which open up another page when clicked. If you have an account with the site, you can log in and edit the page. It says that edits will be reviewed by the original author of the article. However, the original author of the article is some random person that set up an account and wrote the article. At the very top it says 21 people edited the site and a notification popped up on my screen saying to give a “+1” vote to the “voluntary authors” that helped write the article. I If I can find another article that is legitimate and states a lot of similar information, then I will use this to support that site. If not, I won’t use this site.

"Occupational Employment Statistics (National)." Occupational Employment Statistics Query System. US Government, May 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://data.bls.gov/oes/datatype.do>.

This site involves data from the US Department of Labor Services for communications teachers throughout the nation. Because it is a .gov site, it must legitimate information. The data can help support my section on wages and employment rate.

"Occupational Employment Statistics (New Jersey)." Occupational Employment Statistics Query System. US Government, May 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://data.bls.gov/oes/datatype.do>.

Same as above site, except pertaining only to New Jersey.

"Pros and Cons of Becoming a College Professor." Top-Colleges. Top-Colleges LLC, 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.top-colleges.com/blog/2009/10/13/pros-and-cons-of-becoming-a-college-professor/>.

This site offers a few pros and cons regarding becoming a professor which will help in the how-to process of becoming a professor because the first step is deciding "Do I want to be a college professor?"

Tweedie, Sanford. "The Grad School Epiphany That Resulted in Teaching." Personal interview. 19 Mar. 2012.

This interview addresses 10 questions about becoming and being a writing professor. Additional information is given and a personal account of the transformation from student to teacher is examined. Prof Tweedie mentions many aspects of the process that are excluded from generic websites on how to become a writing professor.

    Ok so here is my dilemma: I don't know what my niche is. There are several different genres that I prefer writing and several different careers that I am interested in. So in consideration of my portfolio, would several pieces all of different genres demonstrate my versatility as a writer or would potential employers be put off by it? I mean if I am presenting myself to a genre specific outlet and they only see one piece of mine that suits their style, would they be less likely to consider me than if I had multiple pieces of that style? I can't decide if it is better to represent versatility or focus. I suppose for the time being, I will focus mainly on quality and pick whatever I consider my strongest work despite the genre. Perhaps my strongest work will have a recurring theme that I can build a niche from...
It is actually exciting to go through my old pieces. I took Creative Writing I two years ago and stumbled across a piece I had forgotten about. It’s actually pretty good; I’d like to put it into a larger story or edit it for a flash-fiction submission.

*I have a synthesis essay called “It’s Good to be the King” comparing the theme of kings in Hamlet and MacBeth.

*I have a creative fiction piece called “Freeze you to death” from an assignment where we had to base our writing off of a cliché. (it’s rather depressing though…)

* I have a poem called “Message to my Ex” but the content may be too personal and serious

*I could use ”Playground Games” a piece written in Writer’s Mind for the section on brevity (750 words or less)

*I have a piece called “The Bridge” which is creative nonfiction (my submission for the Tweedie Non-Fiction contest)

*”From Ancient Oration to Cyber Narration: The Development of Children’s Stories Through History” is a research paper I wrote for Intro to WA which I did very well on (40 out of 40)

*”OCD and the Cosmic Influence” A Middle Grade level book I wrote in Writing Children’s stories.

         Ok so my plan was to pick some of my best/favorite work (which I think I did) and of course I ended up picking a variety of genres because I was thinking about how I want to demonstrate versatility. That way, if an employer is checking my portfolio and I’m not sure exactly what they are looking for, I have a better chance of them seeing something they like. That makes sense, right?

          I would also like to put a query letter into my portfolio along with a personal statement for gradschool. I intend on applying for grad school so that would be helpful.

           What I would like to go over in class is how to write a query letter because I don’t know where to even get started with that.

  I had briefly searched grad school options over the summer and was really interested in UofSF for the reasons listed below. Two other programs that interested me in my search last night are Chatham University and NYU. I would like to go to grad school because I feel as though I have explored all of my potential as a writer yet. I think I still have much to learn about the craft. I'm sure that some aspects of writing can't be learned in a classroom but instead only through experience. And of course one of the best ways to become a better writer is simply by writing which can be done outside of the classroom. But while I don't need an MA or MFA to be a successful writer, I really do think that I would benefit from going to grad school.  

University of San Francisco MFA in Writing

Pros-
*offers courses in fiction, poetry, non-fiction
*one-on-one mentoring
*all classes taught by practicing writers
*the overall degree goal is to write a book length work
*location (CA)

Cons-
*specifically noted as evening classes
*If I don’t want to be a novel writer, then I’m wasting time working toward the goal of a book-length piece

Chatham University MFA in Creative Writing

Pros-
*offers courses in poetry, non-fiction, screenwriting, children’s writing, and travel writing
*different from other MFA programs because it focuses on place writing/ writing for an environment
*NOT in new jersey

Cons-
*The specific environmental focus narrows writing opportunities
*appears to be in the middle of nowhere

NYU Writing MA in English, creative writing focus

Pros-
*Location- Greenwich Village NY (a noted neighborhood of distinguished writers)
*all incoming students receive departmental fellowships ranging from half tuition remission to full tuition remission with generous stipends
*Prestigious school

Cons-
*Have to master in English with a concentration in creative writing (no masters in Writing)

         Last week, a very talented friend of mine posted a picture to facebook of her holding a water bottle. The picture was captioned, “coming soon to a sporting goods store near you!” As an art major at Temple University who interns for a graphic design company, she was able to design a waterbottle for children that is going to be available for purchase in a few months. I am so excited for her. Having seen the picture, I want so badly to be able to post a picture of myself holding a book with the caption, “coming soon to a book store near you!” As a writing arts major and art minor I have entertained the idea of writing children’s stories. I have taken the Writing Children’s Stories class with Professor Jahn-clough and really enjoyed it. What’s different about children’s stories is that they are simple and fun. While several try to incorporate a moral, most of them are just fun and whimsical where as young adult and adult novels can be serious and deep. I wanted to interview her for my assignment. Unfortunately, two other girls in the class want to interview her and I have been asked to select someone else. I am not at a loss however, because Professor Tweedie has agreed to be my interviewee.

        While he has not published any children’s stories, he has published before. Also, having been in two of his classes and received much feedback from him, I can confidently say that he knows what he’s talking about. 10 questions I would like to ask him are:

1.       At what moment did you decide to become a writer?

2.       What is your biggest struggle as a writer?

3.       How many times did you have to resubmit before your first piece was accepted for publication?

4.       Does being a writing professor help your writing?

5.       How many pieces have you had published?

6.       What was your proudest moment as a writer?

7.       What genres do you gravitate toward/avoid?

8.       If you could never write again, what would you do instead?

9.       Has your writing ever got you in trouble?

10.   What is the hardest/easiest part of your writing process?

        Hopefully, hearing firsthand from someone with experience in being published will help me better prepare for the process myself.