This is Essential (Question)

Q: To what extent is the decline of reading among Americans?

A: Let me get back to you.

I was having issues coming up with a question. I came up with a few and did some bare minimum research for them, just to see which one would be easiest to find stuff for. And you know what? They were all freaking hard. Apparently no one cares about books (excuse me while I go sit in the corner and cry for a while).

I was really attached to this question, though, because I can't believe that there are people that don't read. Like, at all. I grew up in a family of book lovers and my whole life now basically revolves around books and words and things like that. So I endured and endured and found articles that related to this. As a result, I would just like to say this: HA! Take that! (Although, I don't really know who/what that's directed to. Let's go with the world.)

I had no other motivation for choosing this question other than pure curiosity. I'm not a major math person, but these are the kinds of numbers I want to know about. How many people don't read? What's it like compared to previous years? Don't comic books count? The list goes on.

Really, though, I don't find essays to be all that fun. Even ones where I can pick my own topic. I find it really hard to come up with an argument and find actual proof that shows why I'm right. Honestly, as a teenager, my best argument is "Just 'cause, man." Essays are just really hard and I don't see them getting any easier any time soon. But, as they say, practice makes perfect. And, as I say, my writerly pride is on the line. (Now that I think about it, I actually do say that quite a bit.)

A Plot Twist to the Utmost Extreme

Plot twist: an occurrence in a story that you don't see coming; something that completely blindsides you because it wasn't what you were expecting; something that makes you sit there for twenty minutes and go "WHAT."

I started the day out wearing new pants, uncomfortable shoes, and my mom's shirt and I walked away with $100. If that's not a plot twist then I don't know what is.

I didn't have many expectations walking into the Junior Achievement Social Innovation Camp. Honestly, I was just really excited about the free food (and let me just say, the food did not disappoint). Really, if you think about it, the camp just combines like fifty of my least favorite things: social interaction, social interaction with people I don't know, waking up too early in the morning, thinking too early in the morning. Talking. The list goes on.

Plot Twist #2: I actually enjoyed it.

I know. Just let that sink in for a second.

Well, enjoy might not be the most accurate word but at least it wasn't the complete torture I thought it was going to be, you know? (I'm kidding, ha ha . . . ) I did find the experience to be educational and I feel like I benefitted a lot from it. You know, in more than just a monetary sense (although money is never a bad thing).

I learned that, hey, I can sit in an office for more than a few hours and talk to people I don't know, give my opinion and input, and work. I also learned that I don't think I'm exactly cut out for doing that nine to five, five days a week. It was surprisingly satisfying to come up with an idea and make it work but I felt claustrophobic stuck in that conference room after one hour. Eight hours a day? I'm not sure I'd survive. At least I now know that I wouldn't totally fail at the whole business thing. Another door just opened up and that is completely reassuring.

I think my favorite part (other than the food) might've been sitting in that office with my team members, looking at each other while we were completely lost on what to do and how to do it, and wondering (hoping) if all the other teams were having the same problems we were. I don't know why. Don't ask. I just had fun with that thought.

Which leads me to my next favorite part: watching all the other presentations. It was amazing to see what everyone else came up with and wondering how they came up with the idea and how agonizing the process was to make it presentable. I enjoyed them a lot more after my group went.

And here is as good a place as any to mention that I don't think I am built for public speaking. The fifteen minutes before my group was up, I couldn't even enjoy being done with the thinking part because my knees and my elbows were shaking so much. And don't even get me started on breathing! I think I almost passed out. It was such a relief getting it over with. I didn't care about the money at that point. I just didn't want to have to go through that whole thing again.

Plot Twist #3: Because, of course, I had to go through it again. (sigh)

Which brings us back to Plot Twist #1, in which my group actually won third place with the Wheel-A-Thon, a walk-a-thon with wheelchairs. Really, I'm still having a hard time believing that one.

Oh! It was also really cool that almost all of the teams in the top 6 that had to present again had a Cal kid. I was so proud. (Plot Twist #3.5: Erica gets school spirit.)

It was just one surprise after another at the camp but it did lead to one thing that someone (I won't mention who but she happens to be a certain iQuest teacher) said would happen: I am glad I went.

(Did I mention the food?)

Debby Downer Reads a Book and Gets Depressed

"This book is just you and me, in writing therapy together, so we can talk about what it means to be a writer and why the writing life is worth living."

That's it. That's the book.

This is Not a Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World by Kerri Majors is a series of essays not about writing but living with the aspiration of becoming a writer. Using her own experiences, Majors gives candid advice about how to live and to expect to live in the future as a young, aspiring writer. 

Hey, wait, doesn't that related to my iQuest project? So, as a young, aspiring writer, I decided to take a chance and read this book.

I'll be completely honest: I hate reading about writing. You'd be surprised how many books and websites there are that are basically training manuals to be a "better" writer. I tend to avoid things like that. They just make me second-guess myself. Am I a bad writer? Am I doing this wrong? I don't do that, should I do that? Wait, I do this, should I not? Yaddah yaddah, blah blah blah, on and on, and then in the end they say "But if it doesn't work for you, you don't have to do it." Then why tell me to do it in the first place?!

Really, these kinds of things just end up making me depressed and self-conscious.

This book was really no different. But in a different way.

As a teenager, Kerri Majors participated in writing competitions and she shared her writing with anyone with time on their hands. In college she majored in art history instead of creative writing. She made writer friends. She did a whole bunch of stuff I don't do and have no real plan of doing and it just makes me think that maybe I should. But I really don't want to. And if I don't want to, what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything really, but still, what could it mean?

And that was just halfway through the book.

After that, she talks about being an adult who still hasn't landed her first book deal (The Big One, as she calls it). She talked about how there were publishers who looked at her writing, editors who asked her to make changes to her writing, about getting her hopes up over this, and then getting rejected. What a downer. She talked about being jealous over friends who got published, about getting frustrated at never making it, about not being sure if she ever would, about not doing things that would "kill your creativity." Lots of really disheartening stuff.

But wait, there's a plus side? This book was really, REALLY helpful because, at the end, there's an appendix of jobs! A list of what she refers to as "real jobs," she catalogues more than a few jobs that relate to using words in a "creative way" and gives a slightly-less-than-detailed-more-than-brief description about it. There were jobs like journalist, editor, copywriter, lawyer, entrepreneur, and whole bunch others. Just, after being completely depressed and unsure, it was really nice to read about all these other more stable jobs that would still let me indulge in my passion for writing and even give me time to work on my own stuff. Best part.

All in all, it was a good book and a decent read and, for someone a tad more optimistic than me, this would've actually been (dare I say it) inspiring. If you're really into writing and plan on continuing it in the future, this is definitely a book you should read. If not, might I suggest Harry Potter?