Maya Angelou Response Questions

Question: Are you a person that remembers everything or a person who remembers almost nothing? Which is better to be? Which periods of time in your life are the clearest? Which periods of your life are the fuzziest? Do you have a better recall of the times you consider happy or the ones you consider sad or embarrassing or uncomfortable or humorous?

Response: I am an individual with extremely good memory. I find it better to be someone who remembers an abundance of things compared to someone who has a hard time remembering things. Since I am an auditory, written/reading, and visual type of learner it is easy for me to remember parts of conversations, reading/writing material, and lessons. This comes in handy on tests and when information is needed for something important. But it also keeps events in my life very clear. The clearest time in my life at the moment would be from when I was eight through now. This is a time frame where a lot of change has occurred in my life. I have moved to a lot of different places when I am introduced new surroundings it is easier to remember who I was at that time and the new experiences I had. I remember becoming a musician like it was just yesterday and everything that I have done musically is clear in my mind. I think I mostly remember the happy times in my life. But, just like anyone else, sad and embarrassing things can be clearly remembered as well. There are still times when I dwell over the embarrassing things that have happened to me, but that’s because people, most of the time, are not constantly embarrassed so it is easy to remember those kinds of things.

Question: Angelou quotes Nathaniel West as saying, “easy reading is just damned hard writing” and says writing is “just hard work, you know?” Do you agree with this? What is easiest or hardest to you about writing? Is writing hard work?

Response: I completely agree with Maya Angelou and Nathaniel West. Being a writer and creating pieces that attract readers is very hard. I tend to find myself over editing, then re-writing, then deleting my work several times in a row. The hardest thing about writing is having complete thoughts and planning far enough ahead so I don’t find myself lost at the end of each sentence. Another very hard thing for me is being able to be satisfied with my writing. I get very picky because I want to focus on the big idea, but I can’t focus until my writing is perfect. I want everything perfectly written and it to flow nicely and sound sophisticated and mature. And I know that it is almost impossible to create a perfect writing piece, but that doesn’t seem to stop me from trying. I also know that my writing will mature with age and as I continue to write, but I think my mind would rather ignore that fact and try to sound wise beyond its years. I have so much respect and appreciation for writers like Maya Angelou who can write so honestly and beautifully.