Since When Is Writing Hard?

I've been struggling for the past few days with coming up with a topic for my midterm paper for my writing class. It wasn't easy, and I hope my topic isn't too mainstream and boring. I'm just going to go with it and give it everything I've got. I can change later if I need to, I guess. Up until about 3 hours ago, searching for a topic has consumed every waking moment, and a few while sleeping. The topic had to come from pop culture, has to be an analytical piece, have an argument and proof of that argument.

When I think of pop culture, I think of celebrities, television, movies, popular books, things like that. Oh good grief. I only watch 4 shows on tv when I have the time. "Grey's Anatomy", "Glee", "Bones" and "RuPaul's Drag Race". The last movie I watched was "Pitch Perfect". The books I read aren't every one's cup of tea and I doubt most people would recognize them. I wracked my brains, wondering if I should analyse the relationship between Meredith Grey and .... pick one. What is "good" drag? Ah, No. I thought I could use Friday the 13th as a basis for a good paper. The day, not the movie. But then, I decided that a superstitious date isn't exactly pop culture. Is it? I still don't know.

I wanted to be able to argue my point with whatever topic I chose. I wanted it to be thought provoking and not just a review of my favorite tv show. I also wanted it to be something I believe in. While I'm sure that picking apart Meredith Grey would have been fun in another setting, I felt the need to ground myself in reality. I REALLY wanted to write about something compelling such as the need for research on heart defects, but that becomes an informative piece, not persuasive and watching kids die wasn't  pop culture either. I could write about how to change a trach all day long. I can blog with wit and sarcasm until my fingers fall off. All of these things would have been easy, but that isn't the point of the assignment. The class is Argumentative Writing.

I kept batting my ideas around and finally asked for suggestions on Facebook. I was able to narrow down the topic thanks to some wonderful friends and family. After seeing all of the ideas I had written down or in my head, one of their ideas sparked and I was able to run with it. (Thanks, Jamie!) Since I want to be able to argue and not just say "this is good, this is bad", the topic is perfect. So, until I have to revise my current outline, here is my thesis statement for my paper...

"The overuse of texting has taken away the social, verbal and written language skills of our society."

Duh!!! Blog much, Chickie girl? I use language every day and being able to write well is important to me. Of course, I text all the time, but there's a difference in texting a complete sentence and my son replying with fragments of words, intentional misspellings and at times, he actually uses the acronyms in a sentence. He actually pronounces "lol" as a word. Writing this paper is doing society a favor! Hehe.

This is about a 3 week process. I will update later after I've had it ripped apart by my instructor and classmates. Until then, have a great week!