An Afternoon with Maud Newton

This picture came from Maud's personal tumblr

In the latest installment of “Digital Commons” --the course I am taking that prompted me to create this blog-- we had the wonderful Maud Newton visit our class via Skype (Isn’t it amazing what technology can do for us nowadays?). Maud has been and is everything from a book critic to a personal essay writer, a blogger to a genealogy enthusiast, a Southern inhabitant to a residing member of the Big Apple. All of these experiences are what make her such an amazing, down-to-earth, and knowledgeable person to talk to. This is also the type of person who admitted “One day, I actually just realized I was a writer.”

One of the most important things to me that Maud discussed was how she always maintains a healthy dose of voice in her writing. I have found, as have others I am sure, it is difficult to find the balance between very opinionated or neutral. How does Maud expertly always have a presence of voice, but not so that it is overwhelming and in-your-face? She said herself: “I keep asking myself, ‘Why do I care about this?’” And to me, this just clicked!

It is not only about the author caring, but if the author evidently cares, then the reader will care too. This made so much sense to me and is a technique that I am going to try to use when I am writing. Most papers I write nowadays are for courses, but that does not mean I should just write blandly. If I do not have a spark for the topic, I should find a way to get one! I think asking this simple question could vastly improve my writing in the future, and potentially make mundane essays more fun.

Maud also brought up one of my favorite topics— change. This was brought up when Maud was asked about whether the rise of technology and social media would have consequences in the future. She responded: “There is always a danger we are changing this for the worst, but we also could be changing it for the better.” When change happens, remaining stagnant is not going to make it go away, and being anxious will hurt the person more than anything. Many changes probably did seem bad at the time, (think about the invention of airplanes or the American colonies separating from England) but now are just a part of life. This is a great attitude to live by.

Overall, this class was very enjoyable, and it was such a pleasure to have Maud Newton visit us! Thank you to Maud and my professor for providing the class with this wonderful experience!