Writing is Everywhere, Even at the Gym
By: Sarah Shine

The purpose of this museum exhibit is to engage the audience to understand and interpret the items and artifacts I have included in a meaningful way. This purpose is supposed to yield reactions and interactions within the audience. According to the Museum of Everyday Writing, “We define everyday writing as that which is composed by ordinary people in non-professional and non-academic contexts; everyday writing is often considered to be mundane, invisible, and ephemeral, though these texts are often valuable to their writers and readers”. My example of everyday writing from Top Dog Fitness is supposed to give the audience the idea that everyday writing is in fact, everywhere and it is not limited to anything as long as you are intentional and creative.

In Writing is a Knowledge Making Activity" Heidi Estrem states, "Understanding and identifying how writing is in itself an act of thinking can help people more intentionally recognize and engage with writing as a creative activity, inextricably linked to thought" (Estrem). This correlates to my examples as everyday writing can be creative and it is.

In addition to Estrem, Andrea Lunsford makes a good point in her piece when regarding how writing envokes audiences. The point of writing is to get a response from your readers and audiences, which is the point of the everyday writing at Top Dog.

- Daily Written Workouts
In addition to writing your workout times on the wall every Friday, there are also guided workouts that are written for you before you come everyday. This way you can know what to do instead of trying to form a workout yourself. These workouts are written in three different sections of the gym. The warmup is written on the wall near the front. The extended main part of the workout is written in the center of the gym that is the biggest part, aka where most of your time is spent and lastly, the abs and cool down is written on the walls near the back of the gym, by the exit. This is very conveniently set up for each individual that enters the gym. It provides context of what to do and is constantly changing everyday. The trainers who work there are the ones who are participating in the everyday writing as they are chalking the workout on the blackboards every morning. This text is valued by the readers, as they are using it as a guide to help them through their workout.

- Different Written Workouts
Every day there is a different workout at Top Dog. For example, Tuesday’s are arm days and Thursday's are functional lower body, so if you want to activate those muscles you do so with the workout that is provided. However, if you go on a Tuesday and don’t want to do the arm workout that is written on the wall, you don’t have to. There are several other spots in the gym with pre-written workouts for this purpose. These workouts don’t change and are left up on the walls for many reasons. Some could include what was earlier stated, for those who do not want to do the day of the week workout. Another reason could be for decoration or add something to the walls to keep them filled. Lastly a reason could be the trainers who work at the gym use these workouts consistently and do not want to erase them. These also constitute everyday writing in the sense that they are also written down by ordinary people and are valued by the readers who use them as a means to workout when they do not want to do the daily workout.

- Challenge Day Times
Every Friday at Top Dog Fitness, there is a challenge day. This challenge day includes a hiit workout that continuously changes. For example, a typical Friday workout could consist of four sets of five workouts. The point of challenge day is to complete the challenge in a timely manner. After you complete your workout and time yourself, you are encouraged to write it up on the wall. I take a piece of chalk and write my name, along with the total time it took me to complete the workout. This is an example of everyday writing. This falls under the category of everyday writing by the people (ordinary) that go to Top Dog are writing on the walls of the gym, which is a non professional or academic environment.

Jim Porters piece that we have spoken about in class, "Why Technology Matters to Writing" connected to this example of the Friday challenge and resonated with me. Normally, after girls complete their challenge day and write their names on the wall, they take a picture of it. They use their technology to document their successes. They are directly using technology, because it matters to writing to show other people. They are becoming the new "writers" and posting their pictures to a new audience.

- Best Times
When you are working out, you might feel more motivated to go faster if you know you are being timed. That being said, another example of everyday writing at Top Dog is the best times that are written up on the walls. Next to those workouts that are different from the daily written ones are people’s best times, as well as in other random places across the gym walls. These times are written next to the workout to show how fast they were able to accomplish the set. The people writing them do so to show their accomplishments because it is important to them. The readers can also see these and get inspiration to try the workout, time themselves, and even write their best time up on the wall. This shows value to not only the writer, but also the reader.

- Inspirational Quotes
Sometimes when arriving to look at the daily workout I will see a quote next to the warmup. This quote is normally something lighthearted and witty. I think the purpose of these quotes are for motivation. This little piece of everyday writing could be interpreted by the reader to help them start their workout off in a good mood. They can also remind themselves of the quote when the workout is getting hard as a reminder to keep going. Everyday writing in the form of inspirational quotes is meaningful to the writer as they hope the reader will take something away from it.

-Gear
At Top Dog they have teeshirts, sports bras, hats, masks, sweatshirts, tank tops, etc for sale. While these pieces of Top Dog gear are not considered everyday writing due to the professionalism of them, the sign by the check in table is considered an example of everyday writing. This sign has written what they have for sale and how much they are selling it for. This is valuable to the writer as they are communicating to the reader information about the merchandise they provide a Top Dog Fitness.

In conclusion, it is important to remind yourself that everyday writing is everywhere and even more than that, we all participate in everyday writing everyday whether we know it or not. Everyday writing could be interpreted in many ways. Participating in everyday writing could be reading someone elses words or producing your own for others to engage with and see. Yauncey says in his piece The Museum of Everyday Writing, "Unlike writing for school or workplace, this kind of writing seemed freer, less restricted by conventions, and either less regulated or unregulated. And indeed, it was different from school writing in another way: rather than being compelled by a person or in-stitution, it was self-sponsored." (Yancey) This is how I feel about the everyday writing at Top Dog because there is no pressure and it is self sponsored by the people who go and write all over the walls. The options are ultimately endless when it comes to everyday writing and that is what I love about it. I really enjoyed finding examples of everyday writing at the gym I go to and I hope this exhibit provided engagement with the audience as they could take these examples and provide their own meanings and connections within them.

Sarah Shine
TopDog Fitness

TopDog Fitness

Works Cited
Estrem, Heidi. “Writing Is a Knowledge Making Activity.” Boise State University - Scholar Works, 1 Jan. 2015, pp. 18–20.

Lunsford, Andrea A. “Writing Addresses, Invokes, and/or Creates Audiences .”

Porter, Jim. “Why Technology Matters to Writing: A Cyberwriter's Tale.” Computers and Composition, JAI, 26 Sept. 2003, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755461503000677.

Yauncey, Kathleen B. “The Museum of Everyday Writing: Exhibits of Everyday Writing, Articulating the Past, Representing the Present, and Anticipating the Future.” South Atlantic Review, pp. 146–166.

TopDog Fitness

English

Top Dog Fitness gives the people who there access to the Everyday Writing that occurs all over the gym walls.