...Writing has always been intimidating to me. Like many people, I gravitate towards things that I am naturally good at. In school, I would use my strengths in math and science to my advantage to over compensate for my lack of writing ability. I find myself doing that same thing to this day. As a writer, I consider myself to be slightly below average. My inexperience coupled with a lack of interest, turns writing into a grueling process which is ultimately reflected in my writing. One thing I do have to my advantage is that once I begin writing, I am committed. I try to be thoughtful with word choice and will research topics as much as possible to learn all that I can so that my writing is accurate and well thought out. While this is a great strength and I believe my ideas are solid, I have always struggled with putting my thoughts onto paper in a way that is clear and concise to readers. My writing is often too wordy and full of details that are not crucial to the point. I also tend to write the same way that I talk. Writing this way may work well in specific genres, but is not for academic writing. As a whole, the writing process is very time consuming for me. This is something that I would rate as the least desirable part of writing for me. I spend a lot of time organizing my thoughts in my head before I even begin to put them on paper. I will often use a large portion of time researching my topic to understand the whole picture. I like to hear conflicting arguments and...
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...individual with not only good foresight, but an individual with great intellectual skills and creativity. My writing skills have become a significant challenge for me, like my driving skills, which I believe worsen due to the Cheetah’s speed I have to encounter on the streets. I am accustoming to writing simple, non-descriptive, age appropriate pieces. Now I am expected to create fluent, thought provoking creations. How is this possible when I have to endure all spectrums of parts of speech? Writing is not only an act that I hate, but it is an act that I have to do almost every day in order to interact with the linguistic world. Despite the fact that I have been writing most of my life, I have not gotten any better than a blind man’s driving no matter how much effort I put into it. My writing has left much to be desired. There could be a guideline, an outline or clear directions and I would still find ways to create a questionable piece. Did he even understand what I am asking, or did he even see the topic? The questions the cops would ask me after pulling me over for my continued stupid mistakes I make while driving, “Are you not accustom to road signals or is it your understanding of the road code that needs more to be desired?” I spend time and time again trying to express in my writings what is required of me, just as I try to explain to the cops why I hit the pole or why I am in the fast lane going slowly. Repeated penalties and repeated bad grades have consumed...
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...June 30, 2017 ENTRY 1: Me, Writer Attitude: I do not like to write but I believe I can get to enjoy it. The only pressures I have are thinking of what to say and how to say it. In writing, every detail and consequence needs to be seen. Because anything has its place in writing and it can get confusing, for one, you must remember all the rules and standards in which an essay must be written. Inventory: I have learned that you have options to write or not to write. But if I want to make it in life I need to read and understand what I am doing. I am an independent and abstract type of learner. I’ve also learned what type of writer I am and that is: “a former writer.” the ways I would adjust as a writer would be to reach into another comfort zone....
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...First my 12th grade teacher Mrs. Diaz allowed me to have unlimited freedom, in her class. I remember her assigning the class a project where, everyone get to create their own story, you named the characters, you get the choose your own story line, think outside of the box. I remember it vividly I wrote my story about an 18 year boy named Chris who is from Los Angeles California who had anger issues, no one was able to understand he’s lifestyle. The things that mattered to him the most were his friends and loyalty, he never got along with his parents. I was able to write a lot of explicit real life material about that character, as for in my other classes I was not able to do so. Secondly having Mrs. Diaz as a teacher she taught me how to be open minded, she found a way to make me see the bigger picture in reading and writing. She did that by allowing me to write my own stories, sharing it with my classmates and they would present their work to me, I would never judged my classmates work by saying negative comments about them, I would tell them my opinion in a pleasant way, I was able to see their ideas from a different perspective was not knocking anyones down by thinking :this is weird, it makes no sense” it was a judgment free zone....
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...What made me the writer/ reader I am today? I would have to say I went through a lot of stages of writing and reading because some years I liked to read and write but other years I didn’t like it. I liked reading short stories, poems, and nonfiction books but I didn’t like historical stories, research, or long books. I’ve never a finished a book until high school because I never found a book I liked considering I never tried since I didn’t have an interest in reading. Although, now I can say I like to read if I find the right book when i use to say that i hated reading. The youngest I remember writing was in 6th grade when I would write letters to my dad. I wrote letters to my dad after my parents got divorced since I didn’t get to see my dad from it. My letters would be about how much I missed him, how school was going, and how things were different. I wrote...
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...As this writer embarks upon a new era of life, taking overhaul is crucial and paramount to the success and happiness contemplated. StrengthsQuest Questionnaire gave insight into a few pronounced qualities through cultivation and strategy these traits could catapult this writer’s future to places only envision. The five results were first I am the learner. Second, ranking for this writer is the achiever, and third ranking is context. The fourth ranking is the relator and lastly, the fifth ranking is futuristic. StrengthsQuest reminded me of my life’s journey and all the gifts and talents God equipped in this vessel. Angelisa Chestleigh, a friend to this writer for over thirty years. Angelisa thought the report accurately described my persona and attributes. The learner was the characteristic that united us as friends; we met in college in 1984. Throughout the years, the other attributes manifested through work and outside activities. The futuristic ranking she sees distinguishable in the launching of my business and plans set ahead for my personal life. Calvin Russell, former co-worker, partner and husband. Calvin’s deliberation was contemplative as he...
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...VMy Writing While Growing Up I grew up in a family of writers. My parents are both writers. My dad was an editor-in-chief at a major internet magazine while I was growing up. While I was a young child, both my parents owned and contributed to a programming magazine. I was always encouraged to write as a child. My parents would always help me edit and change my writings in school. Even my brother has always been a writer. He was always telling stories growing up. When he was in middle school he even wrote a book. Growing up in a supportive family of writers has given me a negative outlook on writing which has made me the writer I am today. Since I can remember, I have always been told I am a good writer yet for some reason I have always fought the writing process. English was one of my worst subjects in high school. Yes, it is my native language, but the reading part is not my problem. Writing the essays was my biggest challenge. Starting an essay has always been the hardest part for me. I was taught to always start at the beginning and finish with the end. Later people told me I could write the beginning last, but I was stubborn. I had to write it first. This hindered me. I would usually wait until the last minute because I did not know where to begin. Procrastinating has always been my fall back when writing. Even now, I am writing this essay on Sunday at 2:30pm the day it’s due. My parents would never push me to write, they would ask the usual parental question of, “Did...
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...in both grammar and structure. In addition, they need to learn how to cope with different situations that might be presented to them during a tutoring session such as unresponsive writers, the ones who plagiarize, and the one that comes at the last minute. One of the most common situations is the unresponsive writer. These writers ask to be tutored, mostly as a requirement for an assignment, and they sit there quietly and...
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...Discussion I Professor and Class, What an interesting five weeks. I am so happy we’re almost done! Five weeks ago, I struggle with getting started on writing. Today, I feel my writing skills have improved tremendously. I no longer struggle with getting started and I feel I am a much stronger writer compared to five weeks ago. I think the best advice I’d obtained from Flood and Thomas was being able to communicate to a diverse audience. Both Flood and Thomas brought awareness to writing clear and concise and using proper grammar, punctuations and to reframe from using slang, big words or using words that could have multiple meanings, which can be confusing to international readers. I also learned the importance of being able to convey my written intent to my audience the first time. This will ensure that my reader understand my intent and is able to respond to my request or instructions accordingly. Lastly, I discovered when writers incorporate business-writing techniques as part of their normal writing process (writing business or professional letters, memos and emails), writers will develop the proper writing mechanics and writing would become natural and easier to those writers who struggle with writing effectively. Carla~ Michelle, In addition to being clear and concise and keeping your written communication simple, I believe tone is one of the most important attributes of effective writing. The tone can say...
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...doing something similar to this my junior year in high school, the assignment was entitled “Me as a Writer.” How far have I truly come as a writer since then? Focusing on what this class has taught me, I can already say without any doubt that my writing has improved compared to what it was my first day of college. There were so many aspects of this class that positively influenced me as a writer. To name just a few: the discussion board, the assigned readings, and you as the instructor. The discussion board made me more open to criticism, it taught me that in order to become a good writer you must first learn to be a good communicator. You have to be able to communicate your ideas with others and listen to the ideas of others. It’s a sort of give and take process. Before, I was more closed minded on other people’s input on my work, I thought I could do just fine by myself for the most part. Now, I’m willing to listen to criticism and I understand how to use that criticism in order to better my writings. The readings were also super beneficial to my development as a writer. I learned so much about how to be an effective writer. I learned how to use certain techniques to improve the quality of my work. The readings allowed me to take a step back and see the art of writing as a whole, and then allowed me to focus in on specific characteristics of writing. For example, Kleine’s article taught me that I needed to become a more balanced “hunter” and “gatherer.” Throughout the entire...
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...beautifully scented flower that it is. Not only does this rule apply to flowers, but also any talent that you work at; it is bound to grow. This goes for writing as well. Most of us are not born great writers. It takes failure, after failure, after failure and a few triumphs along the way. It takes analyzing piece after another in order to find your strengths and weaknesses in writing. These things are essential in order to know who you are as a writer. As of right now I am not a very big fan of writing, especially compared to the writer that I used to be. I let my writing ability dwindle. This partly is due to the death that recently occurred in my family. My Uncle Primo, a great influence on my writing, took his life a month and a half ago. This loss took away my passion for writing. Often times I would text my uncle and share my pieces, anxious about the feedback I waited to come. The fact that I couldn’t hear his input on the thoughts I jotted down killed me softly, and I just have not had the desire to write the way I used to ever since. Writing is something that always interested me, even as a child. Ever since I was a little kid, I was apparently very skilled in telling the most outrageous fibs. I guess because of my vivid imagination, my dad told me I would be a great writer one day. He probably said it to be funny, but as a little kid any words from my parents were equivalent to the Bill of Rights in my eyes. In the past I often found myself writing frequently.Whether...
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...BECOMING A WRITER January of 2011 was the beginning of a special adventure in my life as a student. I took an English class 0890, at Utah Valley University. Now, in the last days of this class, almost four months later, I can look back and see myself with a lot of problems in my writing that needed to be fixed. These four months in this class have helped me solve many writing challenges. I am far from perfect in becoming a good writer but I have learned that hard work and perseverance can produce wonderful results. Even though I learned many things, the three man points that I want to talk about are the following: quote analysis scaffold, grammar, and research online. The first month of the English 0890 class was intense, the students had to do a special analysis writing exercise called “Quote analysis scaffold”. It is the developing of many skills in one exercise. It helps develop reading and vocabulary comprehension. After the quote analysis scaffold is made, it can be used in the essay as a hook or concluding thought. We ended up doing around ten of these exercises. After writing the quote, provided from the teacher, this analysis was made from the following steps: The first thing was to do a research online about the author and make two to three sentences, on average, about who he was and what were his major contributions to society. Second, the students had to look for unknown words and their definition in the dictionary. After this, the third part was for the students...
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...you as a writer? This question was challenging for me to answer. When asked questions like this I have always had a hard time answering them. I know what my strengths and weaknesses are but to answer the who are you questions will always be challenging. I believe people have different experiences throughout one's lifetime and these experiences are what contribute to who they are. People continue to change and evolve ultimately becoming different versions of themselves. I have never considered myself to be a great writer and with time, this opinion has not changed. I was raised in a small town and educated in an even smaller school. Being educated in a small school there are limited resources, and this is something I believe has impacted me. I have always lacked the confidence in myself and this is one of my weaknesses. This weakness has impacted me as a writer. I have always struggled with the proper use of grammar and to this day continue to struggle. This challenge started when I was younger. As a child and teenager, you are discovering who you are and are very impressionable. When a teacher or peer talks negatively about something such as your writing ability this can impact your confidence....
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...different and similar methods to illustrate the importance of cultural identity. The poem ‘Presents’ is about the writer herself at a younger age feeling insecure as she is of dual heritage (mixed race) ‘in my English Grandmother’s dining - room. In the poem the poet begins to conflict with herself as she believes that she is not of one set race ‘I was there of no fixed nationality’. Throughout the poem the poet begins to show her insecurity as she begins to respond to the presents her aunties bought her from her native land negatively ‘I could never be as lovely as those clothes’. A t the end of the poem the Alvi is unable to resolve her problem as she finishes the poem feeling rather down saying ‘I was there of no fixed nationality’. The poem ‘Hurricane’ is rather similar in the way that it is again autobiographical. In the poem the writer is also in conflict with herself as she has left her motherland Guyana to move to England. At first the poet dreaded England but as soon as there was news of a Hurricane she began to feel much at home as hurricanes happen often in the southern equator. The writer shows her relationship with the hurricane by referring to it as her ‘sweeping a back home cousin’. At the end of the poem the writer resolves her problem which is her conflict with herself as she misses her homeland ‘Come to let me know that the earth is the earth’. The similarities of the poems are that they both involve the same situation...
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...similar methods to illustrate the importance of cultural identity. The poem ‘Presents’ is about the writer herself at a younger age feeling insecure as she is of dual heritage (mixed race) ‘in my English Grandmother’s dining - room. In the poem the poet begins to conflict with herself as she believes that she is not of one set race ‘I was there of no fixed nationality’. Throughout the poem the poet begins to show her insecurity as she begins to respond to the presents her aunties bought her from her native land negatively ‘I could never be as lovely as those clothes’. A t the end of the poem the Alvi is unable to resolve her problem as she finishes the poem feeling rather down saying ‘I was there of no fixed nationality’. The poem ‘Hurricane’ is rather similar in the way that it is again autobiographical. In the poem the writer is also in conflict with herself as she has left her motherland Guyana to move to England. At first the poet dreaded England but as soon as there was news of a Hurricane she began to feel much at home as hurricanes happen often in the southern equator. The writer shows her relationship with the hurricane by referring to it as her ‘sweeping a back home cousin’. At the end of the poem the writer resolves her problem which is her conflict with herself as she misses her homeland ‘Come to let me know that the earth is the earth’. The similarities of the poems are that they both involve the same...
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