Blog 10

Blog 10

I have never been asked what my writing style is until this assignment. Throughout high school my writing was always very bland and contained the bare minimum to get the desired grade. My papers have always lacked vivid detail to make them enjoyable to read. The first time I realized I was actually able to create a work with vivid detail was when I wrote my first draft of the snapshots paper. I found this to be the most helpful assignment I did this semester. This exercise really helped me step out of my comfort zone with certain things. I never would have thought to write a paper about myself in anything but the first person and when I changed to the third person it turned an average story into a great one. I think this class will help me in the future because I will be more willing to try new things that will help me create the best possible paper. I am very pleased with the progress I have made in this semester alone with my writing. I look at this semester as a base for my future writing and I’m excited to use what I’ve learned in future classes.

blog #10

I think as I writer I have many different styles. Throughout the course of the semester this class has helped me improve my writing in many ways. I don't believe my style's of writing have changed at all however I do believe I have improved from the beginning of the course. Some of the most helpful exercises in the class in my opinion were the workshops that we would do after every rough draft was due. These were very helpful in many ways because they would point out flaws in my writing as well as positives in it. Another thing that I believe were very beneficial were the short assignments. These helped as well because they work on the little things and all help out for the big picture (main assignment). Looking back at my first blog I believe I have worked on my biggest issue a lot and although it may slightly be a problem still I feel I have definitely improved on it a lot and it is no longer as big of an issue.

Blog #10

Before this class, I never gave any serious thought to what my writing style was. I realized as the course went on, that my style was a very simple and direct one. Unfortunately, this often led me to some very dry assignments. I can plan out the entire story in my head, but forget to include the small details that make the story worth reading. This has definitely been my greatest improvement throughout this course. I've learned to not only stick with and develop a good idea, but how to relate it to a certain writing category or situation.

I think these blogs have been one of the most helpful tools that we have used during the semester. They allow us to write a smaller, more concise version of what we have in our heads. We have much more freedom of expression in these blogs than we do in many larger literary works. They have allowed me to test certain writing styles that I otherwise would not have tried because of the type of work that is being asked for.  

At the beginning of the class, my biggest concern was whether or not I would have enough material to fill in the assignments that I had to do. My next concern was if I had enough meaningful material to fill in my works. I could write pages of nonsense, loosely tied together, with no real meaning or purpose, but that would defeat everything that I have tried to work for in this class. That has been one of my greatest improvements. Although I still have a lot of work left, I have noticed an improvement in the depth of my writing and the detail that I am able to incorporate into it.

Blog #10

In this class, I learned many techniques and tools that I never learned in high school.  One significant tool I learned that genuinely makes me appreciate writing more, instead of dreading the idea of it, is not writing just to receive that A.  In other words, this class has taught me to write in a manner that makes me care about the quality of my work instead of the quantity.  Each sentence matters in any writing because you do not want to distract the reader from the main argument or central theme.  In high school, I used to write for my teacher and what I believed he or she would like so I would receive a good grade.  Instead of doing this, I essentially focus on making sure my ideas are being understood and comprehended by the reader.  The workshops for our drafts really helped me develop this implement in my writings.  Hearing what other students had to say about my works helped me understand exactly what people were comprehending from my writings.  The different ways we analyzed and commented on others' writings was a major tool in helping my writing become better.    

blog#10

I feel like this class taught me a lot and really helped me understand that there is more than one form of writing when it comes down to writing papers. I kind of felt like it was hard in the beginning but I eventually picked up my paste and took in more from what the lessons was trying to teach. I actually enjoyed writing different papers because in some of them I got a chance to be myself and actually tell someone else about my life experiences.

blog 10

I found the executive summaries to be really helpful for me.  Each time I wrote a draft, the summaries helped me realize what worked for the writing and what didnt.  It helped me acknowledge what I needed to do differently or what I needed to add to my writing.  It was a good way to move forward with my paper and have goals to accomplish with my writing.
I found the second major assignment,  writing an article, to be challenging because I had to really consider my audience and what they knew/didn't know.  I was more conscious of the tone and facts I gave than I have ever been before. Although wasn't my favorite assignment,  it was definitely helpful with finding a voice that is good for the audience.

Blog #10

      I feel like this class has definitely helped define me as a writer. What I've found throughout all of my papers this semester, is that I have a very casual and conversational tone to my writing. I tend to make my writing seem as though I'm talking directly to the reader, which I guess has worked for me. I know that my common struggle throughout this class has been the concept of "showing, not telling." I have worked very hard in trying to overcome this problem. I often times still struggle with it, but the fact that I know how to correct it, and recognize when I'm doing it, shows that I have learned a lot throughout this course. Another concept that I've tried to overcome throughout this class is the idea of cliches. Throughout high school, my teachers never really talked about cliches, so the fact that I now know that I should steer away from them is a good thing. Every single time I've written a paper for this class, I feel as though I've improved. Each time, I think about the things that we've been taught not to do, and the things that we've been taught to do, and it's definitely helped me in the long run. I think that as a writer, I like to write things about my personal life, or at least base them off of my life. For instance, with my snap shots I obvious based it off my life, but for the article and short story, I took personal experiences, or second hand experiences that my friends have gone through, and put them into words. This class has definitely been an awesome experience, and I feel as though I've improved a lot.