Reflective Essay On My Writing Process

1237 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reflection of creative writing

There are many different ways of writing, and many different processes one could take to create the perfect piece of writing. Over my many years of writing essays and attempting to find my voice I have discovered and tested many different processes. Throughout this quarter I have been exposed to a new writing process, and in exploring this process I have managed to find my own voice and style of writing. Traditionally, I would spit something out on my paper and beat it until it appeared perfect, this process would typically result in a late assignment and a low grade. Using my old writing styles I had a overwhelming and unclear tone, due to the fact that my processes provided no structure to my essays. After discovering the writing process …show more content…

In supporting my thesis with evidence, I am able to show how strongly I feel about my topic while keeping my points clear with the evidence I choose to provide. I discovered the benefits that came along with this step when I was writing about short essays throughout this course. Reading these essays and then responding to them with a strong tone along with not getting carried away from my main points was definitely a challenge. Although by incorporating another stage of the writing process I was able to revise and edit all the unnecessary parts where my tone became a little too strong. I find a strong tone necessary when i 'm writing, I think it puts more of myself into my essays because i 'm diving below the surface to really internalize things in order to create a stronger tone. I find that if I understand something I will have some sort of feelings towards it, and if I have some sort of feelings towards it then I need to express that in a strong tone other wise my voice may not be heard. I choose specific topics that I feel passionately towards to write about because I find it easier to bring out a strong tone, I think this could relate to what Donald Murray said in his article “All Writing is Autobiography” where he says “I seek understanding and hope for a compassion that has not yet arrived.” when I …show more content…

There is a thin line for me between a strong and passionate tone. In my eyes a strong tone is when I feel very heavily towards something and a passionate tone is when I feel very deeply about something, and the tone is just how I use those feelings to create a meaning in an essay. By having a strong and concise tone throughout my essay I am able to incorporate some passion into my final essay, by having the small bit of passion I am able to bind a small bit of myself into each paper I write. I 've always been drawn to writing so by having an organized way to tuck myself into it I find that overly exciting. I find that the passionate tone is best incorporated into the final draft and revising stage because then I am able to put meaning where I found there wasn 't enough in my essay. I most commonly used this strategy in essay 1 and 2 when I wrote about very personal

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis Of Shitty First Drafts By Anne Lamott

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    The point is just to let the unrestricted thoughts flow, for me most of the time it ends up being a rant that makes me look like a less than nice guy. To prove my point in the third essay for the class titled “Writing for all” the first draft was a total rant. The they say a portion of the essay had lines like “ A student would go to class, learn “... drop the E and add -ing” to make something a verb. Only to later down the line learn, doto some detail, it doesn’t always count as a verb.” making me sound pessimistic. Not something I generally would allow people to read. After a combing through the rant filled pages of that first draft I managed to salvage I created this as the better opening “A scholar may use writing as a way for us to preserve what we learned, for future generations to build off of. A book author will use writing to pull people into the book’s world of mythos and legend.” The First draft had essayed gold mired in the rant somewhere and just took rereading and picking out those lumps of gold. Which then have the opportunity to be part of the main essay after smelting or filtering it

    Read More

  • Whitney Otto's How to Make an American Quilt and Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many times, my writing consists of a solid introduction with a good idea, but it wanes as it nears the ending and the conclusion is not effective so as to remain consistent with the proper sequence of the sentence (2-3-1). The reader of my work must distinguish the most important points of the work, understanding the general theme, while remaining captivated by a consistently interesting paper. If a primary point exists, it needs to be expanded, emphasized, or supported. The work needs to remain interesting and captivating throughout. For the reader to infer my opinion on the subject matter, I must show approval or disapproval of it in some way.

    Read More

  • My Strengths and Weaknesses as a Writer

    442 Words  | 1 Pages

    The art of writing is a complex and difficult process. Proper writing requires careful planning, revision, and proofreading. Throughout the past semester, the quality of my writing has evolved significantly. At first, I struggled with the separation of different types of paragraphs, and I found writing them laborious. Constant practice, however, has eliminated many of my original difficulties, and helped to inspire confidence in my skills.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Neil Postman's Influence On Society

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    I am more knowledgeable about invention, arrangement, style, and delivery, all in which create a masterful piece of text. A few examples, I have learned to organize and construct my thoughts and ideas clearer. I have been taught to use stronger transitions and focus more on the delivery and content of the body element of essays. Further, the instructions and advice I have received throughout this term have influenced my understanding of the purpose of writing. My outlook on writing has been modified by shifting my perception of writing from, writing to prove I am a good writer by perceiving it as using “fluffy” or BIG words to impress my audience. I grew to understanding that good writing’s purpose is to engage the writer by mind-striking ideas and arguments, which therefore will prove and title me as a “good writer”.

    Read More

  • Perfection In Two Questions, By Lynda Collins

    1318 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, these techniques that I fostered as a child proved lacking when I entered middle school. It turns out that in comparison to my previous writing, I was no longer writing for my own self-improvement or joy; I was now writing to please someone who was grading the work. After many dissatisfying remarks about my writing, the self-conscious feelings I had as a child crept up on me once again. I felt the need to impress and be perfect. For every paper I wrote from then on, there was that little voice in the back of my head telling me that I had to try twice as hard because English was my second language. For a very long time, I was not able to write a paper without scrutinizing it harshly. “The oppressor,” as Anne Lammot states in “Bird by Bird,” kept me from what I truly wanted to write and made me focus on the unattainable goal of being perfect. Perfection is something that “… limit[s] us…[and] keep[s] us from experiencing life” (Lammott 30). The purpose was not to write for me, but for others, and that was my flaw; I was just writing to please. Technicality was my only worry and I did not worry if what I was writing actually had

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Red Hat By Rachel Hadas

    1424 Words  | 3 Pages

    Trimble stated, “Good writers write in a natural tone.” Writing in a natural tone helps the writer to focus and organize their thoughts clearly. Hadas stated, “write in a way that comes natural, but it takes time to write in your natural voice.” This is an inspiring phrase that Rachel stated, because it is one of my weaknesses in writing. I tend to start my papers after reading other people’s work on the same topic, so I can follow in their footsteps in order to write a good paper. But this is not a great strategies because, we tend to shot down the voices inside of us, just to write like someone else. Now that I realized that good writing comes in a natural tone of voice, I need to work on my writings more, by thinking more compiling my own ideas in a draft. Therefore, writing in a natural tone is one of the greatest strategies to become a successful writer, and the way to do this is writing a couple of drafts to get all the ideas

    Read More

  • Journal Essay: Why Bother By Pollan

    1603 Words  | 4 Pages

    These weekly readings slowly taught me how to analyze the structure of different essays. Through the journal essay assignment I came across to a particular essay that grabbed my attention. The essay, “Why Bother” By Pollan, allows the reader to be moved by his written work, and teaches the different techniques to grab the reader’s attention. In his work, Pollan describes people attitudes regarding climate change and he offers possible solutions if people attempted to help. For example, he says, “Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can’t prove that it will.” (Pollan 317) In other words, Pollan gives the reader a chance to engage in his work by offering a solution to a problem that’s well known. As I read this essay I focused on some of his quotes and reflected their meaning in depth. Most of Pollan’s quotes were a source of motivation to those who may lack in hope an inspiration to make a difference. For my journal entry I focused on introducing evidence that supports my interpretation from the quotes. For example, Pollan says, “Gardening is a process of social change, and by doing so; it can impact others to make a difference”(Pollan 318) I decided to include other quotes from the reading because this supports my interpretation of the reading. After, I found out that this technique helped me go in depth

    Read More

  • Reflection Of My Writing Process

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    My form and structure are not always the best. In one of our more challenging essays, the Rhetorical Analysis Essay my form and structure weren’t as strong as they should be. As stated before, I made the mistake of not staying focused on the rhetorical elements of my topic and venturing my own personal opinion in the essay, which crowded and weakened my form and structure. Continuing with Murray’s path, the development of my essays is based on the rubric. I always seek to include information that the rubric is essentially telling me to include, but sometimes I fall short of developing my thoughts enough. The dimension of my essays also has inconsistencies. I tend to have a problem of expanding into great detail on one point of my essay leaving another point barely expanded upon leaving my essay disproportionate. Finally, the last thing writer’s look for in their essay is their own voice. Thomas Osborne in Late Nights, Last Rites, and the Rain-Slick Road to Self Destruction states “I strive for a good grade, and will work as hard as possible to achieve one, but there is a voice in the back of my head that is effectively scoffing at the ridiculousness of some assignments and expectations that I have had to complete and live up to.” My voice sometimes gets lost in assigned essays when I try to fulfill certain standards that are put upon me. Thomas and I both struggle with writing what we need to write in order to achieve the grade

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay On Becoming A Better Writer

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    English 102 has taught me a lot about my writing. Becoming a better writer and pushing myself to the next level was my goal for this semester. Therefore, I learned how to use research to back up my arguments. We wrote many different essays based on different types of literature, which is something I had not done before. Initially, I had a few problems, but learned from those mistakes to become better at writing. I definitely have things that I need to work on in the future. However, looking back on my semester I have overcome many of my writing obstacles and have become a better writer.

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay: The Writing Process

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    this area but I’m going to improve on it. The process of using multiple drafts has

    Read More

  • Writing Strengths And Weaknesses

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    In high school, writing essays was my weakest link. When I began my first semester of college, I still had that trouble in my first writing composition class. I improved significantly from gaining organization and length. When I started my second writing composition class, my grades for my paper sky rocketed! The essays I have written though out this semester have shown improvements in context and organizations, however, I still have some room for improvement on reasoning’s and thesis statement.

    Read More

  • The Strengths And Weaknesses Of My Essay

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    In high school my English teacher basically failed us if we didn’t have a “good enough” thesis. She’d use to say, “There’s no point in me reading your essay if your thesis statement is crap. If your thesis is crap your essay is crap, and I’m not going to waste my time.” Since then, I have always made sure my thesis statement made sense containing at least three main points, and to get those main points I’d use the technique of brainstorming. Brainstorming has helped me a lot when trying to discover the main ideas and examples to support them. I would write anything and everything that comes to mind on a sheet of paper, even if it has no connection to my topic what so ever. This process worked for me because it allowed me to expand my train of

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay Reflection

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over the past semester, I have found the most challenging part of this course to simply be the transition from high school composition classes to college. Because writing expectations are so different in college than in high school, even with AP and Dual Enrollment “college level” classes, I first found myself being overwhelmed with the pressure to write the perfect first draft. The pressure came from knowing how much a final draft of a paper contributed to my grade. This left me sitting in front of my computer for hours at a time with thoughts of what I wanted to say racing through my head, but unable to deliver these thoughts into organized, structured sentences. I learned, through writing my persuasive essay, that instead of trying to write the paper start to finish and already in its perfect form, it is easier for me to look at the paper through its different components and focus on them individually, then work to best organize my ideas fluently.

    Read More

  • Reflective Portfolio Letter

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ideas of them were just in the back of my mind and didn't think about them when I wrote. I tried a mix them into the research paper, mainly logos and ethos. There are three rhetorical strategies, we discussed them in class; logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is trying to persuade someone while using deductive reasoning. With logos, I used lots of facts and statistics to further my argument. Ethos is proving that I am a reliable writer and I did that by citing the were I got the information from. I also reminded respectful with my argument and I made the essay organized, so that way it seemed like I was level headed and that I had an understanding of what I was talking about. Pathos is to use emotion to persuade someone to agree with an argument. I didn’t really use this one in my essay and it is the least used strategies when it comes to writing things for classes. I always use ethos and logos for argumentative or persuasive

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay Reflection

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this course I have learned and written many essays from as small as reading responses to writing an argumentative paper. All the essays had a similar style of writing and that is that it had to have a thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion except for the major assignments like LEN, Argumentative Paper, Lit Review, and etc., which required more than just those three elements to writing the essay. I prefer one type of writing style to another because it lets me see the difference in my writing and if there are improvements in my writing. I do see similarities in the different essays I wrote and they are that my thesis statements are not strong enough, which is why my essays are not strong enough. Choosing a good thesis statement and having good body paragraphs are crucial to writing essays because that is the key part of the essay, which I needed work on all semester.

    Read More

More about Reflective Essay On My Writing Process

Open Document