“Now, you can create whatever you want within these journals. Anything that inspires you; this is a creative writing assignment project and I look forward to seeing what you all create,” stated my 9th grade English teacher. He assigned a writing journal as the final assignment and we could write about anything we wanted in any fashion we fancied. We had to write 10 articles, whatever they may be. I was excited for this project because I always enjoyed creative writing and I loved being able to choose my own topics. However, when I opened the notebook and saw the dauntingly blank pages staring back at me, I froze. I had nothing to write about. I scribbled down a few meaningless words only to immediately eradicate their existence very shortly …show more content…
The next day I asked my teacher if I could talk after class “sure sure sure, KJ what’s going on have a seat” I sat down exasperated, “I can’t do this assignment. I haven’t got a single thing worth writing about”. “KJ!” my teacher exclaimed, “I didn’t expect this coming from you! But of course, writing block occurs to us all. Here’s what I usually do, I try speed writing”. “Which is…?” I replied. “Well”, he began, “speed writing is when I go to a few different locations and I write about the first thing that comes to my mind for about 15 minutes. I do this in as many different locations until I find the...inspiration I’m looking for, you should try it and if you’re still struggling we can find some pre-designed topics for you to write about, but I know you’ll find it out there, Kij”. I thanked him and went on my …show more content…
I imagined a girl playing piano and I wrote about it. I wrote about the sweet melodies reverberating throughout the large expanse of the room. But alas, it still didn’t fill me with inspiration to write something earth shattering about. I then went out to the track and thought maybe of writing a story about a race. As a runner, I could relate to the pains. I know the feeling of anxiety on the starting line and your heart pounding out of your chest. I felt more connected to this topic, but I still didn’t feel anything insightful- anything worth sharing with people. The last place I went was to was the pond behind the school. I sat there for a while. I looked at the pond and the ducks gliding over its smooth surface. I looked over and saw some purple flowers and I saw the petals of one catch in the wind and land on the pond and slowly start to sink. Then it hit me. I have my inspiration. I began writing frantically, scratching out words and replacing them, letting the lyrical words flow from my mind to the notebook using my pen as my guide transcribing of thoughts. When I finished I was in a calm, satisfying reverie. I went home and that night I rewrote the piece, this time tweaking it to perfection and once I had read it to myself several times over, I typed and printed
The very first chapter we read of Mindful Writing changed my perspective to see that anyone and everyone can be a writer. Brian Jackson, the author of Mindful Writing, wrote, “In this book I want to convince you that anyone writing anything for any reason is a writer…Writing is not something we do just in school. It is a vital means of influence in all facets of life.” It was through that very first reading that I began to think about writing as more than just a dreaded part of school, and I began to think of myself as more than just a student forced to write. Our very first assignment, My Writing Story, helped me to reflect on my identity as a writer. I realized that I was a writer every time I wrote in my journal or captioned an Instagram post. Throughout the semester, as I came to love writing more with each paper I wrote, I was able to create my identity as a writer. I learned that I loved research and analyzing others’ thoughts and ideas, but that writing simply on my own opinions, wasn’t my favorite past time. Through the countless readings this semester, I saw which writing styles I loved and which didn’t speak to me. Each day of class, I chipped away at creating my identity as a writer, and I’m grateful for the lessons that helped me shape and realize that
My first student teaching experience took place in a seventh-grade English classroom during the second half of the school year. The first couple of weeks gave me an opportunity to observe both the teacher and the students participating in various writing activities. One assignment in particular asked the students to choose a topic of interest and write down on paper all the information that they already knew about this subject. A simple assignment, right? Sitting off to one side of the classroom, I decided to attempt the assignment. On the top of my paper I wrote the word "athletics". Under it, I wrote about why I chose the topic, what it meant to me and how it has played a crucial role in my life. Before I knew it, I had covered one and a half pages with information.
As I shoved my notebook into my backpack, I heard my writing fellow murmur something about an essay. I wasn’t worried. After taking every Advanced Placement English class my high school offered, I felt equipped to handle a simple essay until received Dr. Carver’s email with the prompt and instructions. I blinked at the screen and rubbed my eyes; thinking I had misread the message, I read it again. I was supposed to have the essay finished in approximately 42 hours, but I had never written a decent essay in less than four days. I was in a state of panic; all of my ideas had evacuated my imagination leaving me with a painful case of writer’s block. To me, most of good writing is good editing and proper editing requires having a window to forget your writing before returning to it: a window that 42 hours just couldn’t provide.
Thinking about a topic to write about is not always easy, and sometimes the process of writing can end up being difficult. Jennifer Jacobson discusses strategies to overcome the struggles that young writers can encounter while writing. I was interested in her book No More “I’m Done!” Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades because I feel like as a future teacher this could be a frequent problem among students. From reading this book, I hoped that I would learn useful strategies that I could use to help students overcome their problems with writing. After reading this book, I do believe that Jacobson has provided me with plenty of methods to use. I was surprised at the depth that she goes into in her text. There is a vast amount
The story of my history as a writer is a very long one. My writing has come full circle. I have changed very much throughout the years, both as I grew older and as I discovered more aspects of my own personality. The growth that I see when I look back is incredible, and it all seems to revolve around my emotions. I have always been a very emotional girl who feels things keenly. All of my truly memorable writing, looking back, has come from experiences that struck a chord with my developing self. This assignment has opened my eyes, despite my initial difficulty in writing it. When I was asked to write down my earliest memory of writing, at first I drew a blank. All of a sudden, it became very clear to me, probably because it had some childhood trauma associated with it.
I am sitting in my bed, thinking about my process of writing as I am trying to go through it. It seems the more I think about it, the less I understand it. When I am writing, I don’t think. Which I know, sounds bad. But, I spend every single moment of every single day over thinking, over analyzing, and over assuming every aspect of my life. When I’m writing, I’m free from that for just a little bit. Until of course, my hands stop typing or the pencil (no pens- never pens) stops moving, then I’m right back on the carousel that is my brain. Heidi Estrem says, “...writers use writing to generate knowledge that they didn’t have before.” (Writing is a Knowledge-Making Activity 18). I believe my ability to write without an exact destination
This showed me that writing can be used to express emotion and it was not just something you had to do in school for a grade. Since I had someone to listen to me share my mental state with, it allowed my behavior to improve immensely. Writing is something I use daily to cope with life’s issues. It allows me to escape from the outside world and just write. I can’t thank Mrs. Williamson enough for all she did for me in creating a strong writer. Throughout my time through grade school I experienced many hardships, and I am happy I had the tools that were instilled in me from my teacher because I am not sure if I would have made it through the many struggles I went through without them. Now since I am on my own in college I write about my day to allow nothing to get built up within me. Writing has allowed for me to turn my entire life around and go in the right direction to being a better person. Without writing or my teacher, Mrs. Williamson, I am not sure where I would’ve ended
Also, I had no problems with essays during my grade school years. I did not need much time to create an essay, or a journal, or something else for my writing class. The older I become, the more difficult it gets for me to write. Perhaps, I have more problems, needs, or other various things in my life that keep me from being able to focus on writing. Therefore, when I read “The Watcher at the Gates” by Gail Godwin, I saw myself there. In this essay, Godwin illustrates examples of many things that may be obstacles to some people to start writing. Also, she suggests several ways that may help people to overcome such a problem. Although I have different kind of excuses to not start writing, they all have the same meaning, purpose, and consequences as in Godwin’s essay: take me away from writing. There are some of my favorite excuses such as having no ideas to write about, other important things to do, and enough time before the deadline, that give me no good chance to begin writing. Still, I know that I must turn in my assignments on time, and this helps me to put aside these excuses.
Writing a college essay can be hard. and writing a good unique college essay can be even harder. Writing a good distinct essay can be hard. It’s hard because writing is not my best subject. I usually always go to my peers to help me get ideas I search the web for ideas. The most important thing to do differently is the way you go about writing your paper when writing it. When you give students an essay topic you never receive the same written essay. You always get a different written and typed essay, some are funny, some are boring, some might make you cry, and so on. I think that the way someone is pursuing the subject is important. Not all topics are going to be the best topics to write about but if you can take a boring topic and make it interesting you 've already won the reader in my opinion.
Writing is something that comes to some as a talented ability, yet others as an inconvenient burden. It’s just one of those things where “you either have it, or you don’t.” Within composing, one can express their feelings and emotions through mind blowing subtle details. The reader can grasp the elements within a story, to where it practically feels as if they are living it themselves. Writing can be an unwinding strategy for some, a method of communicating feelings for others, or just essentially enjoyable.
I will preface this literacy narrative by a warning: this is not, in any way, an essay about my positive academic experiences with reading and writing. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE reading, but this fondness was not rooted in me because of school. Writing, on the other hand, has been the bane of my scholastic journey since the start of my high school years. This could explain why I waited until my very last quarter at university to take my required writing class.
I personally do not enjoy writing like most people would feel about reading a dictionary. I am cautiously treading water with every word I type. I have always found writing to be a tedious process. I have never found ease in wording something the way I want to; therefore, it usually sounds so much better in my head. I’ve never considered myself to be comfortable with writing in general. For example, I always had a hard time telling if I needed a comma in a sentence or not. Sometimes it was obvious, but it seems more confusing most of the time.
In the twelve years I was in school, I learn three forms of writing, essay, letters, and stories. My favorite form of writing is creative writing. My least favorite is writing a letter. The reason I prefer creative writing over the other, form is because I have the freedom to make up anything. The reason I dislike writing letter is because many letters have different formats. For example, I can’t uses the friendly letter format on a business letter; I would have to use block format. Even though I prefer creative writing, my most commonly used skill is to write essays. Though, I may find essay writing a chore, I still prefer it over letter writing. Among these books I still read The Odyssey and Macbeth, for inspiration.
I wrapped myself so deep in its grasp that as the final project rolled around it felt like I was losing part of myself. Creative writing was such a meaningful part of my life, and the loss is equivalent to that of a family pet, or a dear friend. Writing became my escape, in such a way that nothing else had ever filled. Our second to last project was a poetry project. This project was so stupid to me in the beginning, but this project led to me finding myself, and friendship in a teacher who I so adored. Not too many of us took the project seriously, but when the final project rolled around, I requested to not do the assigned, but to instead do a poetry project like the previous one; Only freestyle. The day snuck up on me; the final stretch. The finish line looking me dead in the eyes as I woke up that morning. The rain more than just todays weather, but the feeling of knowing this would be one of the last times I saw my mentor. After this, she was no longer my teacher, but a
There are many reasons to write. Entreating by writing a story, informing by writing a letter and persuading by writing an essay. I started to learn how to read and write in elementary school. As I got older and further in my education I got better at reading and writing. My favorite kind of writing is creative writing. Elementary school taught me how to write essays. Middle school taught me how to write letters. High school taught me how to write a story. Elementary, middle, and high school where very important in my writing development.