My Writing Reflection

Improved Essays
Project 2
Toni Morrison, bell hooks, and James Baldwin are all writers, professionals crafting fully realized people living in black and white, and poetically weave humor and personal tragedy into their essays about injustice. In the past, I always avoided calling myself a writer because I simply could not compare with them or their contemporaries. Throughout the years, I realized that forbidding myself from using that title was not a humble act, but instead, limiting myself from strengthening my writing through making excuses. Writing did not come naturally to me. I could do the bare minimum. I would only be proficient enough to pass a high school English class. These were all misconceptions I had accepted to avoid criticizing myself. Labeling myself a writer allowed me to take ownership of the writing habits I developed and examine what motivates me, as well as ways I can improve.
…show more content…
Therefore, I have grown accustomed to critiquing while trying to develop the content of my papers. Although proper grammar and effective word choice are crucial to writing a cohesive piece, worrying about it early made the process slow and exhausting. I procrastinated to avoid the hours of sitting in front of my screen, rephrasing the same sentence until I was satisfied before starting the process over again with the next sentence. However, in this chapter, I learned that I could be patient with myself during this early stage. Drafting could be the initial phase of the process, or it could be preliminary to the actual writing. Designating separate times for drafting and revisions would increase my productivity and refine my skills reading as a writer and reader. A writer can only communicate effectively with their audience if they know the message what they are conveying. Perfectionism in early stages would prevent me from achieving my goal of making an impact with my

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    There are different types of a paper that could be written. However, revising and editing of any serious papers, such as scientific research report or an essay is not only highly recommended, but required. In the beginning, with very little exceptions, most of the texts are written in the rough draft form. Consequently, the passage “Shitty First Drafts” written by Anne Lamott provides reasoning why the rough drafts are so important and proposes different solutions to perform the efficient job. Firstly, author points out that even high-quality writer starts with the not perfect draft, and the effort to make a deep, grammatically correct, interesting text on a second or third attempt.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    It takes me many hours and days just to make my shitty work be worth something. When I write a first draft, I tell myself not to stress over it because I have time to edit or just rewrite it. It has always been hard for me to express what I’m thinking in my head into words. Like Lamott, I try…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On the other hand, most find this process extremely difficult; thinking of new ideas, words and sentences in sequence is challenging. Forming thoughts and putting them into paragraph form takes time, and not only time, but also countless attempts. Anne Lamott explains this problem in her essay, “Shitty First Drafts,” in which she argues that every writer, even…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some view writing as a long process including many steps while others believe only one draft is necessary; some spend hours rewriting and editing their papers while others spend the least amount of time possible. Many might wonder which method of writing is the most effective. The Maker’s Eye, written by Donald M. Murry, argues for the importance of applying the rewriting process to all papers. He states the contrast between professional and beginner writers as the amount of rewriting professional’s do verses the amateur’s one draft. The author suggests that to become a better writer, one must improve their rewriting skills which include reading your own work, learning to accept both criticism and praise, and viewing your paper from the reader’s…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most important thing I have learned in this course that has positively affected my confidence in my writing skills is the concept of writing a “shitty first draft”. In my midterm self-assessment, I discussed how I thought I was among one of the unlucky ones that was not blessed with natural writing skills. However, through class discussions, I’ve learned that one of the most important competent of professional writing is the need for constant revision. Contrary to popular believe, writing does not come easy to anyone. In order to successfully produce professional writing, it is important that one plan, draft, revise, and edit his or her work.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some people may think that writings drafts are a waste of time and they are just rushing to get to the final product. But there are 5 important steps to becoming a successful writer. According to Time4Writing the five steps are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Professional writer’suse this process often. Writers like AnneLamottuse this process to improve her writing and what she is trying to say.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My experiences with writing have been somewhat limited until I signed up for English 101. I have to admit that English was not my favorite subject in school. I never felt like I was any good at writing, and spelling is still not my strong suit. I always felt like I was better at math. My attitude towards writing was my biggest hindrance to my success.…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Writing Reflection

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Knowing I had to aim for a different audience this time around really affected my writing. When my tone for the original paper was rather informal and even somewhat fun, now I had to write for the APA, a group of people who take this line of work very seriously (as they should). Due to this, I gave my arguments a more serious tone, and I even expanded my vocabulary a bit to give a good impression. If I want the APA to listen to me, I should write in a tone they would use. I was careful about the sources I used for this.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    First, I intend on first examining my role as a writer, for I believe the aspects of my writing has changed tremendously since the beginning of this course. Since taking this course, my usage of the rhetorical devise has improved. I better understand how to use each rhetorical device effectively when writing. Prior to this course, I had a limited understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos. Now I understand each of them and how their importance in developing a well-developed analysis or argument.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Writing Reflection

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The third activity in which Allison and I completed was practice with writing lowercase letters as part of the language domain. After reviewing the previous week’s take home activity, it was clear that Allison preferred writing with capital letters rather than lowercase which suggested she needed more practice with learning lowercase letters. For this activity, I cut small orange pumpkins and wrote each lowercase letter of the alphabet on the pumpkins and mixed them up in the pile. Allison picked a pumpkin from the pile and told me what the letter was. She recognized almost every letter that she chose from the pile with only slight confusion with the letters “b” and “d”.…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Writing Reflection

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This first semester of high school has been challenging. Even more so, my third block english language arts class. As hard as this past semester has been for me academically, my growth in language arts has dramatically increased. I have learned more about writing narratives than I ever did in all 3 years for middle school. I have learned how to correctly vary sentences to flow well.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Writing Reflection

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Over this semester of schooling my writing has changed dramatically at times and very little at others. Through my years of schooling people have determined my weaknesses and strengths that I would need to work on in my writing. In this academic writing course, I got to assess my own strengths and weaknesses based on the trouble I had writing, feedback, and overall grades. In all my years of school, I have always had trouble beginning an important paper.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    My Writing Reflection

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When I first signed up for English Comp. I did not realize the high standards my writing would be put up against. The different types of essays we were taught to write really helped me grow as a writer I believe. With the ad analysis, comparative essay, narrative essay, and the argumentative essay I learned many new and different skills.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My Writing Reflection

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I personally feel that my writing has advanced tremendously since the beginning of this school year, I hadn’t known all the different aspects of writing that I know now and I can acknowledge that my work has been changed for the better as a result. I had never had an entire period dedicated to solely English class working from bell to bell. It was something I wasn’t familiar with but it definitely taught me a lot of new skills and how to work well with time management. I had never truly enjoyed using poetry or figurative language until this year began, and I believe it was because I had never completely understood how to do it correctly. It felt unclear as poetry has always seemed difficult for me to dissect and figure out the true meaning…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The writing process is different and unique to all individuals; many people follow the ideal steps of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing as opposed to others taking shortcuts, skipping steps, and going straight to editing. The writing process is the course one takes to get from prewriting to the publication of their essay; since everyone is a different, their writing process will also be different. For me, I believe that following the ideal writing process steps are a tremendous help to organizing my essay and spacing out the work throughout the time the assignment is assigned. To begin writing an essay I must first prewrite; to prewrite is to brainstorm ideas from the prompt by outlining, diagramming, clusterings, or…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays