My interest for reading has not changed, but I am doing less of it. It havn’t put aside the time to find a book and read it, so hopefully I will be getting a lot of casual reading done over winter break. I haven’t had much time or motivation to try out writing for fun as well. Coming up for ideas is easy for fiction, but much more difficult when I am writing about myself or to fit the assignment. I think my worst piece of writing was the procedural analysis. I was difficult to find a good subject, and the one I chose made it difficult to write well. I was right to say getting better will just take practice.
My essays show me getting more comfortable with writing. I’ve done a great job at keeping a “flow” to my sentences. My sentence structure and ability to transition from one idea to the other avoids awkward phrasing. It has been difficult to expand on ideas and fully get them across. There is a gap between knowing what I want to write about and fully expressing it on paper. I simply lack content. I will come up with what to write in my head, but forget about it before I can include it. The planning stage needs to be a constant process, so I can include more and not end up leaving anything out.
Moving from telling to showing was difficult at first. It is a difficult concept to describe, but
I’ve slowly improved at identifying the difference. The subject and purpose determined how easy it was. The argumentative essay didn’t allow much room for showing, and required a lot of direct speak. The college essay and narrative are strange mix of both, as some ideas were more difficult to show than others. Despite how much I ended up disliking the subject I picked, I still believe I did the best job at this in the procedural analysis. Getting used to the planning process also made writing easier. I’ve always written drafts, but I now know it’s much more than revising. Previously, the writing process seemed vague. I enjoy the direct and logical approach to wiring a step by step process allows. Each step expands off of the last, so each section of the essay gets worked on at the same time. Prewriting collects ideas, the initial draft organises them, the next drafts expand on the ideas, and the final draft cleans it all up. This allowed me to improve the most at organization. Previously, I would start writing and hope it was coherent lator. I enjoy the more structured process.
In my own biased opinion, my best piece of writing was the persuasive. Given the amount of time and effort that went into preparing and including each piece of information I researched, it was the most satisfying to complete. The effort really shows. My organization is on point, the subject is fully fleshed out, and the purpose was, at least in my own mind, achieved. My favorite paragraph of the piece was the conclusion. It was assertive and well argued, while wonderfully summarizing the essay. My least favorite paragraph in the essay was the shortest. I don’t believe I explained my arguments as well as I could have, so the persuasive purpose suffers.
The most difficult essay to write was the procedural analysis. It was different from anything I’ve written before, and outside my comfort zone. The purpose of the essay was to entertain, so I tried to be humorous. As I did, details were lost in translation, and the essay became pretty incoherent. The steps I chose came off as confusing and awkward. It took a lot of rewriting to get it to it’s sub-par state it is now. The subject I picked didn’t help at all. I haven’t actually been to a buffet in years, so it took some creativity to come up with the steps on how (not) to behave at a buffet. Again, this lead to vague writing. Next time, I will pick a subject that I am already familiar with in some shape or form. More careful prewriting and drafting may help with avoiding inchorency.
The essay I want to revise is the College Essay. I enjoyed the subject; I really do enjoy working at Worlds of Fun. The purpose was fun; It’s quite the unique challenge to try to brag to a college without coming off as arrogant. This essay brought a intense challenge in balancing showing and telling. For most of the essay I showed very well, and was great writing. In other parts, it was blatantly telling. I would want to revise those parts to instead show. It was hard to accomplish given the ideas I was trying to express (i.e those that would seem impressive to a college). The only way I can improve is practice. The more writing I do, the more familiar and comfortable I will be at showing. Telling simply comes off as bland and unexciting. It’s only stating the obvious. Showing can make the same ideas exciting, and overall has a better effect on the reader.
I can describe this semester in three words: writing is hard. Deep down, I may still have the aspiration for writing as I did in elementary school. I gave up when I realized I wasn’t good at it, and thought it must be a talent that can’t be improved. This semester, however, I have learned not only what makes writing good, but how to put it into my own. I realized that I still can come up with good ideas, now all I need to do is form them. I have learned, and began to put into practice, the importance of showing and not telling, as well as how to use the writing process. With what I’ve learned I can improve. By improving, my aspirations for writing can be renewed.
No comments:
Post a Comment