Creative Writing: What Happened Here?-Personal Narrative

As a writer, I have improved tremendously. Over the course of the 2015 fall semester, English 015 has helped me grow as a writer in all ways possible. From hearing Dr. Duffy’s wise words regarding writing throughout class, to participating in peer review sessions, writing has become a skill that I have flourished in. As a child, I would constantly write stories and poems to express my feelings and emotions. Sadly enough, I can admit that as a lonely child, writing was my only companion and confidant. As an eight year old child, I found myself writing stories about the individuals in or around my life. After creating a satire about my mother’s workplace and the employee’s who worked there, I knew I had a gift regarding writing. I watched my

“Hey guy can’t we all just get along?” Michael tried reasoning with them. I don’t

My writing process starts when I am given an assignment. I’m not one to just write for fun, so this is usually the only way I can make myself write. Don’t let that fool you though, because once I start writing something and my ideas start flowing, it’s hard for me to stop. Personally, I love to be able to choose what I’m writing about. I don’t like getting assigned a topic, because that means everybody else has to write about the same topic and that ends up with everybody asking what I wrote in my paper and comparing it to theirs. I HATE when my writing gets compared to other peoples’, because we are all unique and different writers and we shouldn’t be so concerned about who stated certain facts better or got a higher grade.

I'm not the best when it comes do to writing well. I guess i feel like my writing doesn't sound “smart” it's not full of big words that the reader has to look up and learn more about.

Throughout my writing process there are a various amount of steps I do to perfect it. Generally coming up with the idea is the most difficult part of any writing, even now, it is difficult to get started with the essay. Once I dive in though, it gets quite easier. Procrastination is a problem that i can not seem to shake. I will attempt to sit down, but as soon as the littlest thing pops up, I will usually be distracted and lose my train of thought. I attempt to run through the whole essay in my head before I start just to get a proper idea of how it will be structured.

When I start my writing process, the topic is key. The decision of what I'm going to write about is based on how I feel about the topic. If I have some baseline knowledge about a particular subject and it relates to my life somehow, then it becomes a bit easier for me. For example, if I had to write about Army life, I can easily relate to this subject and can lean on my experience to help guide me in the right direction. Another tool is research, using proper citations in my work to support the opinions or ideas.

What I have learned throughout the year about writing is that it is important to know how to write because you will need to use it for your everyday life, whether it is at school or at your work. My writing process I think that I have changed a little bit on it but I think I need to practice more so I can get better. What I have changed on my writing was that I need to make my writing sound good and that it makes sense. Why I made those changes because I want it to sound good and make sure that it makes sense to what I am being asked to write. My opinion on writing has not changed. My opinion hasn’t changed because I just don’t like to write and I find it boring.

I always start my writing process by reading the directions. I read the directions three or four times to fully analyze what is required and what is being asked. For instance, in most assignments are not simply questions. There are usually more than one factor in the question. After understanding the directions, I start following the five steps of the writing process. First, I pre-write/ draft a outline to get my ideas into answering all the parts of the question and to establish. Next, I start writing to establish flow of my paper. Then, I submit it to paperrater.com to check for grammar, punctuation, and spell check. Then, I edit my paper from the suggestions paperrater.com suggested. Lastly, I submit my work for a grade.

My writing process has drastically changed in the last few months. I am at a point where I still make mistakes, but the fear is gone. Currently coming out of WAC101. The most important thing I have taken away was to write often and then rewrite. This has been extremely beneficial in helping my comfort level, approach, and process to writing. Before I started that class I had a fear to write with constantly questioning every sentence I jotted down, asking myself is it good enough? What will someone say about that? Now, I feel I have the ability to write to a few different audiences with structure and substance. Not saying I am an amazing writer now because I am still far from good.

Al, Alde, de, shon, deshon, and Al’Deshon my name takes on many forms. Kind of like my writing in a sense. I have never been a strong writing also being the reason, I took this class first semester I think. If I get it out of the way maybe I’ll have an easier chance of reaching the finish line happening to be graduation.

“What’s the matter? Why are you crying?” Joe asked as he drove us home from the attorney’s office.

Thinking about our first writing assignment, one of the suggestions focuses on the comparison of writing to running, it became apparent to me that this is something I would enjoy writing about. I am a long time running advocate, competing in marathons, and a neophyte writing student, and I find many similarities in both endeavors.

I learned a lot from this experience. I was familiar with all the kinds of writing, but I wasn't familiar with how to go about writing them. Through the assignments and tests I had to take, I know that it is important to know how to do different kinds of writing. As for grammar, I've become a lot careful with how I write. I've been checking every paragraph as write and this is something I'll continue to do. I've enjoyed writing since the eighth grade, but I've never felt like I've been improving. I've realized that I am much better than I thought I was. I'm glad I had this opportunity. I know it'll really help me in the long run.

Some individuals follow set guidelines when planning to write a paper; some take their cues from others "tried and true" practiced methods. For me personally, I have to work with the available tools I have at that particular moment and tailor them to fit within the parameters of my writing process.

Mostly everyone’s first experience with language is similar. The first words that a newborn will hear are usually very simple. Almost every time someone new enters the world and first sucks oxygen into their lungs, they hear something along the line of “congratulations! It’s a boy (or girl)”. A child’s first look at written language however, can be a completely different experience. What I share with you today is my writing experience throughout my childhood and how my family, friends and my education have played roles in the growth of my writing ability, as well as how I engage in the act of writing.