Esther Litchfield-Fink

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

How can I become a better writer? Throughout my writing experiences, I have learned I have many weaknesses along with strengths. My experiences with writing has not always been the best, but over time, with lots of practice and instructions from my instructors, I can proudly say that I have gained a better understanding on the layout of essays and papers. As well as understanding how to write correctly my goal as a writer is to learn how to overcome my weaknesses and use my strengths to my highest ability. I have many strengths, weaknesses and goals that I plan to achieve and overcome in my college career.

I believe a good reader is what makes a good writer. But because I lost my interest in reading, I’ve struggled with writing throughout the years. It wasn’t that I had trouble learning new skills but because I was pushed away from what I wanted to learn, so I decided to pursue other interests. Despite being eager to learn, my writing suffered due to my lack of interest in reading, however my skills in writing have increased as my drive to read has rekindled.

The story written by Stephen King in Reading To Write, confirm to us that when you are interested in achieving something, you have to be willing to put in the efforts. You cannot assume to take on a task without doing something outside the box. Putting effort, love and joy into a work will help achieve a goal faster. Becoming a writer necessity a lot of reading, many sacrifice, and passion to be recognize as a writer. Willing to read multiple article or Novel will prepared you to great experience, it helps you to discover you talent. It open your eyes on your mistake and you progress, and give your ability to write.

"To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one" (95).

Many lose their confidence when they begin writing since it is difficult for them to get down their thoughts in a truthful and interesting way

There comes a time in life where we see an impossible obstacle, and do the best that we can to overcome it. For me, this was my AP English Language class in high school during senior year. The time was now, summer is nearly over. I analyzed my strengths and weaknesses, giving a full re-evaluation of myself. In the end, I consider myself an average writer. There have been times in the past when I’ve written letters or personal stories. However, those have never been my strongest set of skills. While I have been serious with my writing, I never recognized the unbelievable advantages that good writing has. Therefore, I’ve made it my goal to improve my literal skills and become a great writer. Maybe this new class will assist me in becoming that

When I first started I felt very confident in my writing and have written many different stories I felt assured of myself. I’ve read many books on writing and wrote a manuscript for a novel I plan to publish someday. Now that I have taken the English Composition course I see a

Writing can be time consuming and each author must be passionate in their piece. Vetter explains, “The truth is that writing is a blood sport […] which is why those who are any good at it look older than their contemporaries, snap at children on the street, live alone.” Becoming a good writer takes persistence and patience. As an individual

While writing might seem like a simple task, it can be a daunting task for a lot of people. Sometimes it can be hard to express the ideas in your mind in the words of a paper. This results in a disconnect with what a writer may actually think. A great writer is one that can transform his thoughts into words perfectly. This is a craft that takes many years to perfect, which is why writing is troublesome for a lot of us. Many students also have had bad experiences with writing. Maybe they had a teacher that didn’t try to support them and their writing. They might not have ever gotten the help they needed and may feel that they are in a hole where their writing can’t get better. At this point, they just accept that their writing will never get better.

When presented with the question, “who are you as a writer?”, I was speechless at first. But after thinking about it, I realized who I am as a writer has been influenced by so many different sponsors throughout my life and there was not a short, concrete answer. Brandt mentions that “literacy is sponsored by people, institutions, and circumstances that both make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way the person actually acquires literacy.” (Brandt 43) My attitude towards writing has been influenced by teachers, both negatively and positively, by my mother, and by academic assignments over the years. My answer to the question can only be answered by a narrative of my writing life. I have convinced myself that I am a terrible writer, and when presented with a writing assignment, I get anxious instantly. I see writing as a burden and a huge obstacle that gets placed in my life. Academic writing is not fun, but something I value due to the fact that we are a grade driven society. When writing, I write to the guidelines in order to receive points for the requested criteria. The reason being, I gave up on expressing my own ideas because I had been shut down by so many teachers throughout my education. I tried to write down what came to my mind and put my own twist on things, but that was not the “right” way to write papers. In order to make both my teachers and my grades happy, I wrote what they wanted to hear, and even then I was not to the level they

Writing can be very hard especially for first time writers. There are a lot of things and process that they need to undergo in order to master the art of writing. However, it will be hard for them also to accomplish their writing task if they don't have the attitude towards writing just like most writers do.

There is a multitude of jobs and careers I want to have, as some of you may know, but I think we’re only allowed to talk about one. However, there is one job in particular that I know that I’ll do, whether I’m paid for it or not. That job is writing. Not only do you need language skills, but I believe that you will need creativity and an immense amount of patience in order to be a successful writer of any sort.

Writing has always been something I dread. It’s weird because I love talking and telling stories, but the moment I have to write it all down on paper, I become frantic. It’s almost as if a horse race just begun in my mind, with hundreds of horses, or words, running through my mind, unable to place them in chronological order. Because I struggle to form satisfying sentence structure, it takes me hours, sometimes even days, to write one paper. It’s not that I think I’m a “bad writer,” I just get discouraged easily. Needless to say, I don’t think highly of my writing skills. When I was little I loved to both read and write. I read just about any book I could get my hands on, and my journal was my go to for my daily adventures. Although it’s

Since before the beginning of this creative writing course, I have always struggled to find a point to writing. By this, I mean that I always felt that having great skill and talent was what was required to be a writer, let alone a great one. From this point, I felt there was no need to continue my writing as I felt that in a sense it just wasn't good enough. However, reading the article "A Way of Writing", I found new hope. Here was a writer who says things such as "I must be willing to fail. If I am to keep on writing, I cannot bother to insist on high standards. I must get into action and not let anything stop me, or even slow me much"(Stafford) and quotes that writers don't necessarily have any special talent. The article "Why I Write" instilled further optimism through the authors view on just being a writer, not focusing on being good or bad. I found her words in which she writes "entirely to find out what I'm