My Fourth Moment In My Writing

As a writer it is important to find new ways to improve, I realized in to this class just how weak my skills in punctuation are. After each paper I review comma and semicolon rules, yet I still struggle with these rules. They are simple rules, but when it comes to applying them I draw a blank. This is one skill that will take some extra work on my part. Even in this assignment I see mistakes that I do not know how to fix. However, this class has inspired me to continue to try and fix the punctuation errors so that my

In the beginning of the semester, everyone was write down two goals that would be accomplished in the semester. Experience in writing papers showed me that I was weak in writing any type of papers. However, I was determined to stop repeating idea by rewording as well as writing information that is unnecessary. Also, I knew I had to improve on writing essays with no to very few mistakes, whether it is structurally or punctually. I am pleased with discontinuing any repetitions while writing, but am not so pleased about structuring and punctuating my sentences.

During this spring semester, I have grown in many ways as a writer, and a student. I have started to realize, and accept the flaws that I have created in my writing. In the past, I never looked into my writings and saw my problems, and if I did, I did not accept that they were problems. In my writing pieces in the past, I was very hard-headed about what I thought was correct versus what was actually correct. I have also become More familiar with different formatting options on Microsoft Word to create a more professional piece or writing. However, figuring out all the parts of writing and making them work together is the most difficult part of writing.

The art of writing is a complex and difficult process. Proper writing requires careful planning, revision, and proofreading. Throughout the past semester, the quality of my writing has evolved significantly. At first, I struggled with the separation of different types of paragraphs, and I found writing them laborious. Constant practice, however, has eliminated many of my original difficulties, and helped to inspire confidence in my skills. As a collegiate writer, my strength lies in my clear understanding of the fundamentals of writing, while my primary weakness is proofreading my own work.

Reading the two articles, Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” and Donald M. Murray’s “Write Before Writing” numerous times made me realize a connection with their writing process that I can relate to. Lamott believes that every good writer, or every writer should write shitty first drafts because the writer will produce better second drafts. In her article, she gives examples of her writing struggles and gives her point of view of the writing process. In order to have a good piece of writing, one must write all of their ideas onto paper. Murray’s article gives some instructions on how to create and start a better writing. He expressed that writers should give time to what they’re going to write about, so that they can understand and make it easy on themselves. After reading the articles, I realized some of the complications I suffer within my writing process, but one strategy that I found helpful is Lamott’s drafting development strategies.

Unlike reading, when writing, it is important that grammar, spelling and vocabulary terms are used correctly, therefore restricting me from writing in the way that I would prefer. The most stressed phrase while in high school was, "It is not the content of the essay, but rather the mechanics of grammar and speech that are most prominent." Unfortunately, I have never been one to enjoy the art of writing. In fact, I was recently given a diagnostic test, determining at which level I write and whether or not I should be upgraded to a higher achieving English class. Unfortunately, I did not pass the test with flying colors. This was not due to the fact that I am incapable of writing a good paper, but rather that I am unable to write in a limited amount of time, using the emphasized principles of correct; grammar, vocabulary and spelling. In the reading, Shitty First Drafts, by author Anne Lamott, it is a fact that in order to write a brilliant paper, a first draft must be created. According to Lamott, "The Only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts, all writers write them." (94) This is a quote in which I can relate being that in order for me to begin a final draft, I must first have written a first draft, usually one that is in absolute

I need to just start writing even if it is awful, or even if it is hard to get myself to start writing because just the action of doing it and starting to write will help me to be able to write good papers. It will help me to be able to write and to do it because I know I should, and I know I can. I’m glad I read that because it’s good for me to know that other people struggle with basically the same stuff that I struggle with, having a bad first draft, and not wanting to start writing, but to put it off for awhile. Having knowledge now that it’s normal to not have desires to put stuff off, and just write crazy things in your draft, since it isn’t final. But it’s possible if you just commit yourself to it. Then it will most likely work out for the

My vocabulary has improved due to the many words we have learned in English II and I have learned that in order to create the perfect paper, you must have many rough drafts. One of my strengths as a writer has been my editing, which helps me fix the fluidity (one of my weaknesses) of the paper. Another weakness in my writing is not brainstorming before I write. In most instances I am able to start a paper right away but then get stuck after the first or second body paragraph. However, I often fix these mistakes by having multiple peers and mentors read over my drafts. By adding this step to the process of my writing, I am able to produce a stronger paper. My goal in writing for the next year is to improve upon the structure and format of my paper. This could be easily accomplished by learning how to write SCQuIRT paragraph. In the future I hope to be able to build upon my skills as a

In my future writing, I can improve by focusing on the areas that have been brought to my attention, such as fragmented sentence structures, capitalization, punctuation, and MLA formatting mistakes. I hope to enhance my writing skills through better planning, drafting, proofreading, and revising. I can become a better writer by building upon my current writing abilities and paying more attention to my

As I was reading through the feedback I received on the first major paper I have written in over four years, I happened to think of something I read on a pink notebook in Walmart last night. “Good feedback is the key to improvement.” When I saw the small errors I missed, I knew it was time to start making some healthy adjustments to my writing. Although I have a terrible habit of using contractions and comma splices, I would like to expand my vocabulary and make my writing stronger, be able to incorporate more transitional statements, and I would like to become more comfortable with comma usage.

Thinking back to the beginning of the semester, I improved in fixing my mistakes in my writing. Whenever I review and edit my drafts, I would usually overlook most mistakes because I would just read my draft but not look at the mistakes I commit. In my paper one draft, “Opening, social mind bugs are a trait human have developed to become social: human is social animals.” In my paper, one final, “Opening, social mind bugs are traits humans have developed to become social: humans are social animals.” In this first paper, I only recognized little mistakes that stood out in my final paper. I already noticed that I can remove the word “opening,” and I could have used a semicolon instead of a colon. I improved on looking for grammar mistakes. I started using a trick my tutor recommended for me to use when I am editing my paper. I should read my draft slower, so I

The process I used when writing previously changed during the first few weeks of this class. Already I have altered the way I write my drafts, and the way I read other people’s work. Lamott’s “Shitty First Draft” made me come to the realization that one draft isn’t always the best approach. Therefore, I took multiple steps in examining my draft and critiquing it accordingly. Additionally, I started brainstorming topics, and this led me to create a roadmap for the list of destinations and topics I wanted to touch on and the message I wanted the reader to take away. This is just the beginning of the year and I already have a sense that as I progress through the semester my work will be continually get better.

I was reading through the feedback I received on the first major paper I have written in over four years, I happened to think of something I read on a pink notebook in Walmart last night. “Good feedback is the key to improvement.” When I saw the errors I missed, I knew it was time to start making some healthy adjustments to my writing. Although I have a terrible habit of using contractions and comma splices, I would like to expand my vocabulary and formulate my writing to become stronger, be able to incorporate transitional statements, and I would like to become comfortable with comma usage.

The book How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them, by Ben Yagoda, focuses on teaching readers how to eliminate errors in their writing. To engage the readers, the author uses examples from his own students’ writing. By showing other students’ mistakes, Yagoda creates a mood of reassurance for the readers and tells his audience that everyone can make grammatical errors. This allows him to easily touch on a range of areas with an attentive audience. The topics are diverse with interesting topic titles, which help spark the reader’s interest. For example, Yagoda titles the section “,” rather than spelling “comma” in Punctuation (40). Using the punctuation symbol instead of the name is unusual and therefore

I tend to agree with Mrs. Anne Lamott in this article, all my initial drafts are shitty. This is one of my worst subjects of all the subjects that I have taken in college, it is the least enjoyable. I do remember the long hours of summer spent repeating English because I could not get it right the first time, trying to remember the sentence structures the verbs and adjectives to use, turning in mediocre papers and receiving C’s and D’s. I know my writing style isn’t the best I try to keep everything as simple as possible to stay out of trouble; I do not challenge myself with writing because I know that I am not a good writer. Mrs. Lamott article is correct the initial first draft is just getting the ideas on paper and from there they will