GavinKing 7/15/2013 ENGL11111 Final WritingWriting

Idontreallyidentifymyselfasawriter,butIappreciatewriting.Ihaventtakenany EnglishclassesincollegebecausemostofthematerialinComputerScienceiseither mathorlogicrelated.However,throughoutthecourseofmyeducationandmyendeavors outsideofit,Ivehadtoapplymywritingskillsonaninfinitenumberofoccasions.My processisconstantlybeingmoldedandreshapedfromtheseexperiences.Becominga betterwriterisajourney,andforme,itisstillverymuchongoing. ThefirstmeaningfulexperienceswithwritingandliteratureIrememberarefrommy middleschoollanguageartsclasses.Thecurriculumfortheseclassesmostlyconsistedof readingastoryorclassicnovelandwritingresponsestothem.Withourdesksarrangedin agiantcirclearoundtheroom,wewouldgoaroundswitchingoffreadingparagraphsaloud totheclass.Muchofthetime,someonewouldlosethepage,mispronouncewords,start readingthewrongparagraph,ornotspeakloudenoughforeveryonetohear.UsuallyIjust triedtoreadaheadbymyselftoavoidthesedistractions.Iwouldhaveahardtime connectingwiththewriterandthestoriesbecausetheliteraturewewererequiredtoread wasoftenextremelydatedandhadlittlerelevanceormeaningtome. ThisisatimethatIwishcouldhavebeenmoreinterestingbecauseitwasso

foundational.Readingsuchtediousmaterialinthiswayturnedmeofffromthestart,and createdabarrierinmymindtowardslanguageartsasawhole.Whenwewererequiredto writeaboutwhatwehadread,Ioftensubmittedassignmentswithoutevenreadingthem.I justthrewsomewordsonapaperandtrustedthattheyworkedtogether.Iusuallyevengot goodgradesonthem.IdidtheminimumamountofworkrequiredofmeandIwasableto slipbywithoutasecondthought. Thankfully,thisgotbetter.Inhighschooltheclasseswereabitlessformattedand thematerialwasmorerelevant.Westillreadclassicsandoldernovels,butthelearning andwritingwedidaroundthemhadmorefocusonmultimediaandexternalcontent.For example,ifwewerereadingabookaboutWoldWarII,wewouldwatchrelevant documentariesorreadessaysofthetimeperiodtoaidusinwritingaboutthetopic.This reallyhelpedstimulatecreativityformeandhelpedregainsomelostinterestinwriting. Inmyjunioryearwehadtheoptionofselectingourownlanguageartselectives.I cantrememberwhy,butIendedupindebateclass.Debateendedupbeingmyfavorite classinhighschool.IknewnothingaboutitwhenIsignedupandIhadverylittleexperience writingpersuasiveessays,soiwasgoinginasablankslate.Therewereonlyaboutten otherstudentsintheclass.Luckily,theteacherlovedteachingtheclassandwasextremely enthusiasticaboutthetopic.Theclasswasinterestingbecausethewritingwedidwas totallydifferentthanwhatIwasusedto.Eachassignmentconsistedoftwopapersona topic.Onearguedtomaintainthestatusquo,theotherarguedforchange.Bothhadtobe writtennomatterwhichsideyouendeduppresenting.Infact,weusuallywerenteventold whichsidewewerepresentinguntilthedayof.Thisparadigmwasextremelydifferentfrom

whatIwasusedtoandforcedmetolearntoalwayslookattopicsbothwithandagainstthe grainwhilewriting. Simplyput,thepurposeofadebateistoproveyourpointcorrectandyour opponentspointwrong.Adebatecanbewonorlostduetoasinglemisinterpretedsource orlogicalfallacy.Asaresult,wheneverIwasnotpresenting,Iwascarefullylisteningand analyzingthewritingofmyopponenttotrytofindawaytobeatthemwiththeirownwords.I becamesupercriticalofmyownwriting,somyopponentscouldntfindholesinmy arguments. Thisplayedahugeroleinhelpingmeunderstandthevalueofpeerrevisionand editing.Now,Ialwaysreadthroughapiecemultipletimesandmakesurethateverything makessense.Iusuallyhaveatleasethreeorfourotherfriendsorclassmatesreadthrough ittoo.Thisisoftenhelpfulbecauseitisdifficulttoseeflawsinyourownwriting.Alternate perspectivesfrompeoplewhoareunfamiliarwiththetopicorthinkdifferentlycanbe invaluablewhenitcomestoediting,andhaveproventobeextremelybeneficialsourcesfor measawriter. Thisyear,Ihavebeenrequiredtowritebusinessdocumentationformobileapps thatIhavebeenworkingoninmysparetime.Thisincludesthingslikerevenuemodels describinghowanappwillmakemoney,orfinancialgoalsprojectingprofitability.Inthis area,answeringquestionsandfulfillingrequirementsisessential.Itisdifferentthanwriting anarrativeoranalyticalessayofliterature.Topicssuchaswhoisthetarget demographic?orhowwillthisproductprovidevaluetothecustomer?arebestanswered withsimplefactsratherthanabstractideas.

Fromthiscamethedevelopmentofmyprewritingprocess.Ihaveneverfoundflow chartsandassociationmapsveryhelpful,butIhavefounduseofcreatingasimpleoutline beforeIstartwriting.UsuallyitisassimpleasmakingalistoftopicsIwanttocover,then writingafewscatteredthoughtsunderneatheachone.Thishelpsmeintwoways.First,it simplyhelpsmekeeptrackofthepointsIwanttomake.InthepastIhavecompletely forgottentoaddanimportantpointtoapaperuntilafterIsubmitit.ThiswayIcankeepa runninglistofpointswithouthavingtoremembereverything.Second,itmakesthewriting processaloteasier.Whenyoualreadyhaveeverythingyouwanttosaymappedout,all youhavetodoisconnectyourideastogetherwithfullsentences. Evenwithallofmystrategies,Istillsometimesstrugglewithwritinginotherways. OneofthemostcommonsituationsIfindmyselfinisnothavingenoughcontenttofillas manypagesastheassignmentrequires.Whenthishappens,Iusuallyneedtoexpandon theideasthatIhavepresentedbuthavenotyetfullyexplainedorcouldexploreinfurther detail.Imalsonotaveryfastwriter.Isometimesspendtoomuchtimeonthefirstdraft perfectinggrammarandsentencestructurewhenthesentencemaynotbeincludedinthe finaldraftatall.Thisisprobablyanartifactofmyprerevisiondayswherewriting,editing andrevisingwerealldonesynchronouslyinonepass.Isometimesdislikewritingforthis reason.UsuallyevensimplewritingassignmentsarethemostfrustratingformebecauseI spendsomuchtimeonthem.Reducingthistimeandcreatingamoreefficientprocessis stillaworkinprogress,butthemethodsIexplainedpreviouslyhavebeenexceedingly helpful. Myexperienceasawriterhasnotbeenabadonesofar.Iwouldntwanttomajorin

it,butIenjoybeingabletoutilizeiteffectivelyasatool.Producingqualitywritingthatisboth cleanandprofessionalisusefulincountlessreallifesituationsinalmosteveryindustry, fromdraftingsimpleemailstocreatingbusinessplans.Writingissomethingthatyou createthatcanspeakforyou.Butunlikespeaking,writingissomethingyoucanedit, revise,reword,redoorperfectbeforeyouchoosetoapplyit.Thispotentialmotivatesme, anddrivesmydesiretobecomeamoreproficientwriter. Theresdefinitelyalotleftformetolearnaboutmyselfasawriterandwritingin general.Istillneedtoworkonmyprocessandstyle.Iwouldliketolearntowritefasterand withmoredetail.However,IknowthatthisisacontinuousprocessthatIwillalwaysbe improving.Eventhedifferenceinmyabilitybetweenlastyearandnowissurprisingly drastic.Hopefullythesamewillbetruefornextyearaswell.