Theory of Writing

Writing is whatever you make it out to be. It comes in many different styles and forms so you never have to follow an exact blueprint. This will be what I take with me from this semester of English.

Prior to this class I was always so worked up on how I need to follow a certain format. I wanted to jump out of my usual writing style which consisted of following a blueprint exactly the way my teachers had laid them out. Of course, I had a certain amount of creativity where we can bend the rules here and there but all in all I couldn’t write the way I wanted.

 My writing process before this semester was to really just wing it while making sure I hit the points I need to hit. I remember in High School how most of my classmates would always struggle with writing an introduction to their essay, but writing introductions has been something I usually easily completed. Thinking about it now it may be because introductions require the writer to set the scene creatively. There isn’t really a blueprint you can follow for writing an introduction and since my mind was always pondering the idea that I can write however I want writing introductions came naturally to me. I used to also stress about the fact that maybe I’m not being sophisticated enough but that is something I don’t worry much about anymore because the power of words comes in their meaning, not in their sophistication. What I mean by this is that as long as your writing delivers the message you want to convey then you did your job, and yes it may sound nicer with more sophisticated language but that is not what actually matters. When writing my body paragraphs I would actually have a little bit of planning. The way I did it was that I would have two examples from the sources and then I  would talk about their significance so I just planned each body paragraph based on the theme it carried and structure it by having a paragraph for each theme I talk about. I remember struggling with my conclusions and I have to admit that I still do a little because it is hard for me to try to not repeat my exact words from the introduction. It is like I need to make a whole new introduction but since I already wrote one I can’t think of another one without taking from the first. My writing process then was terrible, winging a piece of writing isn’t exactly the best strategy unless your writing creatively but I am happy with how it is evolving. 

I feel that if I look back through my past assignments I can notice a clear evolution. It may not be noticeable to others because they don’t know the thought process I had with each assignment for me it is obvious. I can remember the way I tackled each assignment and the writing process behind them and then compare them to how I would now tackle each assignment. I’m going to make sure I don’t underscore the power reflection on my writings has had on evolving my writing because the reflection was actually a huge help. I have never really done a reflection on my work I would just hand it in and that would be the end for that but reflection allows me to evaluate my writing and see what I can keep or change for next time. 

Starting with the first major assignment of the semester, the source-based essay, I first picked a topic that I knew I would like to learn about. At the time, the Amazon Rainforest was burning so that inspired me to talk about it and climate change as a whole is that we had to choose an article and there were so many about climate change. In my head, I planned a little idea where I would talk about climate change in four subcategories. The categories were: What is happening?, What will happen if we don’t stop it?, What can we do to stop it?, and What is being done to stop it?. This idea may have been my biggest idea to fail of the assignment because I treated the source-based essay where I was to rhetorically analyze articles dealing with my topic as a research essay. I couldn’t find the balance between rhetorical analysis and research and it shows in my writing. If I actually took the time to think about a writing strategy where I made sure to remember to rhetorically analyze my sources I would have done better but that is where I failed. In addition, If I had the same knowledge of genre then that I do now, I think I would have also done better.

The following assignment was the inquiry-based research essay and I felt much more confident in this essay than my last. At this point in the semester, I picked up better techniques and methods for writing. I found the true value peer review can bring, I find it so helpful now seeing how my classmates tackle their assignments and implementing their strategies to my essay was helpful and also their feedback was always helpful so I can understand how my audience feels about what I’m writing so far. I also had a greater understanding of genre at this point and I realized that for this assignment I need to truly follow what I have to do and that was research. I chose a topic that I didn’t know much about except for my own experience and it was something I was fascinated about so I chose to write about the mental health struggles of the children of immigrants in contemporary America. I was able to find so much information about this topic and I was surprised about that but it really helped me find research. Also, I think it was easier for me to make a research essay because I just need to write about what I had learned and not do anything extra in the essay. While writing the essay I also had a conference with you so I can get your professional feedback and I have to say it really helped. The idea to separate all my points with a picture really helped me to structure my essay and hit every point I wanted to. My grade on this assignment was much better and it not from a miracle, it is from the fact that my writing process was evolving. 

My composition in two genres didn’t involve much writing but it definitely included the power of genre. I didn’t know there were so many genres I used to think they were just like fiction, fantasy, mystery, etc. I know now that genre also means the style you write in and the possibilities are vast. I decided to use a comic strip because I wanted to be creative and push myself out of my comfort zone and I also wanted to use a poem because they are effective in portraying feelings. The comic strip was harder than I thought it was going to be, I first found a comic book template and then I drew each drawing on paper and then scanned it to my computer where I used a program called paint.net to color them digitally. Each frame took about half an hour just to color in so it was very labor-intensive. I thought I would finish this comic quickly but it turned out to be the opposite. I used genre to deliver a twist on classic superhero comics by making my own superhero and villain. The villain was mental illness and the superhero was psychiatric help and the story I created was something I was very proud of. If it wasn’t for my heightened knowledge of genre I may have not followed the characteristics a comic strip holds. The next genre I chose was a poem where I wrote in my own style but with sticking to the conventions of a poem. I used stanzas instead of paragraphs and I didn’t really care about grammar, I wanted to show the significance of my words and the feelings they carry. All in all, I think I did a great job with my poem also and I am also very proud of it. This assignment was an eye-opener to the endless genres writers can use to deliver their message. 

What I learned this semester will be something I use in future classrooms but also in future life situations. This semester has taught me to actually plan for my success and follow the conventions needed to get there. I can’t just go around winging everything because then I can’t be sure of the outcome but if I take the time to plan what I am doing and reflect on past judgments then I can have more faith in the decisions I will make. I am grateful for what I learned so thank you, I will make sure to carry the same ideals from the classroom with me for the rest of my life. 

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