My Writing Experience

When I began college in the spring semester my writing had been on hold for eight months. During those wordless months I had not picked up a pencil to write anything significant, because the only thing I was jotting down on paper were addresses and phone numbers. When I started class I was thrilled because I would finally be writing with purpose and structure. I was eager to utilize the writing skills I had learned in the past and put them into practice. At that point all I wanted to do was write. I remember the first notebook entry that we wrote; it was as if I had forgotten how to write. I felt so dumb because I was misspelling words that weren't even that difficult to begin with, but at the same time I was excited because I had really missed it and it just felt great to use my brain again.

During this period my writing has changed dramatically because I came in with blurry ideas regarding writing and gained useful skills and knowledge along with a clearer idea on how to write effective essays. The first essay that was assigned to us was a bit difficult for me because instead of an observational essay I was writing a narrative. I was extremely frustrated because I couldn't distinguish the difference between narration and observation. I didn't understand the gist of the observational essay and in my mind I was doing it right. In the end the workshop was what saved me from failing because the instructor explained to me what I needed to change, add, and what I was doing wrong. Here's an example of what I learned observation is: "At four o’clock sharp, on a Sunday afternoon, a woman in her mid twenty’s with full raspberry lips walked in. She had a glow about herself that reflected on her contagious and bright smile”. This was exactly what I witnessed and I tried to give precise detail about what I had seen, which is what observing is about. After all the trouble "Fitting Room 22" went from a narrative to an observational essay. Writing it gave me skills on how to develop an observational essay.

Another thing that changed in my writing concerns my daily blogs, because when it came to essays I always make an effort to do my best, but when it comes to “normal” blogs I don't even try. In the beginning of the semester my blogs were exceptionally good because I thought of them as essays but towards the end I got lazy and stopped putting so much effort into them. As time went on I perceived them as homework that had to get done either way so it did not matter how I did it as long as I turned it in. If you compare "Passion for salsa" ,which was my second post, to "Bride" you'll notice the difference right away, especially in the introduction. My introduction for "Passion for Salsa" went something like this: "Salsa is one of the most universal Latin dances that exist. People of all colors, shapes and sizes practice this dance. No matter where you come from, anyone is capable of dancing salsa. The rhythm is so contagious that once you hear the music you can’t stay still." Salsa makes you feel the essence of passion for music and dancing. As you can see it introduces salsa pretty well providing you with a little bit of background. Now compare this to: "The color of the photograph has only shades of white and black, which I think is perfect because it reflects the bride’s gloomy feelings. Black usually represents any feelings of darkness and sadness." These two sentences are describing a photograph not introducing it. There is no concrete introduction what so ever in this blog.

My strengths as a writer are in organization and focus. These strengths are evident in the "Bagel or Tuna" essay. I think I did an excellent job focusing only on my reflection which was an important element to the assignment because the purpose of the essay was to reflect and that was all. I also organized it well enough that everything seems to flow just right. I really think this essay shows my potential as a writer. What I’m still trying to work on is on word choice and conventions because I’m horrible at it. I mean I still need a thesaurus so I can prevent myself from repeating the same word over and over again. A dictionary also is useful to me because my vocabulary is not that great and many times I need clarification on words.