First Year Writing Reflection

The writing process has always been a challenge for me. Especially if it has a due date. In the past, I have always procrastinated the process and that never ended well. I knew something had to be done and I needed to come up with ways to make writing a little easier. So, I sat down and I started to look at writing in smaller steps. I started to plan how I was going to finish a paper without getting so anxious and overwhelmed. This process has helped me a lot along the way and I am going to share my process with you.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve struggled with writing. It just wasn’t something that came natural to me and always resulted in a very uncomfortable process. Throughout this class, I have become more comfortable with writing and its components. Though, this is only writing 101, my skill level has increased immensely. Before starting this course, writing was uncomfortable and confusing, but towards the end, my knowledge has expanded and I can more comfortably take on the majority of writing assignments.

The realization growing up through school that not all of what I had been told were mandatory in writing, but in fact flexible changed my perspective in my approach on writing. While the task of writing itself was still distasteful, the approach to it was less so. My writing process has changed through the years I would typically start off with an outline on the first day and begin to write as soon as the outline was completed. While the method I had used in the past was probably the better way to do it; the current process I use has made writing a paper for school more bearable. Another major factor on the way I approach writing was my introduction into creative writing a process by which to quickly and easily form ideas and cohesion. Though the genre in which I normally write in is primarily fiction the exploration different types of fiction gives me the perspective of writing with a new approach for the new challenge. Creative writing has also changed the way I thought about my original distaste for writing, into a passion, though academic writing still is not my favorite.

My writing process has drastically changed in the last few months. I am at a point where I still make mistakes, but the fear is gone. Currently coming out of WAC101. The most important thing I have taken away was to write often and then rewrite. This has been extremely beneficial in helping my comfort level, approach, and process to writing. Before I started that class I had a fear to write with constantly questioning every sentence I jotted down, asking myself is it good enough? What will someone say about that? Now, I feel I have the ability to write to a few different audiences with structure and substance. Not saying I am an amazing writer now because I am still far from good.

Reflecting at my own writing process and using my experiences as a way to shape my future practice as an English teacher, has brought light to the concepts of style, providing opportunities for multiple forms of writing, creating low-stakes writing opportunities, addressing authentic audiences, and establishing non-judgmental/safe space classrooms. Based on the theory that Milner et al. outline in the "Process Model," (2012, p.339) I would almost explicitly follow this pedagogy as a way to help students explore writing. For example, I would focus on the steps relating to revision (step 2), teaching multiple forms of writing (step 3), creating opportunities for teacher conferences (Step 4), and providing students with authentic, and divers audiences

Over the past semester my writing has improved in three specific areas: extending the length of my writing so that it is more than just 300 words per piece of writing. Clarifying and giving my writing more detail so that it is easier to understand and follow. And finally by improving my spelling and punctuation throughout my piece instead of just spell checking the first few paragraphs.

Throughout the timespan of a semester could you improve your writing to where there would be noticeable differences? When writing for English 1010, I noticed that there was obvious weaknesses and minimal strengths or lack thereof in my writing abilities. In many ways I do believe that I was able to improve in areas pertaining to reading, thinking, researching, and writing.

At the beginning of this course, I was convinced that success would come relatively easy. I had imagined there being few assignments with the guidelines for papers and assignments being broad. I soon came to the realization that I would have my compositional skills pushed to the limit. Although I entered the course with a adequate level of competency in writing, I significantly had my knowledge and skills in academic writing expanded as showcased in the progression of my assignments. I have learned proper procedure for MLA formatting, as well as proper rhetorical analysis, as opposed to synopsis. My writing has become more refined as well as focused. I am better able to concentrate on proper analysis, so while this is my biggest area of improvement,

Most of us were in a situation when we had to say: “I am not too good at it.”, or “I can try, but it is not my field”. For example, somebody will ask me to draw a picture of a cat. I will try. I have seen cats before, know how to operate a pencil, have a flat piece of paper. I am even passing by art gallery on the regular basis, on my way to work. But I still cannot be sure you will not mistake my picture of a cat for a picture of a tractor or an intergalactic battlefield scene. That is how I feel about assignment to write about my writing process. So far, mine I can divide in three steps.

Before taking this course in-depth writing and research was a task I didn’t have to perform often. As a result, I never thought about the writing process or the details I put into a paper. E.L. Doctorow said “Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader- not the fact it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” Reflecting before my technical writing course I would have looked at this quote as just another quote on the internet. Based off some of the lessons I’ve learned in this course to me the quote means when I’m writing I should use concrete details vs abstract. Without the writer saying it’s raining the reader know by the concrete details the writer use.

Before entering English 1301, I had my doubts about what this class was going to consist of. Considering this is a college level English class, and a subject I struggled in, my worries were not at ease. Throughout the year, my understanding and comprehension of the writing process, as well as how to write different varieties of writing, have strengthened. After partaking in this course, I am confident I have met the student learning outcomes.

Throughout this course, I have learned necessary skills used to analyze and respond to an argument, as well as how to develop my own. When I first started this class, I had a broad understanding of how to analyze a work and why that would be useful for my writing. Now, I know the proper steps behind analyzing a work and then synthesizing the information into my own essay. Looking back at the first three major papers in this course, I have been able to identify some of the strengths as well as some of the weaknesses within my writing, in order to create a plan of action for the last paper of the term.

This class has helped me to improve my writing in many ways. Though I do not manage my time as well as I would like to at the moment, I have evolved this aspect of my writing vastly. At the beginning of the semester, it took anywhere between two and four hours to complete an essay, and I would wait until the very last minute to even begin writing. I have learned how to properly manage my time in order to write my essays in a shorter amount of time. I have also increased my ability to find and present sources in an academic essay. Though I still need to polish my ability to present information without bias, I am able to find relevant information in order to further prove my point in an essay. Overall, this class has taught me many valuable things

As I grew up, I felt I took advantage of the importance of writing and reading. It wasn't until my ninth grade year in honors english I learned the real challenge of perfecting a paper. Before I started the class, I was in the habit of turning in terrible first drafts as my finals. I was at a comfortable state with not putting any effort into my work and just getting it over with. I felt teachers almost participated in this by passing me along without actually helping me in my struggle with writing. Little did i know the crime I was committing on only having my eye set on receiving a

I believe that my approach to writing has changed over the course of the semester. My confidence in my writing has grown, as well as my knowledge in sentence structure, grammar, and word choice. At the beginning of the year, I doubted my writing abilities, but at this point, I feel as though I can handle large, intricate papers. I did not expect my writing to change drastically, but I did expect the small, technical details in my papers to improve, and I think they did. Overall, I have grown about as much as I expected to as a writer, and it has been very beneficial.