My Writing Experience

A person can read and write a great deal in one day whether they realize it or not. Whether it be texting a friend or reading a textbook for a certain class, you are reading and writing constantly and a daily basis. What surprised me the most about the reading and writing that I did on Sunday was how much I am reading and writing on my phone. Whether I am texting to coordinate plans with a friend for the night or reading a random article I saw while reading a Facebook news feed, I am constantly reading and writing on my phone. I never considered it reading and writing when I used my phone, I just saw it as looking at my phone. Just staring at this four-inch screen for some sort of entertainment. What also surprised me was how much we read without noticing it. You can walk down State Street and you will be constantly reading by looking at stores, posters, or even words on a bus that is passing by. Our eyes and brains are looking at and reading words all the time.

While writing might seem like a simple task, it can be a daunting task for a lot of people. Sometimes it can be hard to express the ideas in your mind in the words of a paper. This results in a disconnect with what a writer may actually think. A great writer is one that can transform his thoughts into words perfectly. This is a craft that takes many years to perfect, which is why writing is troublesome for a lot of us. Many students also have had bad experiences with writing. Maybe they had a teacher that didn’t try to support them and their writing. They might not have ever gotten the help they needed and may feel that they are in a hole where their writing can’t get better. At this point, they just accept that their writing will never get better.

During my past writing experience, I have struggled with formulating and initiating interesting points of discussion, grammar, and transitions. I have often sat down to work on a paper and found myself completely drawing a blank on anything interesting to write about. Whether I am given a specific prompt or general topic to discuss, I constantly struggle with finding a starting point. Once I do, I become too focused on trying to create a poetic sounding paper, rather than focusing on the main discussion points. In some ways, focusing on making my papers poetic have added detail and depth to my writing. However, this frequently distracts me from my papers main theme. One of my biggest drawbacks with writing has always been proper grammar usage.

Lacking experience in writing and reading, English is my most feared subject. It is the one and only vulnerable spot in my in my mind. I hate writing and I hated reading, other than sports pages in the newspaper or sports books. My earliest time that I started reading and writing was extremely abhorrent for me. Sometimes, you could even say that some of these experiences bothered me. It was quite hard because I wasn’t able to focus on what I need to do. I was even struggling to write my own name. The young mind that I had, it was so easy to get distracted on what I need to learn and also accomplish, especially for the future ahead of me.

I’ve done multiple academic writing throughout high school and couple more years in college. Half of all the writing I’ve done in high school has been in my native language; Amharic.

Though the definition of a “good paper” is subjective, there are many universal qualities that produce a strong, academic writing. All rhetoric is comprised of an issue, claim, persuasion, audience, evidence, reasoning, assumptions, and appeals. There is not only vast variation in these subfields, but differences in a writer’s style. Nonetheless, there are some characteristics that are apparent in all styles of writing that help to bolster the argument.

This year, I was challenged as a writer to graduate from childlike formulaic writing. In Composition I, the first week of class resulted in unnerving changes. We were rid of the impeding constraints of a formula and were never assigned topics. I’ll admit at first it was a little difficult having neither a formula nor assigned topic, but it was also freeing. Being able to freely write has allowed me to grow and not limit my flourishing abilities.

For as long as I can remember, reading has always been a hobby of mine. Both of my parents encouraged me at a young age to pick up books, and they furthered this by reading to me often. They influenced my interest in fiction and nonfiction, and when my sister was born, I would do the same for her. Even though I still like to read, I have found more hobbies and my interests have changed. Nevertheless, I still have the same enjoyment reading my favorite literature that I had when I was little. Also, I have developed a fondness for writing in the last few years as well.

Employers and accredited business schools recognize that “good writing skills” are essential for an individual to have in order to thrive in a professional and academic environment. “If both employer and educators recognize the importance of good writing skills, why do they continue to bemoan the lack of such skills” (Simkin, Crew, & Groves, 2012, p. 3-8)? At this time we are going to address “Student Perceptions of Their Writing Skills: Myth and Reality” to further answer these questions. Hopefully, after engaging in this essay, an assessment of your own writing perceptions will ignite a desire for you to become a more effective writer.

This research aims to explain why students do not pose college-level writing skills. A variety of explanations are listed and two hypotheses are made and investigated by the researchers. The first one is that students are not aware of the importance of writing well to their future careers, and the second one is that they believe they have already had higher than average writing skills when they are actually not. However, there are some flaws exist in the survey they used.

Professional writing in academic and professional spaces has allowed me to develop my thoughts with academic evidence and improve my writing. I always struggled academically in writing all throughout high school. One reason being was that I was never taught the mechanics of the English grammar. So as a result, I tend to overthink my thoughts which hinder me from saying what I really want to say, eloquently. However, I never allowed my weakness in writing to hold me back from achieving what I want academically. Throughout college, I spent numerous days and nights at the writing center to improve my writing skills. My dedication and time I put into my writing is not for a grade but for my confidence. I am not quite there as yet where I am confident in my writing, but throughout my graduate program I have had a tremendous amount of writing assignments where I needed and gained the skills in writing to demonstrate my ideas.

Changes in technology and society have changed and will continue to transform the ways in which we think and communicate. Students must be ready for the new demands (Dixon, Cassady, Cross & Williams, 2005). In society, English forms the foundation for effective communication. Academic success requires writing skills (Castek et al, 2007). Writing is hard work; individuals think it is better to talk than write. Social and psychological factors such as social status, background, and age affect writing skills (Reeves & Stanford, 2009). Edwards-Groves (2011) rants that students must be taught the writing process. This will help students write in any situation. Writing should not be confined to just English classes but across all disciplines. Anecdotal evidence suggest students and faculty believe that learners improve their writing skills and subject area knowledge in writing across the disciplines (Hartley, Howe & McKeachie, 2001). All disciplines have their own form and conventions. If students are going to become better writers, they must write on a regular basis.

Students who have good skills in writing have better potentials in their academic outcomes and beyond. The ability to write well is associated with quality learning and it is crucial

As a writer I have many talents and struggles. When I was younger I would write crazy stories of adventures inside tv shows, or multiple mystery cases that stood out to me and inspired me to write in the horror genre. This was just me free writing throughout elementary and middle school, but once I hit high school writing wasn’t my favorite thing in the world. In high school the minute we enter we learn the most limited format of writing and once I was introduced to it, little by little I lost interest of any writing assignments. Back then I had zero troubles coming up with topics to discuss and write about, in addition I was able to show my creative side in writing. Some cons in my writing is my vocabulary and my transitions throughout paragraphs, and trying to get to the point. They’re not really bad, but I believe it’s a problem that needs improvement. Before I took this class I was in English 9, and American Literature. These classes were so boring and there was too much rules on how I should write and express my opinions on important topics, that I really just couldn’t express much. After that, this year I took Sci Fi, which is a class that taught the history of Science Fiction and we read and watch great science fiction materials. I really enjoyed this class mostly because my teacher gave me the chance to write different perspectives on topics that I wouldn’t really expose myself to. It also gave me the opportunity to bring my voice back in some of my essays which was

As I have lacked experience in reading and writing English has become my most feared subject. It happens to be my only weak spot in my perfect academic record. Other than social media, I cannot recall reading anything since “Shakespeare” it was assigned to me by my 10th grade English teacher. Not that I read a great deal before that, I don’t recall persuing any books in my past years of school either. When it comes to English, my brain feels like rusty gear covered in spider webs in an old machine trying to start up for the first time in centuries.