Outline: My Relationship With Writing

There are many who strive to become famous writers and although some succeed, many do not find such great prosperity. In the words of bestselling author Stephen King, “while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one,” (142). King’s thesis from his novel On Writing can be debated because with “hard work, dedication, and timely help” it is possible for a writer of any skill level to improve to become better. On Writing is intended to teach the basic skills of writing so readers can develop writing skills to progress to be better writers. If one has passion for writing, patience, and the willingness to learn they will succeed in becoming great writers.

Everyone knows what writing is to one extent or another, but we all have different definitions of how it should be done and varying degrees of seriousness about the art. We all have a process of writing, but each is unique to ourselves and our own experiences. Annie Dillard and Stephen King are two well known authors who have published many pieces, two of which describe how they view the writing process and let their readers get a peek of what goes on through their minds when they write. These two pieces are Dillard’s The Writing Life and King’s “What Writing Is.”

All writing comes in many different styles and attracts a certain audience in which it strikes their minds and opens them up to a new world of thinking or looking at things. “Writing to Connect” by Mary Pipher tells about this concept and elaborates on it greatly to encourage aspiring writers who may be feeling discouraged. Writing to Connect is a chapter in Mary Pipher’s newest book Writing to Change the World, where she discusses the use of powerful writing, changing aspects of the way people view things, and inspiring others to share their own stories and never be afraid of what you feel needs to be shared. Pipher directs the chapter toward aspiring writers to tell her audience they should never give up and inspires them with the use of rhetorical choices. Specific rhetorical choices provide further support for Pipher’s purpose of writing the chapter, she effectively writes to show her audience it’s never wrong to write what they feel, and to take chances in their writing. In “Writing to Connect” by Mary Pipher, she urges aspiring writers to push past their comfort zone of writing with the use of identification, personal anecdotes, and historical texts/occasions to effectively persuade them to never give up on what they feel needs to be said through writing.

From writing thoughtful poems to research papers, I have experienced composing a diverse portfolio of literary analysis and criticisms throughout the school year. I started out the year writing minimally. By the end of the year, I noticed I was able to express my ideas and thoughts in a more clear and concise way on paper. Ultimately, each composition allowed me to widen my horizons as a writer and see how I could improve as a writer.

In the short essay, “Becoming a Writer,” penned by Russell Baker, he spoke of a memory from his past that later changed his perception of writing. After reading his piece, I reviewed the response questions listed below the essay to further my understanding of the piece. Almost like looking through a list of prompts as Russell did.

"To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one" (95).

Marian Evans Lewes relates to aspiring writers by subtly elucidating her own anticipation in order to draw attention to the common misconceptions young people possess about writing. Lewes quickly states how “exultation is a dream before achievement and rarely comes after” (Lewes 8-9). By creating a short and concise sentence, Lewes quickly informs the reader of how in one’s youth, triumph and elation are expected results of one’s work. Yet the reality is that these are attributes that scarcely accompany one’s achievement. Lewes immediately juxtaposes her previously succinct point what that of a lengthy conclusion she has developed. She determines how after one has completed a piece of writing they feel as though their bodies became the system in which writing “develop[s] and grow[s] by some force of which one’s own life has only served as a vehicle and that what is left of oneself is only a poor husk” (11-13). Lewes contrast in

I 've always liked writing. Even before I knew how to write I would make up stories and pretend to write them down. Each year in high school I 've written a multitude of essays on varying topics. I have selected three of these writings from each of my years in high school to examine as part of this rhetorical analysis of my writing history. As I 've grown older, my writing style has changed and I 've learned more about the world and developed my own personal writing voice more and more.

In chapter 3 of Everyone’s an Author, the main purpose is to discuss the writing process and its components. The chapter emphasizes the idea that practice makes perfect and it may take time and patience to find the writing process that works well for you. In order to find a writing process that leads to you working the most efficiently, one must approach their writing and take note of the habits they make, and analyze whether or not they work well.

My relationship with writing could have culminated into three words; fear, quality, and of course no relationship is complete without excitement. Like any new relationship, emotions can determine the success or demise of the relationship. These emotions all work to the betterment of the writer and the writing relationship, each emotion feeding ever so slightly off one another. Exploring these writing relations reveal the truth where my writing relationship is concerned.

Writing is a practice that most of us were taught when we were young. We were taught the basics of grammar, how to form a sentence, conjunction words, how to write paragraphs and more. Although we have learned this skill while growing up and have used the skill every year after entering kindergarten, this does not mean our writing process will ensure the best work. The authors that I chose each encourage their audience to excel in the art of writing in their own way to help with the writing process.

Have you ever been given an assignment where you say to yourself, “how the heck am I going to do this?” or maybe, “what am I supposed to write about?” Well that’s exactly how I felt, thought, and did with this writing journey. Coming up with something to say about my writing journey has been difficult. I would be bold enough to say nearly impossible. So impossible it’s like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. Okay that might be an exaggeration, but it has been difficult. The idea that I have a writing journey I understand. But thinking of an event or something that has made my writing the way it is has been difficult. So, what I’ve decided to do then is to write about my writing journey writing this paper.

“To write to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that can communicate with images and words that I can do it well. A lack of belief in my creative self is a lack of belief in my total self and vice versa- I cannot separate my writing from any part of my life. It is all one” (95).

This semester I was surprised by how much I actually learned and developed my writing skills. I was given the opportunity to learn the many steps that it is required to become a good writer. Writing requires a lot of work. It consists of various steps; prewriting, drafting, rewriting, proofreading and publishing. . All of these components are extremely important, and necessary, and will need to be follow to improve student’s writing.

If you ever entertained any ideas about writing professionally, you will want to look at setting long-term goals as a writer. Create a big picture: what kind of writing will you be doing further down the road? Would you like to a published novelist with a library of books to your credit? Do you intend to be a nationally-acclaimed reviewer for cultural magazines? What is it you are hoping to achieve for the future?