Personal Narrative: My Challenges As A Writer

I have always struggled with my writing assignments. If I had the option not to write I would take that option with no hesitation. I truly dreaded it, when we have to type essays. Now, I have been into two English classes where I have felt a little more comfortable in being able to write something without being so embarrassed or ashamed in what I’m about to turn it. I still feel horrible about my spelling and grammar.

Many people enjoy and have fun writing, but then again, many people dislike having to write, including me. Writing has always been something I was never really interested on for many reasons.

In my first “Who I am as a Writer” paper I stated how one of the areas that I needed to improve was writing. I went into more depth talking about how my writing is not descriptive enough and how I cannot grab the reader's attention. Even though I still need to continue making improvements, I have gotten better in both of these aspects. Compared to my papers in high school my introduction paragraphs have improved.

This is the 25 minute writing challenge, where I’m not allowed to use the backspace button on my keyboard or edit what I’m typing. There are probably going to be many typos in this small paper, but that’s apart of the challenge as I can't edit anything. I honestly have no clue what to write about, but atleast I’m 3 minutes in right now.

This semester involved many writings that challenged my process in ways big and small. The variety of prompts each had their own details that required me to change perspectives as well as research topics to test my abilities as a writer. The topic that I felt helped me grow as a writer the most was the Personal Narrative. This essays caused me to think in its own way and only after completion was I able to effectively use the methods it taught me in my other assignments.

My identity as a writer comes from how I view a piece of writing. I view it as art. To create something that intrigues someone, that makes them angry, sad, or confused is my goal when I write. I want the audience to feel something. It just so happens that for most people, writing with the strategy of pathos in mind is always extremely effective. My environment growing up was that of complete creative freedom and I had the privilege to be able to explore my interests at such a young age. My experience with growing my skills as a writer I think started with my love for creating artsy things if you will, but after many years of being stuck as a novice, I developed exponentially during my high school years. I came into my own as a student and learned how to let my longing to stay creative creep into every project I could get my hands on. But I struggled where I perceived creativity wasn't needed i.e. math and history. I became uninterested and skated by in that aspect. Why would I put so much of my time into something that so strongly opposed who I am as a person?

Writing, when given a prompt or focus point, comes more naturally to me than some other things. I find writing and composing soothing and meditative, therefore I enjoy to write in a quiet environment such as my room, a classroom, or library. The room must be somewhat calm in order for me to process my thoughts in an effective, orderly manner that I can then write down. I do little writing outside of school and class work, so the majority of my writing is for academic purposes. Whenever I formally sit down to write an essay or prompt, I must have soft music or some type of noise playing because if the room is too quiet, I tend to become distracted. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if the room is too loud, it is impossible for me to focus

One of my strength as a writer is that I always have something to say. It is not hard for me to come up with a topic to write or speak about. It is important that I know and understand the audience in which I am writing. I would have to say my challenges are staying focus on topic during a writing assignment. Brainstorming can be difficult at times. I come up with all types of ideas, but struggle sometimes choosing which ones to use in my writing.

As a writer, there are many challenges I face, requiring strength in different areas in order to overcome them. My greatest challenges would be momentum, writer’s block, and confidence. When a writer understands their challenges they can become their greatest strengths. When I am writing it is important to have the adequate momentum to get from notes to final draft. I often find myself losing steam and have difficulty getting my momentum back. Allowing myself to get distracted, taking too many breaks, or starting my writing when I know I will not have time to complete it all, contributes to my failed momentum. Writer’s block can easily be considered the Achilles heel for all authors. When I can’t form a thought worth writing down, I

I have always loved writing ever since we started having writing prompts in elementary school. I was always so excited to give out a story. I would make these elaborate stories that evolved some fantasy aspects. The only thing that would mess me up in my writing process is that I would have a difficult time setting up the start of the story. The video talked about this, and advised me to get a journal or diary. This would help me write anyway I like without judgment. I am fairly new to the revision part of writing. I would always turn in my draft as is, but now that I think about I would love someone who can give me some advice on my drafts. I've never had a full writing process myself. This has lead to writer's block in the past drafts.

Within the past semester I have learned many critical lessons about my style of writing as a reader and thinker, and the steps and skills it takes to improve this art. As I wrote the short story analysis, poetry analysis, analysis of drama, and novel analysis I believe in the process of writing them, I became a significantly better writer. Because I am a systematically inclined thinker, it was difficult for me to grasp the conceptual tactics within writing. Luckily, the outlines and links you provided us helped me allocate the main points (and highlights) in my papers. This type of formatting allowed me to organize my whole essay so I know what I need to include in each paragraph. Because of this, I was able to connect my ideas and data in a more concise manner, instead of having my ideas strewn about.

There were many challenges for me in my past. I was considered an ESL student during Kindergarten because I was reported with a communication disorder called, speech and impaired. This disordered ruined my school years up to middle school, I was placed with this mentality that I am not worthy to take any Honors classes nor for what grade I was in. My friends and classmates were excelling while I was remaining with the same knowledge as before. However, Music and Soccer brought my despondency up since it was the only thing I was good at the time. Every day as a kid in Middle and High school, I would get home, open my instrument case, and play my trumpet for hours because I knew I was getting better at something. ( doing something right)

My 10th grade year in High School was a huge trial for me. I felt like I had every possible obstacle imaginable against me not to finish, but I was determined to reach my goal no matter what. I fought hard through my sophomore year of high school. The weight on my shoulders was heavy, I had to wake up at 5:30a.m. every morning for not only myself but for my younger brother too. While I get myself ready for school I have to make sure my little brother isn't slacking, otherwise we both would be late for school. I arrive at school before 7:30a.m so I'm not late, I go to my first period class, which was Chemistry,and work in the school’s chemlab. Which by the way was to early to have kids mixing dangerous chemical and setting things on fire. I then go to first year spanish for my second class which was by far one of my best class of the day because the teacher didn't give that much work and what she did give us would be very easy.

Many times my efforts were not positively reflected through my grades. These disappointments remind me that I must take a step back when I become overwhelmed, and remember that I am equipped with the right work ethic, attitude, and determination to handle new challenges. Before the start of most school days, I spent time with teachers reviewing the previous night’s homework that I persistently fumbled through. Countless hours were spent watching tutorials and reinforcing class notes with my dad. Like mastering manual driving, I determinedly redirected focus towards what I knew I could achieve in math, instead of fearing the ride to get there. By focusing on my strengths, I was able to push myself daily, and strengthen skills to improve my quarter grades, earn an A on my semester exam, and celebrate these

One of my challenges in life was the time when I failed grade 7 science. I failed grade seven science because I wasn't paying attention in class and I never did any homework. I overcame this obstacle by studying over summer and re reading the textbook. This experience helped me to be better in school and grow my knowledge because through failure I became better and I grew from my mistakes. My work was better in grade 8 and 9 because I learned from my mistakes and it helped me grow. Things were different in grade 8 and 9 because I had learned from my mistakes and I grew in an academic way. For example in grade 8 I passed science with an 80%+ mark, this proves that I overcame my obstacle by getting a great final grade in grade 8. And now science is my favorite subject. I genuinely like science, I like to educate myself on the newest and coolest science news because I show great interest.