Personal Narrative: Overcoming My Fear Of Writing

Writing has always been my most difficult part of English. Reading, on the other hand, is something I could do all day; however, with writing, I grimace just thinking about it. It was not that I did not have anything to say, because I actually have quite a bit to say. I just could never figure out how to phrase what I had to say in just right way on the page. My mom taught me to read and write at a young age. After that, I would devour any book that I could get my hands on. However, I have had trouble with writing since it became more than just my alphabet and numbers.

Writing has never come easy to me. It may be due to my short attention span or the fact I am not much of a reader. When I was younger

Throughout my entire life – just like anyone else – English and writing papers has been present. In our society, writing papers is a necessary part of educating our youth and helping them to become smarter individuals. For me, these papers have always been a dreaded experience. As soon as a teacher starts talking about a paper that is coming up, my brain instantly starts freaking out. From one-page papers that had to be written in middle school, to a twenty minute presentation I had to give at the end of my senior year – and everything in between – my fear of writing spans over most of my life and doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

It wasn’t until this class, where I was told that I was not being asked to explain in great detail what has shaped me into this amazing writer that I am today, but instead to explain what type of writing I feel comfortable with. At that point I realized that this assignment may not be quite as difficult as I thought.

When I took this English 101 class four months ago, I wanted to learn how to develop my writing skills and to communicate my thoughts clearly in writing using the English language. My parents are both French specking Cameroon, so I grew up in a French specking house. Before I assume everyone could understand what I was writing and I did not put too much effort to learn the technicalities of the English language.

Writing is always a struggle. You have to analyze texts, search for sources, write multiple rough drafts, check for spelling and grammar issues, cite your sources, and support your statements with facts. The list goes even longer, but this is just enough to make anybody stressed. Everyone can relate to the struggles of writing, and personally, I have fallen victim to many of these struggles. However, even though writing is very difficult, you can gain experience on how to write successfully.

Until that time, I loved writing just as much as I loved math. It was one of my strengths. I was good at it, and I enjoyed it. If anything, I thought I might fail citizenship. How could I have screwed up writing? I surely spelled every word correctly,

Writing has always been one of those things that I have had to work at to get words on paper that is not the case anymore. For some reason just letting myself free write for a couple weeks has suddenly made it much easier for me to write, and write significantly

My thoughts on writing is why do I need to write out my thoughts on a sheet of paper because to me I see it has tedious. What is my opinion in a world full of opinions. In a class setting it fits to, “I would like to know if you’re getting the materials that I have provided to you.” But writing to me is pointless if I wanted to get my point across to you I would of spoke to you about the situation or assignment. But that just

The day went on as it usually did, with tutors coming in and out for different subjects. Suddenly, the writing tutor came in. She told us that she was handing back our essays (every week we write essays that she eventually grades). She called out names for people to get their essays. I kept anticipating my name to be called out next, but it never came. Confused, I walked up to her and asked her for my essay. She said she didn't have it, but that she would look for it during my next class. My math teacher then came in, signaling the start of math

English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.

Since the first day of 8th grade I have dramatically improved my writing skills. I never worked hard on my papers since before 8th and I was never a good writer. Now I have come to a point where I am more productive and creative when I write and I worked harder than I used to.

Not only had I put a lot of work into composing the paper, but also the majority of the class had received much higher grades. Until this point I had always felt very capable of reaching my academic goals however when I received my grade I felt very incompetent and was unsure of my abilities as a writer. Although it was a negative experience it showed me the skills I could and still can improve upon such as editing.

Lacking experience in writing and reading, English is my most feared subject. It is the one and only vulnerable spot in my otherwise invincible academic armor. I hate writing and I despise reading. Other than magazines, I cannot recall reading anything since "The Crucible" which was a teacher assigned book in my sophomore high school English class. Not that I read a lot before that, I don't remember reading any books in my middle school years neither. Now, with this writing assignment since a long time, my brain feels like an old rusty engine of an 81 Porsche cranking up for the first time in years, readying to compete in the heat.

Writing has always been something I dread. It’s weird because I love talking and telling stories, but the moment I have to write it all down on paper, I become frantic. It’s almost as if a horse race just begun in my mind, with hundreds of horses, or words, running through my mind, unable to place them in chronological order. Because I struggle to form satisfying sentence structure, it takes me hours, sometimes even days, to write one paper. It’s not that I think I’m a “bad writer,” I just get discouraged easily. Needless to say, I don’t think highly of my writing skills. When I was little I loved to both read and write. I read just about any book I could get my hands on, and my journal was my go to for my daily adventures. Although it’s