Personal Writing : Personal Aspects Of Personal Experience In Writing

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.

My reflective thoughts on Donald Murray's "All writing is Autobiography", are easily aligned with this work as it continuously offered textual examples to the reader from fiction and non-fictional viewpoints, as to the fundamental notion that all writing is autobiography. Murray without a doubt creates an argument about the affect a person's experience shape the outcome of any work a writer may produce, in which I agree. For example, Donald Murray's poem "Black Ice" is written with an autobiographical voice, although most details did not take place-- he admits, but the poem continued to bring forth an organic rhythm of story telling without any hints of small truths while Murray injects the extra influencing details. Murray

As a fellow writer, have you ever wondered why personal non-fiction writers such as Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, and Alice Walker are considered “great” writers? What do they bring to the table that other personal non-fiction writers do not? For starters, Joan Didion has an unmistakable writing style, and in one of her most famous essays “The White Album”, Didion gives her essay a unique jazzy tone. Annie Dillard’s eye for descriptive detail and imagery is impeccable throughout her essay “Total Eclipse”. The way Alice Walker is able to connect with her audience through her writing is absolutely stunning in “Looking for Zora”. So, the question “what makes an essay a “good” personal non-fiction essay evolves into the following question: how can three essays that are completely different all be considered “great”? The answer is simple. Didion’s, Dillard’s, and Walker’s essays are connected by one common factor. They are all memorable. In their own way, they are able to connect with their audience through different elements of writing. A writer’s goal in writing an essay is to be memorable and leave their audience wanting to read more; however, they must utilize the elements of writing such as style, tone, detail, imagery, etc. like great personal non-fiction authors to be considered great.

It is within the human nature to be interested in other people’s experiences. Whether it be with reality shows or blog posts, people like to hear different incidents through diverse perspectives. Writers take advantage of this curiosity and try to tie experiences into their works. Many times writers will include experiences of their own in order to convince their audience of their perspective on a subject. These personal experiences are done in order to make an impact on the audience and it is written in a certain way to make it the most efficient for the readers. The use of personal anecdotes is effective when details are described to the point where readers can create their own opinions, when they are used as the main topic against an argument as opposed to being an unimportant detail, and when it has the ability to appeal to the audience’s emotion.

• empathy is created as we grow fond of the protagonist who shares a story of hardship

Personal narratives are often written when the author feels compelled to tell their story, usually they write them about a significant event. Going back to Columbus, the early explorers and settlers took to writing personal narratives to tell their story of what they found in the New World. The New World has a geography that is unique to each area. One thing all of the early explorers and settlers to the new world had in common was that they all had to deal with the Indians. In each area there are differnat tribes of Indians, it is for that reason the personal narratives written by the explorers and settellers are different from each other. The result of which meant that all of them had different experiences to write about in the

Why does an author write about his/her feelings? Or maybe even why do they express their ideas? Jamaica Kincaid, the author of A Small Place talks about the struggles she experienced through her life. The key concept of her essay was various dealings she had during the British ruling in Antigua. Understanding her point of view may be difficult, but one may get an idea of her thoughts by looking through a Marxist, Postcolonial, and a Psychological lens.

Literary works have become one of the most preferred ways for people to express themselves and voice their concerns and opinions on societal issues. Through such pieces of work, authors are able to educate and critique the society at large, often forcing people to reconsider their views on certain matters. This has an overall effect of pushing them to reconsider the effect of their actions and errors as regards the issues in question. For others, writing about real life situations is most effective in communicating with their readers. Victims of racial discrimination may opt to put their ordeals down in black and white, mush the same way those who find themselves at the receiving end of sexual harassment may choose to write about their experiences. Arguably, the effect achieved is greater, in opposition to that of works of fiction. Even where a book is fictitious, more insight and connection to real life is achieved if the story is built around real life events and situations. Nancy Mairs does excellent in expressing herself through her spiritual autobiography; Waist-High in the World.

thought, and experiences instead of only hearing from one person. Having style in stories like

Russell Baker, a popular journalist, admitted that at one point in his life he had trouble writing. In his article, “ Discovering the Power of My Words” he explains how he found his writing process. In his junior year of high school, his English teacher assigned an essay asking the student what they had done over their summer vacation. Baker was confused and did not know what to write but then had the idea to write about his first experience eating spaghetti with his family. “Suddenly I wanted to write about that, about the warmth and good feeling of it, but I wanted to put it down simply for my own joy, not for Mr. Fleagle. It was a moment I wanted to recapture and hold for myself. I wanted to relive the pleasure of an evening at New Street. To write it as I wanted, however, would violate all the rules of formal composition I’d learned in school, and Mr. Fleagle would surely give it a failing grade. Never mind. I would write something else for Mr. Fleagle after I had written this thing for myself.” (Baker 51) Baker encourages his audience by stating that one should write about experiences that they have had or anything that they have knowledge on. This will make you feel more comfortable. The writing will also be natural and more enjoyable to read. When he uses this method of writing, not only does he get a good grade on his paper, but he saw the enjoyment that it brought his classmates when his paper was read out loud.

because through his first person narrative, the reader is drawn to his sensitive nature, his

As an example, he uses personal pronouns to tell his own personal experiences. By doing so, he is appealing and strengthening his ethos: “My family experience traces the phenomenon to the school library. Our youngest daughter brought home a copy around year four, when she was 9. ” By including his own experiences he is telling the reader, that he has

It is also assumed that the act of telling a story can provide insight into past, present and future events (Espinoza, 1997). By going through this process, individuals can find the importance of certain events and assign roles to people who are a part of their story. This act can allow a client to find new meaning and understanding to their reality (Espinoza, 1997). Not only is a

I love reading books and telling stories. I choose stories and books that I can relate to. When I feel a connection with the writer, I enjoy the book more. Using my experiences as a reader, I try to find ways to connect with my audience while writing and I found that story telling is the key to that connection. Storytelling is a great element to use when writing. It is not only a way to grab the audience’s attention; it is also a way to connect with them. I’m a great storyteller, because I always add my personal experiences to my writing and it helps me connect with my

All throughout my years of schooling, I’ve had just about, one paper that was about one page long, due every year. My papers never had to be more than one page in length. Therefore, I did not have to do much writing or do many essays. Surely not enough to remember any of the assignments. Writing has never been something I enjoyed doing, so I never bothered to many any memories of my writing experiences. I did not think it was necessary to remember any of them since I only had to do them to get a grade. The only writing experience I remember was the first assignment I had in this English 100 class about a writing experience. All week long, I sat there thinking about what to write about, but nothing came to mind as a topic. Then, one thing came to mind, but it was so very vague, I could not write the length that was needed for the assignment. I could only think of a few sentences to write for it. After sitting for a few moments longer, I thought, how about I write about how difficult it was for me to write this essay before it was due.