Personal Writing : The Power Of Reading And Writing

When reflecting on what made me the writer I am today, my first thought was, “Well clearly, I’m a writer because I’m a reader.” As a child, I devoured all kinds of books and spent hours on exploits in different worlds, with Harry and the gang at Hogwarts, or with the Pevensie kids in Narnia. And I thought that inevitably and gradually, reading is what led me to create my own universes and stories through writing. In fact, one of my first memories associated with writing was winning third place at a story competition in the 1st or 2nd grade (high prestige, I know). Writing is linked to reading, and to personal agency and action. I chose to read, and that led me to choose to write.

As a writer, I find myself getting lost. Typically, when I go to start writing I hit a brick wall. It’s as if all my thoughts suddenly escape my mind and I draw a blank. It takes me forever to conjure up some form of a thesis and then takes even longer to figure out what I should write to support it in a way that makes sense. Then, attempting to find a way to organize my ideas and put them together in cohesive paragraphs seems like an impossible task in the moment. It is not uncommon for me to get flustered and just throw something down on the paper because I get anxious seeing how much work is left to do. If I end up going back to read it over prior to submission,

My experiences as a writer have been both very engrossing and strenuous. I have learned a great quantity on both reading and writing, though, I continue to struggle on things that I have learned by this time, making the same mistakes that I do not even realize. Sometimes things are not so easy to understand when reading information, especially if the wording of an article is difficult for example. I love the idea of learning new things everyday. These past years as a writer have been very interesting, and I have learned and grasped many concepts I have been taught along the way.

At the start of this course, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had a goal for myself to improve and learn skills that would make writing less daunting for me. I have learned so many things about my writing that I didn’t think much about before. Another goal I had was to break the cookie-cutter mold that was set upon me throughout high school. During the process of revision, I discovered many things about myself as a writer and techniques that have been effective for me in the writing process.

Teachers, parents, and friends often tell students exactly what the writing process should entail and how long it should take. However, the older I get, the more I realize that the writing process varies not only from person to person, but also from one writing project to the next. Throughout my years of life, I have written countless papers, ranging from a persuasive speech to an extensive research paper, and each project requires an altered version of my personal writing process. While each individual has his own writing process, there can be many similarities between different writing processes. Finding one’s individual writing process takes trial, error, and repetition. When an individual finally uncovers his unique writing process, better thought, work, and writing is produced.

Those that write always have a writing process whether they know it or not. A writing process can be defined by the way an individual gears up for the project at hand. It can be as simple as finding a favorite chair to write in or the act of planning out the writing beforehand. My own personal writing process varies from task to task with a few constants. I generally start my writing process by first reconciling my project; figuring out the best way to express the needs of the work. I do not write down notes or an outline in regards to the project mostly relying on winging it so as not to get hung up on sticking to the outline. I will my best to knock out large chunks of the project before taking any breaks unless I hit a wall, and

Before coming to Northeastern University, I was only encouraged by my teachers to read for content. I was participating in school in order to better understand ideas so that I would be able to achieve high marks in class. This approach proved to be very limited and detrimental. The distance between myself and what I was learning turned school into a burden rather than an opportunity to expand my horizons. When I came to college, my perspectives on the world had changed for the better. I began taking inspiration from my identity, culture, and passions in order to enhance my contributions to my courses. This in turn helped me develop a healthier relationship with academia and inspired me to take a more comprehensive approach to learning in general.

Escaping from the severe reality of life helps a person get through their difficulties within life. Whether they have emotional or physical problems, or a person just needs a good story, reading can help a person explore new worlds through their imagination. I loved reading from a young age, and treasured the moments when my mother read to me. She helped me explore the unique worlds that authors try to portray through their writing.

The only way you can become better at doing something is simply by continuing to work on your craft. Whether it is a hobby, an interest, or a profession, if you don't keep working, then you will remain complacent. A year ago, I thought writing was one of those things where I would just be complacent in. Not because I didn’t wanted to work harder at it, but because I thought of writing as one of those skills that came natural to you, or you did not have it at all. I always wanted my writing to improve but never knew how.

Throughout my childhood I enjoyed reading a variety of books as a method of escaping my troubles and delving into someone else’s world for a short time. But it is my belief that being an avid reader also helped me become

Reading was the new outlet for my imagination and the stories I read fascinated me. They weren’t too unlike the scripts of computer games or the own stories I came up with on my own, but books actually had the action and emotional aspects written out. And again, while my peers were reading things about growing up, things that had morals and would teach valuable lessons (I remember one book about a shoplifter who had to do community service at an animal shelter), I read real fiction: Jurassic Park, Dragonriders of Pern, Lord of the Rings… Stuff of fantasy and science-fiction that let my mind stray from reality. Stuff that kept my imagination alive while I was being forced to learn multiplication and the names of countries. Of course, my teachers encouraged me to keep reading, as long as I wasn’t doing the reading in the middle of their lectures. But it wasn’t because of their influence, however, that kept me interested in books. It was because I loved it. It put pictures into my head and made me think. So I kept reading. But even then I knew reading wasn’t enough… Yes, the stories were fascinating, but they weren’t what I wanted. Back then I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but as middle school came to a close, I found it.

My earliest experience with reading and writing were traumatizing especially when I was in the first grade. I still recall the experience I went through to this day. It made me really hate myself because the other kids were making fun of me.

When I was a little girl I loved to write, my father would give me silly little writing prompts and I would write short paragraphs of made up scenarios. My father really encouraged my writing at an early age, but as I grew a little bit older I realize that I struggled with it a lot. I can remember my very first personal journal. The stuff I would write was so underdeveloped, because I was so young but I didn’t care at the time. As I grew older, I became fond of roleplaying online on websites or in video games such as World of Warcraft. I continued to roleplay through high school at the same time trying to do the school work my teachers were giving me. My teachers knew I was struggling at the time and didn’t take much interest in helping

Writing has always played a huge role in my life. I’ve been reading writing for as long as I can remember as I have an immense love of reading. This love would grow into a love for writing as well; I still stumble upon journals and writings from my five-year-old self about the happenings in my kindergarten class. As time would go on I would discover academic writing, and how to convey my thoughts on what was the topic of student that particular year or semester in my schooling. Later, writing would become a constant for me, and a comfort; I was known to my friends as always having a journal, and a pen on my person. I learned to write down my feelings and my thoughts, song lyrics that were in my head, reflections for the day. I learned how

As a child, my interests were more focused on reading than writing. In elementary school I fell in love with books. Initially I read simple children’s books, much like everybody else in my class, but it did not take long for my passion to drive me to read more difficult writings. Fiction books quickly became a replacement for any childhood toys. Instead of blocks or stuffed animals I would ask my parents for books. Since they were aimed at young readers, they tended to be short. I found myself going through them within days, and then soon several hours. Towards the end of elementary school I was reading series like Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. I was captivated, and reading truly opened up a whole new world for me.