Reflective Essay Writing

Writing has affected my life for the better, but our relationship is still rocky. I never realized how much of an impact writing would have on my life, until I began my career in law enforcement. Prior to my career in law enforcement, I was a student-athlete. I always viewed writing as a chore, something that I had to do, and that always frustrated me. It frustrated me, because, I did not think I was good at it. I then discovered personal writing. I began writing letters, telling stories, the whole nine yards; I learned to allow personal writing to be an outlet, and that helped me to become an overall better writer. After I became familiar with personal writing, writing started to grow on me. I found myself doing more and more writing, and I was enjoying it. When I enjoy writing, it makes the whole process seem easier.

It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.

In high school I was not the best at writing. I did not find this out until I was places in advanced English. I was used to writing papers that had to be simple. So when I started receiving C’s and D’s I told myself something had to change. I finally realized that I could not write as well as most of my classmates. So, what I ended up doing was making my papers more complex and making my sentences stronger. When I applied myself I became a stronger writer. As I took the diagnostic test I saw I was making a lot of mistakes. At the end I made a 70. From this I could see why I encountered the bad experiences in high school and in college.

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.

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.

The best writing I’ve ever produced is from last semester I wrote a paper for Sociology on how the movie “Selma” related to what we were learning in class. This is the best writing I’ve produced because I thought long and hard about what I was going to write and ended up making a 100 on the paper which I was very excited about. Another reason is that I’m not particularly exceptional at writing I struggle with what words to use and how to really make my writing mean something to the person reading it, and my teacher left me a comment saying how I had thought outside the box and done very well. When I’m writing, my only fear is that I could be using better words so that’s why after I write a paper I always like to continuously edit it until I’m satisfied. Challenges for me are thinking of what to write I guess you could say that I get writers block and I must take breaks and really think about what I want my paper to convey, but once I get an idea usually I’m and can come up with more ideas it’s just really that first few sentences in a paragraph that get me.

Writing is one of life 's most important skills and I have learned a vast amount about writing through my high school experience. I have learned that writing is not a strict, structured piece of work, but a free place to express facts and opinions. Personally, I have mixed feelings about writing; I enjoy the independence, but often have a hard time connecting all of my thoughts in a coherent way. Just as most high school students, my writing style and ability has grown and morphed throughout my years, and I still have much to learn.

Throughout my many years of taking English courses I have learned great things. With this, I have had great writing experiences and developed strength in writing. Though I have learned many new skills on writing, I still strive to be a better writer. In this essay, I will discuss how my education, prior writing experiences, writing strengths, and writing weaknesses factor into my choice.

Writing has always been a love – hate relationship of mine. In the past, I have had many writing experiences, both good and bad. I find many things involved with writing both simple and difficult. But in the end, I hope to become a better writer, so it can play an important role in my future.

Upon entering English 111, I knew I would be writing papers. However, I did not anticipate how much room I had for improvement. Throughout this term I have been enlightened with so much knowledge that I may have forgotten or have been exposed to for the first time. Certainly, my experience with essay writing has been solidified due to newfound knowledge of proper work citing, MLA standards and the steps of planning an essay. Perhaps, my time away from a learning environment slowed me down a bit, other times I feel as though I have an advantage due to life experience. An online environment has certainly been challenging but throughout the course I have provided solid work and consistent grades commendable of an A grading.

I consider myself an average writer. I have equal strengths and weaknesses. But one of my struggles would be

In the past, my experiences with writing have been basic. Other than when I took an advanced English class my junior year of high school, I have taken the common English classes for those of my age. My English course during my senior year of high school was heavily weighted on our ability to write, even though the teacher never taught us how. He expected us to know how to write perfectly, and demolished us when we could not live up to his standards. In a way, this helped me become a stronger writer, but it definitely made me more self-conscious about my writing. With that being said, I would have to go on to say that my biggest weakness as a writer is the fact that I am extremely self-conscious about my writing. I do not like others to read

I totally agree with what the author is saying in the text. It takes time to get a good product out even though we think some people are deep and wonderful they still have the same struggles that we have when it comes to writing. I like this text because it is realistic it is giving an account of first drafts from common day people and shows how it is even for professional writers have problems with. This point is important because as people we sometimes feel we are not as good or capable of doing something not realizing that the people we look up to have the same problems we do. Another point that I agree with the author on is that you have to start somewhere. Many times as writers we don’t know where to start when it comes to writing. That being said we will just sit and think for ten twenty minutes when we could've just been information on the paper and then editing it later. In addition I liked that the author used examples from his professional experience when it came to writing food reviews. By him using details like how he went to the restaurant and sat down with friends and took notes of what was said. This was good to me because it helps me connect with him and the things that he does to write his reviews.

     One of the techniques I am going to use through out college is talking to

Before I came to college, I felt my writing had to follow a certain pattern and be fixated around one way of thinking. What I was fortunate to learn was quite the opposite. Writing does not have to follow any certain pattern, but can rather be structured through many different possibilities. I was also told in high school that my papers either had to agree or disagree with the given topic, even if I believed otherwise. This formulated a very one-track way of thinking when it came to my papers. Now I know that I can let my mind explore new and exciting ideas. I can agree, disagree, compliment, criticize, and question the author however my heart desires, as long as I have the evidence to back myself up. Many authors in the book, Writing About Writing, explain their processes as well as the processes of others when it comes to writing. As a writer, I can draw on my own processes and relate them to the authors, as well as use their ideas and apply them to myself. Through reading, I have learned new methods of invention, planning and revising, and incubation when it comes to writing. All ways I can use to create more meaningful and creative work.