Why I Did Little For Aspiring Writers

Upon entering Columbia College, writing was one of my weaker areas. It was very important that I gained the necessary knowledge and confidence to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to express myself and felt as though my writing was not my interest. As a result of taking English 101, I have gained a better understanding on how to properly research and build a satisfactory paper. Every paper that was assigned seemed like a struggle to complete. Before entering this class, I did not know the meaning of a thesis or why it was important, however, I obtained this skill quickly. I noticed that every paper has an argument and the thesis helps clarify the rebuttal. Now, I have a new outlook on writing. It’s a way to express my thoughts and allow others to see things through my eyes. There is no doubt that I still have a long way to go, but I know if I continue to write, I will get better. Just as I developed more skills in class, the various papers assigned helped to better structure the writer in me. In addition, the subject areas were not only interesting, but very informative and made it much easier to write about my experiences.

When I was planning for college it was my dream to become a writer, but I knew that I wasn't living in a time where I could hang my hopes on becoming an author. I turned to journalism, which I still greatly respect as a professional field, but it didn't have what I was looking for. The same goes for screenwriting; I may have put an emphasis on it while studying television and film, but my heart wasn't in it. For me, it was and has always been creative writing - short stories, novels, poetry on occasion.

A semester has passed since I started college and my journey of becoming a better writer. It has been a very important semester for my future college career, and I would not be here without the things I have accomplished. The composition program has really helped me to prepare for what college writing is all about. Now standing here and looking back I could not imagine how it would be without that class. I believe my English, and my writing is better than it has ever been, and all thanks to the composition program.

From writing thoughtful poems to research papers, I have experienced composing a diverse portfolio of literary analysis and criticisms throughout the school year. I started out the year writing minimally. By the end of the year, I noticed I was able to express my ideas and thoughts in a more clear and concise way on paper. Ultimately, each composition allowed me to widen my horizons as a writer and see how I could improve as a writer.

My English Literature major has helped me to achieve an outstanding level of appreciation, enjoyment, and knowledge of both American and British Literature. As a high school AP English student, I struggled through great works like Hamlet and To the Lighthouse. My teacher’s daily lectures (there was no such thing as class discussion) taught me merely to interpret the works as critics had in the past. I did not enjoy the reading or writing process. As a freshman at Loras, I was enrolled in the Critical Writing: Poetry class. For the first time since grade school, my writing ability was praised and the sharing of my ideas was encouraged by an enthusiastic and nurturing professor. Despite the difficulty of poetry, I enjoyed reading it.

From the time I was in about fourth or fifth grade I began to dislike certain subjects in school. I loathed everything about writing assignments. I didn’t write at home before that the thought of writing for myself never really occurred to me. I hated the deadlines the length requirements and I just tried to get them done and had no intention of writing well because I told myself I was a bad writer. I have never really known whether or not I truly am a bad writer. I continued these habits of just writing something down to get a decent grade all throughout school. I usually got an okay grade because I followed the prompt closely and did the minimum amount of work for the paper. I didn’t start the assignments until either the night before it was due. As I got older I would type the paper on my phone in school that day then print it off in the library moments before class. I continued writing in that awful ritual of complacency until the end of 11th grade. We had to write a paper on The Great Gatsby a book that I never read. I read couple of notes on the internet and then wrote the paper and never reread it or edited it all. I did my usual routine and followed the prompt and turned my paper in. When I got my paper back I was shocked to find out I didn’t get even a half decent grade I was given a zero. I went to my teacher after class to speak with him about the grade and he told me I got the grade that I deserved. He said I was lazy and never tried to truly work in

While reading “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott and “Journey as a Writer” by Yvonne Sui-Runyan I came to a discovery. Writing is terribly difficult for everyone, not just us college kids. I found that composing any sort of writing challenging for all of us and it is never just sugars and rainbows. This however, can be stressful for those of us who enjoy those things in our daily lives. Being said, after expecting to be thrown straight into a fire after reading these, I came to a suppressing conclusion. I was “okay” with my status as a writer. Not because of the crude humor in Lamott’s writing or the easy to understand structure in Sui-Runyan’s but, because it felt great to know that there are other people out there who are struggling to

There is a multitude of jobs and careers I want to have, as some of you may know, but I think we’re only allowed to talk about one. However, there is one job in particular that I know that I’ll do, whether I’m paid for it or not. That job is writing. Not only do you need language skills, but I believe that you will need creativity and an immense amount of patience in order to be a successful writer of any sort.

Someone once said that all writing is re-writing. Well, I’d agree that it’s close to 50 per cent. A book is never finished. You just have to stop

I am Shakia Warner, 20 year old female from Brooklyn. I attended Martin Luther King High School, focusing on Drama, Computers, English and Math. Always had a passion of becoming a journalist. An aspiring freelance writer, writing is a form of way I express myself, I want to give a voice to the people that feel like they have no voice at all. I want to be able to tell the stories that often go unheard-of or often get ignored. I get the opportunity to meet lots of people from different fields and each one will challenge my perspective towards life. In School, I Started off as an entry level role taking assigned stories for the student Newspaper, then I was able to source and pitch my own stories, I created a story about how children do not get

Attitude: Writing has never been my thing, at least when it comes to essays and research papers. It can take me awhile to get my ideas flowing. I’m very excited to complete this course so I can become a better writer. Although I often don’t like writing research papers or essays, I don’t feel that any personal feelings towards writing will have any negative effects on my quality of work. I’m looking forward to what this course has to teach me.

Once I was unbound my path became clearer. I dropped my Biology major and changed to English with a concentration in Creative Writing alongside a minor in Journalism. I attended creative writing workshops during the summer of 2015 and a sequential workshop at Bryant Park about how to write short stories. There I started drafting In the Dark, the story of a blind old man that dies and goes back in time to when he was eleven years old. Currently, I am working in two more short stories Rite of Passage and A Bad Penny Always Comes Back. What I had found about my writing is that I feel more contented writing in a male’s point of view opposite to a female, certainly influence by my lack of a father

My post secondary goal after high school is to go to the Vet Tech Institute of Pittsburgh to become a veterinarian technician within a span of eighteen months. I am hoping this Honors English course will help to improve my writing skills, note taking skills, and get me use to the type of things I will experience in college. If I were to improve as a writer it would benefit me by improving my ability to do lab write-ups. If I incorporate my grammar skills into my vocabulary it will also benefit me in seeming to be a more intelligent young adult, which will hopefully cause the teachers to take me more seriously. By becoming a better writer I could become a better student altogether. Becoming a better note taker is a skill I really hope I adapt

I submitted to Third Point Press in previous years, when the magazine was fledgling. My work was rejected and as disheartening as that was, I was still motivated to submit again and much of that is because I really appreciate the work that is chosen for the journal. The prose makes me question, think, and learn from the talented writers who are featured. I feel my work has grown since my last rejection and I see similarities with my work and those featured in the magazine. I strive to have my writing make readers wonder, feel and connect. My prose, Real White Meat, is a little experimental for me and the center theme is identity. How do we choose who we want to be? Can we make changes quickly and for whom are we making these changes for? I

“By the time I was fourteen … the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.” This quote from Stephan King really hit me. The famous, successful man that we all know for his works “Carrie” or ‘The Shining”, had once been rejected. It’s crazy to think that someone so successful had once been struggling. Maybe I choose this quote because that’s how I’m feeling right now and the quote gives me some sort of hope.