I have always been a poor writer and to this day, I still think I am. I just am not able to express myself in a consistent matter. I do try and I do wish that my writing has improved from other people’s point of view, but in all sincerity I feel I lack the great writing ability.
It is not that I cannot write; it is more that I cannot follow rules or English guidelines. I try my best to have consistency and flow but for some reason my brain will not let me. When I get a graded assignment back with annotations I feel somewhat saddened because I always do my best to write a paper. I write out my thoughts and place them on paper or in these cases, on screen; however, many of the notes that I receive is due to my lack of arrangement on my essays.
When I read my essays aloud I find them to make sense and even when I revise them I feel that my writing is good. But that is not the case. I love to read and I even felt that reading may have had a positive effect on my writing, yet, I do not see it immediately. I may be underestimating myself or I might be spot-on, but the fact is that I personally feel my writing still has much improving to do. I do write in my spare time in my journals at home, but that is just personal feeling and is not really graded or judged by other people.
When I write, that is what I do. I just write. I tend to write out whatever is on my mind, comment on whatever I just read, or respond right away. It is only later that I check what I write. I think my problem is that after I have written what I wanted to write it makes sense to me because I already thought about it and when I check my essays I overlook important things that I should be catching automatically. I know I am sounding like a total downer, but I just do not see any improvement; and that is not a comment about the reading material or assignments in this class, I just have never been able to see my writing habits unfold to new heights. It may an insecurity issue, it may be because my sign is a Cancer, or I just do not understand or want to grasp the writing rules.
All I know is that I do love to write, and I do love the reading and assignments in this class. I just have not been able to fully express myself in a formal fashion through words. I know I have spent many years now writing to teachers, friends, myself (my audience), but the truth is that I still have a long way to go in order for me to actually see that I have made an improvement in my writing.
Friday, November 5, 2010
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You know Cyn, whenever I get an English paper back I am almost always discouraged. I see the write ups, red notes on the side, and begin to get infuriated at myself for the failures each of those marks represent. I think that we all believe that writers always get it on the first try, and that if we are good writers, we should get things right on the first try, but it is never the case.
ReplyDeleteEven well known authors go through many drafts of their writings before they ever reach the final product. It is read over again and again by many different people and eventually all the errors are found and worked out. When we as students write a paper, we do not have the same resources available to us off the get go, we have to go searching for them and utilize them. This is where the writing center and Smart Thinking come in, it gives us the benefit of a type of editor that is hard to get a hold of in the outside world.
There is one problem with this though; you must write a paper you would consider your final product WAY early. When we do, and we turn it in to one of these resources, we must be prepared for the red ink. Even if we read the paper 50 times before looking for help, we are always going to have the red ink. This is because we know what we are talking about, but an outside reader may have no clue; these resources give us the opportunity to have an outside source read our paper before turning it in to the teacher.
I see minimal improvement in my writing also, but it is hard for us to recognize the gradual change that comes with a class. Outside sources can best tell you if you have improved or not, and the grades you receive for your writing. Just don’t get discouraged, keep at it, and soon the class will be over and you can take a break!