Alexandra O’Keefe
12/12/19
Prof. Creaney
ENG 110
Theory of Writing
Writing has been a tool for mankind for centuries. It helps us communicate ideas, thoughts, and feelings with each other. I’ve never considered myself to be much of a writer. English was never my strongest subject, but I feel that over the course of this semester, I have become more in touch with the writer inside of me. My skills have improved, and I have more self confidence in my craft. At the beginning of the semester I knew that my writing needed some work and I did state how I believed writing could be useful. However, I feel now that I have a much better understanding of why writing is important. There are so many ways writing can be implemented and so many forms it can take on. I believe I have developed a deeper appreciation for that. I was a little oblivious to the craft that goes into magazines, online articles, and even books, as silly as that may seem. I seemed to forget that writing has several purposes besides getting a good grade on an academic paper.
In high school, writing was almost always a chore for me. It meant writing a boring essay about something I didn’t care about. There is a very specific style of writing that is drilled into a student’s mind that makes it easy to forget that writing is a personal art form. I feel that this class re-taught me how to be myself in my writing. I learned how to showcase my voice in words to make my essays more personal and less robotic. Part of what helped me with that was being able to write about a topic that I am passionate about. This brings me to my first point in my theory of writing.
- Write what comes naturally.
It is very hard to write about something you have no interest in. Sometimes, we don’t really have a choice in the matter, but if you do, seize the opportunity. Some people choose to write about a topic that seems easy. I believe that this is a very easy mistake for a writer to make. Writing what you know about is not always the best approach in my opinion. I believe it is more important to write about something you are truly passionate about. Writing on a dull topic that you don’t care about shows. The more invested you are in your writing the more engaging you are to your audience. Writing about your passion or interest may require more research, but in the end your writing will turn out much better. In this semester I have chosen to write about climate change in all of my previous essays. I am very passionate about the environment, so the topic interests me. I believe this shows in my writing and allowed me to get A’s on all of those papers. In my magazine article that I wrote called “Climate Change: A Real Issue”, I dedicated a section to be about why climate change matters. This paragraph shows my passion for the climate crisis. “It isn’t fair to the many other innocent species to destroy their homes and put them at risk of extinction just because of our wrong doings. If we want our planet to survive and humanity to grow, we must first save our home” (page 2-3). These two sentences show my audience why I am writing and gives my piece purpose.
2. Don’t force the words onto the paper.
The quality of your writing is most important. You may be able to force yourself to write a ten page essay the night before a deadline, but if it is bad then it does not matter. Give yourself time to produce your best work. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you have difficulty starting. I often stare at a blank page, maybe write a sentence, and comeback later when I am in a better mood to work. This can happen several times to me throughout the week. Instead of getting frustrated with myself I try to give my brain time to think, take breaks to focus on other things for a while, and try to come back to it. Eventually I get an idea. That idea will lead to a train of thoughts and then suddenly I am writing. It is a thrilling feeling of going from not being able to think to suddenly having a few pages done. When I have this feeling, I have to take advantage of it and harness all the creativity I can. I try to focus less on the grammar and spelling of what I am writing and more on making sure I am getting my thoughts on paper. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with multiple thoughts at once, like a tornado of possible ideas. In this case I write down as many as I can, and I don’t stop until my brain calms down again. Then I reread what I wrote, digest the words, and improve what I need. When I am not in that hectic state of mind, I tend to take more pauses to think about the wording of my work so I can improve as I write.
3. It is okay to move on.
Don’t get stuck on one sentence. It’s easy to do. Sometimes when I am writing I am struggling to finish one of my current thoughts, but I have an idea for the next thought. I have found a good technique to deal with this is to write the basis of your current thought down in red or italicized text as a reminder to go back to it. Then once you are done with writing the after thoughts, you can go back and finish what you want to say. Sometimes knowing what is coming after a sentence can help you write what you need to transition into that topic.
I also do this sometimes when I need to find a quote or cite a source. If I am on a roll and don’t want to stop and look for evidence, I will write my thoughts down first and note where in my writing I want to include outside sources. Then when I am done with including my own ideas, I will go back and insert quotes to strengthen my argument. Obviously, I may need to add a few sentences to make the transition smoother, but this does help me focus on getting what I want to say on paper.
In the beginning of the semester I learned about rhetoric analysis in the first paper. I learned about how the intended audience and purpose of a piece can change the tone of the writing. I also learned about the different forms writing can take. I learned how to analyze different pieces of writing and how it is important to analyze all aspects on writing including to author to discover any hidden biases. “The article has a lot of facts from reputable sources, but the author’s bias is clearly shown, and he has a clear motive to persuade the audience that climate change is an important, human caused issue that needs to be dealt with”(page 3). This is a quote from my source-based essay showing my knowledge of analyzing people’s biases. I think this helped me appreciate writing more. After that I wrote my inquiry-based research paper. This was the paper that required the most work, but the work was fairly interesting. I liked learning about climate change. As I started the writing process, I found more information that I wanted to include and developed more thoughts of my own. Including my point of view in the essay was very different for me, something I rarely did in high school. It was somewhat difficult for me to form my own thoughts or find space for them at first. Being genuine to my audience and showing my point of view was a big skill I learned while writing this essay. “No matter your stance on the environment, these issues are real and should be taken very seriously”(page 1). This is a quote from the introduction of my inquiry-based research paper. It shows the audience my stance on the issue which I feel helps me connect better with readers and makes the essay more personal. The third assignment was a project for writing in two genres. This helped me learn how to write in different styles. I was able to apply what I learned in the rhetoric analysis assignment to this one. I wrote one academic paper that was geared towards a more scientific audience. I also wrote a magazine article for a more general audience. I used my skills to adjust my tone, language, and formatting for each piece. Even though they had similar topics, they were very different pieces. In my magazine article I sectioned my paper with subtitles and made my language slightly more casual. I use a picture and colors to grab readers attention as well which isn’t shown in the academic paper I wrote. That paper is more scientific and factual. It also includes more information and has a more formal tone.
I believe that I will be able to apply what I learned in this class to my future. As I continue my education, I am sure I will have to write many more essays in several classes. I will be able to use what I learned this semester in future courses to produce a well written essay. I am not sure what my future holds for me career wise, but there is always the possibility of having to do some form of writing. Whether it is a research proposal, an essay, an email, an article, or even a script, writing is seen in many different careers. The chances of me using writing in my future is very high and now I have the skills and confidence to do so.
