The one thing that I hate about English is writing. It is not that I am a bad writer, it is just that hearing about an assignment that I will have to write or present to a class makes me so nervous. Some of my past strengths that can be seen from my grade and high school writing is that writing comes naturally to me, that I have a very wide range of vocabulary, and that I have had very excellent teachers. I consider myself blessed that I have been given the gift of writing without trying very hard. I am definitely not an amazing writer like John Steinbeck or Jane Austen, but I have always been able to write without struggling. After I pick a topic or research, the rest of the paper seems to flow very smoothly. My vocabulary is another aspect that has always come easily to me. Since my grade school and high school english classes required us to learn new vocabulary most of it has stuck with me. That leads me to the last strength which is that i have had some pretty awesome teachers. My eigth grade teacher really pushed myself and the other kids in my grade by making us write more thatn we ever had including my first research paper. After him, my freshman and sophomore teacher seem mediocre, but Mrs. Simzak, my junior and senior year teacher, was awesome. She pushed me to write and expand my vocabulary on every paper I wrote. She also prepared me for the AP exam by making me write about 20 essays in the month of April. In April I was not too thrilled, but the results were very rewarding so I now am okay with all the work.
Some of my weaknesses in my writing have been that I can be very self-conscience, I hate my writing, my writing is very informal, and I have a hard time choosing a topic. Ever since I was very young, I have always hated my writing. My least favorite part is having to read my writing out loud, but it has gotten so bad that I will not even proofread most of my papers because I know that I will be negative about it. My next weakness of being very informal has hurt me in many of my classes in high school, especially my two year history course. Though the teacher loved me, she could not get past the fact that my writing was not the style a history paper could be, and after a lot of trying, I still could not change my style. The last weakness of choosing a topic is one main reason why i hate writing courses. Many teachers think that they are being nice by allowing students to choose a topic to write about, but for me that is torture. I need some kind of direction or guide to help me or I will think that any topic I want to write about is stupid.
I would like to improve to a place where I can be secure in my writing. I wish that I could speak my mind and feel free to write how I feel, but I am very self-doubting. I hope that soon I can become comfortable enough that I will be able to write what I want and say what I want without worrying about what other people think. Some things that I can do or learn to make this improvement are to keep practicing. I know that I will never be comfortable speaking or writing for others unless I continue to speak and write. Hopefully, the more I practice the better and more comfortable I will become. A book that inspire me to become more comfortable in my writing and speaking is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Some quotes from the book can be found here http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/569.Khaled_Hosseini . The book is very easy to read and also has a very deep meaning. It makes me want to be able to make a difference in the world with my writing. Another example is in the movie "The Princess Diaries". Many quotes found here (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247638/quotes ) may seem stupid to a lot of people, but "The Princess Diaries" is my childhood (I am actually watching it right now. That's why I thought of it). Without "The Princess Diaries" I would never have sang "Catch a Falling" or quoted "get off the grass" in four different languages. The songs in the movie are also very inspirational. Overrall, I think the movie is great for people of all ages. This inspires me because it has been seen by so many people and so many people can quote it. I can not even imagine walking down the street and hearing people quoting my writing, but it would be epic.
I would say that I think this class is going to be my favorite or I will enjoy every assignment, but the truth is every time I get a new assignment I will be very sad. I am hoping that once I find out how you grade papers I will find my groove and hopefully I can then make this a pain free first semester.
Oh, my. I suffer from the same blight and I'm afraid there isn't much of a cure for the self-consciousness of writing. It's a very self-conscious exercise, after all. And it can create a lot of self-doubt, neurosis, and anxiety. I think the only people who don't suffer from these writing maladies are uber-confident people who probably also suffer from delusions of grandeur! The good news is, your self-consciousness sometimes pushes you to be that much better of a writer in the end. The thing to do is remind yourself of what the stakes are. If you don't do your best writing, your mother will not be murdered for your misdeed. Put it in perspective. You know? And also -- I think gaining more confidence in your ability to have something worthwhile to say is also incredibly important. But if your self-consciousness lies in the how to say it part, well...maybe you are a natural born writer! We are a neurotic bunch ; )
ReplyDeleteAs for improving writing, you nailed it: pratice, pratice, practice. Students don't often like to hear that the more you write, they better you'll get. It's often that students want a magic formula for churning out good papers. While I can suggest structures and tips here and there, the truth is, it's practice that makes perfect. And since you understand that -- and even appreciate such experiences -- you are on your way up!
I hope this is your favorite class. I'll do my best to make sure it is -- and to help you not be too upset about each new assignment. Office hours will be good for that!