I have missed the last two Blog posts. I know – it’s bad. I never like to make excuses, so I have accepted that they are lost assignments. However, if I can do anything to make up those points I will do it; otherwise, if not, then it’s okay and I completely understand. Despite my incomplete blog posts, I did strive to have fun with all of the other assignments. I find when something interests me, I am able to write on the topic with greater ease. I despise grueling research assignments in which you must cite many sources for each point I make – take, for example, the Blog Post I did on Sexual Discrimination and Harassment in Labor. So, when I connect to the prompt I feel I can do best with my writing.
0 Comments
I really enjoy writing; I feel it is the best way for me to find an outlet for my emotions. When I am upset, I tend to write some of my best work. Which makes sense right? I mean to be honest it is somewhat sad because look at the amazing artists like Van Gogh. His severe depression led him to paint his greatest masterpieces. Emotion drives writing and it can be seen and felt in good writing.
I feel my strongest writing is done when I am writing through emotion. Through hardship, I find that the best way to formulate my thoughts is by writing. I find that this is evident in my second blog post when I wrote about my friend who committed suicide. It was all of the raw emotion that drove me to write what I did. I just do it. It is not something I really have to try hard at which I find to work to my advantage. I really enjoy reading Bennett’s writing because I feel as though his writings are also driving by emotion and spontaneous thought. It is just something he does, it is good, and it works. I really enjoy reading his posts and I feel that I can learn something from him in terms of formatting my posts to be more like a discussion like his are. Additionally I feel that his use of photos really enforces his writings and I should really start doing that. When I write, it’s pretty obvious when a subject intrigues me. I think this works both for me and against me. My personality and reflective attitude shine through when I am able to and choose spend a lot of time pondering a topic. However, when I don’t have the desire or ability to think about something for a long time then my posts are clearly rushed and I’m not able to put my best foot forward.
I think that the best example of this is one of the first blog posts that we ever had to do. The prompt was to reflect on a moment that changed the way we think about life or make choices. I spent a reasonable amount of time thinking about it but I doubted my ability to think of a good topic since my memory of my own life events is not very good. As such, I only hit upon inspiration a couple hours before the post was due. I attempted to make the post short and keep it simple in order to emphasis how important I thought words were, however I ignored my own writing style, which I know is more flowery than necessary. Therefore, although I am proud of what I wrote but I wish that I had spent more time on it since it was definitely a post in which I was trying to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone. Ironically, this itself was a learning experience that when I am feeling adventurous I need to make sure that I take the time to make conscious choices about each writing style. Since I know that my writing style tends towards extravagance and descriptiveness, I am consistently impressed by James Silvestri’s ability to put himself out there, to be vulnerable and strong at the same time. I also admire Bennett’s willingness to ignore conventional writing rules and to play with the “tools of the trade” in order to affectively communicate his personality and opinions. Both he and James have demonstrated to me new ways to think about how to approach my writing and, since they are my peers, I find it less intimidating and more accessible. I’d just like to add that I think this project has improved my writing much more than the numerous academic essays that I’ve had to write in the past. What’s working well in my blog posts is that I feel like I am just talking on paper. It’s as if I am having a conversation with my readers, which is a sign of comfort. For other classes, I feel constricted with how formal our prompts can be. Almost every other paper I have written for other classes have been research papers, so it’s nice to get a break from formal writing with our blog posts. I particularly like how we can exchange feedback with our peers. Constructive criticism from classmates can be very helpful because it’s coming from a perspective that relates to you.
An area I feel that I need work on is my creative side. A typical essay written every week can get tiring. New formats of writing are not only refreshing, but capture the attention of your audience as well. Even an addition as simple as a picture can greatly enhance my writing, and I plan on utilizing new writing methods in the future. Another skill I need improvement in is dealing with broad prompts. Although broad prompts may seem easier to most, I struggle to succeed because there is so much room for error. The narrower the prompt, the better for me, and I really need to work on thinking more broad. There is definitely a difference in quality among some of my blog posts. I have no excuse for this inconsistency, and I should always treat each post the same. A blog post that I am particularly proud of is my 2nd post, as I feel like I took a creative approach. I switched between different voices, a narrative and a thinking voice. I feel like I can always write to this potential, but it is up to me to prove myself. A classmate’s writing that I particularly enjoy is Mark’s. Wow, what a guy! His blog posts have helped me get to know who he is and what he believes in. His concise writing gets to the point quickly and effectively. The tone of all his posts is conversational, and I strive to have this same vibe in my posts as well. Throughout this semester I have been assigned a multitude of open ended projects. I am not used to this at all and it frightens me to no end. I constantly worry that I am getting off task or am not answering the prompt fully.
These blog posts have given me the opportunity to be able to fully dive into open ended projects with the ability to stay in tuned. I also struggle with crossing the gap of personalizing an essay while staying professional. I feel like the fact that the assignments for this class are performed through a blog helps with the casual aspect. The fact it is graded also helps with the professional aspect. I believe that my writing is average, not the best and not the worst. I have a unique writing style I think because of my directness and ability to convey my point. I really enjoy writing poetry so this cross over to blog posts is a little easier for me for some bizarre reason. Maybe because it's like just another journal entry? I like the format of of my blog posts and the short little paragraphs that encompass it. It is like a little chapter to a short story. After reviewing my previous blog posts I realize that I stay on topic more than I used to with my writing and it comes more naturally. I came to this conclusion based off the fact that I wasn't aware I was staying on task more often and therefor it is starting to become more natural. I am most proud of blog post six because of all the imagery I used when discussing the wrestling room. All in all I am very happy with the fact we are able to do blog posts and I believe it has improved my ability to personalize my writing. Writing these blog posts has been an incredibly unique experience for me, something that I have never done before. The whole idea is quite amazing, I think. I mean, every student in our class has the opportunity to read everyone else's blog posts. In high school, I almost never had the opportunity to read my peers' writing. These blog posts allow me to see other ways and styles of writings, which I truly believed has helped me. You only become a better writer by reading good writing, and then by writing, writing, and more writing yourself.
It's human nature to do what we like and want to like what we do. I feel this applies to me writing my blog posts. I did better on the blog posts that I enjoyed writing because I wasn't stressing about it, and I actually had things to talk about without stretching my brain too much. I really like being able to write in an informal manner because that is how I think. I do not think in an organized, structured, and scientific manner, my thoughts are jumbled around in my head constantly swirling around. By not being forced to the standard five-paragraph essay, I feel I have been able to express myself more freely. I believe that the posts I have done best on are the more open-ended personal posts. I am writing for you, my classmates, and I want you to read it. I am sharing a small part of myself with you, because I want you to understand me. I never had the opportunity to write free-form before, but I enjoy it. I am simply telling a story through words, writing as I would speak aloud. I do not think my writing has changed very much. I consider myself a good writer, but not an outstanding writer. When reading my classmates blog posts, I am often amazed by how sophisticated and eloquent they sound. They make it seem so easy, when I often struggle with just getting the first sentence down. I don’t use a lot of imagery when I write because that is not how I think. I am practical and to the point. As I said before, I am often amazed my peers' work, mostly because of their creativity and uniqueness, which I strive for, but never seem able to achieve in writing. Some of my favorite people's writing are Ben, Bennett, and Jacob. Their writing is always interesting, whether it's making Star Trek references, using a unique writing style, or telling a personal story. I like writing that I can relate to, and they are all very relatable. They always immediately draw the audience in, which is why I want to read their writing. In writing these blog posts, I am trying to think "outside the box" and get out of the five-paragraph essay mindset with set boundaries and limitations. I think they are helping my writing skills, although I definitely still have a long way to come. Looking back on previous blog posts, I believe that many posts are better than some others. The posts that had more open-ended prompts were the most well-written whereas prompts asking me to respond or reflect on certain things captured my interest less as a writer, making them less well-written.
After consistently making blog posts, however, I realized that I had a more interesting and stronger writing voice than I originally thought. This is mainly because most of what I wrote were essays for school, which I never thought were very interesting to begin with. What has stayed the same was my writing style--most predominantly my use of dashes, colons, and semi colons. (see what I did there? ;) Many of my peers have consistently made very intriguing posts. Some things that draw me into someone else's post as a reader is use of visual effects. For example, when someone includes a photo, I am more likely to read their post because I want to find out why they included the photo and how it relates to the blog post. Another way my peers' writing has drawn my attention was use of effects on their text. When their paragraphs or sentences are unusually spaced, sized, or bolded, it's very difficult not to notice, and at the same time makes the post more interesting to read. In my previous posts, I have only included one post with a picture. Looking back on it, I think that I should definitely try to include more visual effects on my blog posts in order to make them stand out and seem more interesting to read. Overall I think the blog posts have been a great way for me to develop my writing skills and learn to think critically about a prompt and then deliver a quality piece of writing from them. The class overall I think has a lot of different styles and there are many writers in the class that create writing that is very intriguing and thought provoking.
Throughout all my posts I have found many both positives and negatives. I like that when I have a post I’m passionate about I am able to write a lot more and write with some more motivation. One of the posts I think I did really well was my last one where I wrote about my Unessay and changing its format to a magazine article. I notice a lot of times however certain people in the class write so much and I always wonder how because I struggle a good amount of the time creating that much thought about the prompt. I think that Michael Rosson always has solid blog posts I noticed that we both wrote about the same thing on the last post and after reading his wish I could have gone back and made a few changes to mine because I liked the style he wrote with in it and thought I could use it as well. One of the biggest ways I think my writing has changed is that compared to High school where I really didn’t care at all about English class and its assignments I really care now and find myself writing with actual passion and actually once in a while with some vigor. Out of all the posts there were a few I struggled with and a couple I wish I had tried but didn’t because either was having trouble understanding it or didn’t have the time to complete it. One thing I want to accomplish over my next posts is taking more of a risk with new styles and doing things ways I have never done before. I think in the end trying new ways will make me find new things to add that will bring my writing hopefully up to an even higher level and quality. It has been such an incredible experience this semester writing these blog posts. Like many others, I have never even come close to producing writing this way; there’s been a lot of learning happening and I feel like there’s still a lot to do. However, I can pinpoint a few things I’ve succeeded at.
One of my successes, I’ve found, has been how I have started to pour more of my own voice into my writing. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes there is great value to a more scholarly voice, but in situations like this I suppose that I am able to be more genuine and sometimes more clear by speaking more colloquially. As for which posts I’ve liked the most, those in which I believe I shared my personality the most were the most successful. It seems as if writing is not always a person putting something on a page and essentially giving it to the reader, there has to be more of a two-way conversation. Yes, the writer is producing the writing, but qualifying a good piece of writing is as much about the author’s effort as it is about the reader’s reaction. As for my peers, I truly have nothing but praise for all of them. Their writing conveys to me the same intensity and enthusiasm I experience from them in the classroom; it’s nice that through these blog posts I get to see them more than just three times a week. Bennett does a great job, but my favorite piece of his writing was undeniably his blog post #2, which featured excellent use of both bolded words and italics for emphasis on certain words and phrases as well as a few short, parenthetical interjections which are my personal favorites. Ben Satterlee also had a great blog post #2, which was one of my overall favorites because of the Star Trek allusions which kept the whole piece very lighthearted and made me smile. Michael did a great job on blog 5, his voice was confident and I feel like it allows me to trust him as a writer. Colleen did a great job on weaving her sources as well as her own voice in blog post 7. I have no doubt that I would love to read any essay she writes on the same subject. Finally, I consistently enjoy Caitlin’s writing. She has this great honesty in her writing that adds a lot to whatever she puts down on paper (a bit of an outdated expression, I know). I hope to improve even more this semester and into the coming years! To begin, I am pleased to see the growth our class as a whole has undertaken so far this year. It is evident looking back at all the blog posts that each and every person has improved as a writer.
Personally, I found found that the posts that leave me (the writer) with the most freedom usually end up looking the best. I think that I work well in that open, creative setting, as opposed to strict guidelines. The prompts are nice as a jumping off point, but once I treat them as guidelines I believe that my writing is not as effective. My personal favorite post is actually my first one about my digital persona. I used this as a way to introduce myself to the class, and in doing so, I feel like I expressed myself and my personality through creative writing. The guidelines were so open that it allowed me to take some creative liberty in trying to be funny and relatable. This post was also the most enjoyable for that reason. I did not like my posts on the unessay or the letter to a school administrator. The unessay posts I did not grasp the directions very well so the quality of writing suffered from that. The letter to my old school was hard because I actually had a great time there, but still had to write about what they could do better, which was hard for me to do. I think now, as a writer, I try to incorporate more active verbs, as well as pay attention grammatically in terms of overall correctness as well as how it relates to my sentence fluency. Overall I think my peers are doing a great job. I can’t name just one person because each person (ideally) puts in good work and thus everyone deserves to be recognized. I will say that I appreciate when people think outside the box in terms of formatting or a change in conventions. It makes the blog post pop more as well as enhances the reader’s experience. I can take from them that I should take more risks in my blog posts because it could potentially enhance their overall quality. My peers use rhetorical moves like analogies or anecdotes often, as do I. I feel like they add credibility to your writing as well as spice up whatever you are talking about. |
About1:10 English Class Archives
December 2015
Categories
All
|