Portfolio

Honestly, I don't remember much about the times that I went to the writing center. I didn't go for the revision, but I went for the Literary Analysis and the Research Paper. In the very short first meeting, the writing fellow asked me to read my paper out loud. Then she asked me what I thought needed fixing. I didn't have a strong plan for what to do at the meeting beforehand, so I just fixed a few mistakes that she told me to and left. The second time was much more helpful to me. I went for an entire class period and requested a writing fellow that I knew. The focus of that meeting was to write as much as possible. I was in the earlier phases of the paper, and it helped me a lot when I was able to write in a quiet environment for once. After I wrote for a while, we talked about the paper and how to move forward after I left the writing center. The second meeting was very productive.

I want my identity in writing to stay as an emotional writer. When I am most passionate and emotional is when I have my best writing. Not only that, but it is when writing is the most enjoyable for me. The thing I need to work on for next year is being more organized and learning how to paragraph properly. I want to be as good at writing research papers as I am at writing personal stories. I'm going to reach this goal by asking questions when needed and going to the writing center more often. Actually, now that I think about it, the writing center would be perfect for me. Hopefully I can improve in this organizational area next year for writing.

Although I stated earlier that my organizational skills have gotten better when I am writing, they still need a lot of work. It is hard for me to tell when to end a paragraph because I can't stop a thought when I get the ball rolling. I feel as if my papers are on continuous thought instead of six or seven separate paragraphs. I'm going to go on a short rant, if that's okay. I don't get paragraphs in short papers. I feel as if they are almost used for aesthetics. Paragraphing my papers is my number one enemy in my writing, but I get that they aren't going away. I also need to work on my vocabulary and my thought process. If I had it my way, I wouldn't proofread the paper besides checking for spelling and grammar. That way the best emotion is shown from the author. These areas of my writing are important because they are holding me back from being the most effective writer I can be. It would also be much more pleasing to me if I could learn how to paragraph.

When I think about my strengths as a writer the first word that comes to mind is emotion. I am a pretty emotional writer and I like to make my reader(s) feel like they are right there with me in the story. I've said this in the other blogs, but it won't hurt to say it again. I like to write because it takes me back to the moment that I am writing about. This translates to making the reader feel as if they are also there. For example, when I look back at the personal narrative from the beginning of the year, I think to myself that it is the best thing I have ever written. I was so raw when I talked about the emotion that I felt when I was running. It is my main strength as a writer.

There are so many things that I learned about myself as a writer this year, and I can't fit everything into one post. Never have I been in an English class or a class in general in which good writing has been enforced this heavily. Oddly enough, the thing that this class taught me best is that I love writing. For me, writing has become high on my list of stress reducers throughout the day. My favorite type of writing is my stories or personal experiences. It's cool to let the words take you back as if you are there in that moment once again. One major improvement that I made this year in writing was my pre-writing. I was able to organize my thoughts in my head before I actually put them on paper. Many times in the past I had not known where to end a paragraph and my thoughts often dragged on, and this created one massive paragraph. I also started to use bigger vocabulary to help explain my thoughts better. All of these things helped me to be clearer as a writer, which was my ...

I am a student who enjoys writing. Obviously, my amount of enjoyment depends on the situation. I would much rather be writing about my personal experiences than an assigned prompt. I like to write outside of the box without hesitating on what to write. In other words, I am an instinct writer. What goes on the page is the first thing that comes to my mind. This should also tell you that I am not a fan of revising because it makes me question everything that I wrote. I am a writer who doesn't try to write the perfect paper or blog. If I did that, I would lose the love that I have for writing. Therefore, I'm not willing to start being a perfectionist writer. This is why you will see that I have some blogs that are free-flowing and purposeful, and others that are choppy and hard to understand. I am a writer who can write an entire paper in one sitting. When I start writing about something, I like to finish it because my story is clearer. These traits show you who I am and who I t...