Portrait of a Writer

John Lauer

ENGL 250

Portrait of a Writer

1/17/14

Who am I as a Writer?

               As a writer, I have had a roller coaster ride of experiences with it. From starting English classes early on and hating everything about grammar and writing, to partially enjoying journals and free writing in junior high, to having really easy writing courses in high school that I just thought were a waste of time. My experiences have also been affected by the teachers involved. I have always had a repulsive tongue to writing, but whenever I have the chance to really write whatever I want with no consequences, I actually kind of enjoy it. I have always seen writing as something of low importance and almost a waste of time. As an engineer, I think of writing as something that must be precise and short, as used to explain something, but writing can also be melodic and beautiful like a song. The freedom of writing is amazing, but when there are rules and rubrics that your writing must follow, it feels like your trapped in a jail cell by your teachers and writing is no longer enjoyable. Those things that block you from your potential in writing only turn you away from it, and make it feel more like a job. Even though writing is not my favorite thing, I do enjoy it every once in a while and it’s good to take time to let your mind be free and let its creative juices flow.

               There are many aspects of writing, but as there is in everything, there are pros and cons. Writing started as just a way to communicate to other humans on paper way back when. Then throughout history it was introduced in so many different ways that now, it is taught extensively to students. Some writing classes promote creative writing and give you more freedom in what you want to focus on in your papers. While other courses keep you very restricted and give you specific rubrics that you must follow. I think that these classes turn students away from writing and give them a negative view of it. Even though other forms of writing are also important to learn, in my opinion you have to balance restricting students and letting them run free with writing. In high school I had a journalism class and for one of our papers we got to write about anything we wanted and could be as creative as we wanted. That was one of my favorite papers because it was completely open to all possibilities and gave me that journalistic freedom that made writing fun. That teacher also had a very easy look on papers. What I mean by that is he wasn't too judgmental on how we wrote. He gave us tips or corrected small grammar, but didn't mark down our grade because of something he didn't like. I really appreciated the class as a result of that because even though it was a boring English class, I got to write about stuff that I liked, and could learn more about those things at the same time.

               All people have potential to be good writers, but as a writer myself I believe my background has brought me up to be a good writer. Not only have I had some good language arts teachers that have helped me, but also supportive parents that have pushed me to be a good student and earn above average grades, which has made me focus on the many things that school helps you improve, one being writing. My LA teacher in junior high was one of the most influential teachers I've ever had. Mr. Vandenberg was one of the coolest teachers and he also took teaching very personally and cared about his job. He made literature and writing interesting and made you think and care about the meaning of the writing. I would say that he saved me from completely “writing” off writing and becoming a non-caring writer. Sense then I have always given thought in my writing and don’t just write a paper and not care about what I produced. I always proof read my work and make sure that it represents the best work I can do and show my teacher. Writing a paper can be tough, but it’s really tough if you don’t give a shit about it. You have to care about what you’re doing and do that best you can. That’s the only way you will move up in life and have a successful career and family. Anyone has the potential to write good writing if they give some thought to it and care about the writing itself.

               Now when you want to write, how do you start? Well depending on the situation, I do different things to prepare. If the situation is more informal and free, then I wouldn't say you have to write down an outline or anything. I usually just collect some thoughts in my head and start writing and let the creative juices flow. But in most situations, when the writing is more formal, must be planned, and flow in a logical way, I have a different plan of actions that I follow. I first make sure to read the assignment with the rubric and idea I’m supposed to build off of. Then I start writing down ideas of what I can talk about and start putting those in a logical order that will make sense to the me and the reader. Then I make sure that my ideas are concrete and I think about how the paper might look with those topics. I also write down some quick notes next to each topic that can be put in each paragraph and where I can mention them. After a little brainstorming, I just start going it. In my opinion, the best way to write is to “just do it” Nike. I use my notes to guide me along the way, but then I write most of the paper and finish the draft. After the draft I read over the paper and make slight adjustments to my work. Preceding that is close to the finished product. Finally I’ll look over what my paper was supposed to contain and make sure I followed all the guidelines. If the writing requires research or a works cited then that is done in the beginning of the paper writing process. I haven’t had any problems with writing like this and it seems to work well for me. It is always good to write in a systematic way when needed because it helps the build and integrity of your papers.

               The last things I want to focus on are what can aid the writing process for me, but also block my writing groove. When writing anything, I’m always constantly thinking of how it is read and what makes sense. I also think about what I can put in the writing that is still related to the paper, but will make reading it more enjoyable. For example, in my first thought piece, I added a part at the end that showed my mind thinking about the paper I just wrote and it related to the paper and reason for writing the paper too. Putting clever things like that in your writing can make a good paper a great paper. This kind of thinking can aid in freeing your mind and writing more fluently. On the other hand, there are also things that can block me when I’m writing. The biggest things that can keep me from writing are worrying about grammar and sentence structure. When my mind is working, it sometimes doesn't come up with the best way to say something. So I constantly find myself reformatting my sentences so they make more sense logically and grammatically. This slows down the writing process and causes me to forget about things I wanted to write about. Another problem is my attention span. I usually can focus really well, but I don’t love writing papers, so if I’m not in the mood, I won’t really want to write. This will cause me to let distractions take my mind off the paper and I will let myself waste time with other things. This can definitely be a problem when trying to complete a paper. All of these and more can block someone from writing, but if I have the will and want to get my writing done, then I’ll get down and dirty and do it.

               After reflecting on myself as a writer, I realize that writing is something that has been a good experience for me, and that I am pretty good at. As a responsible student, I have always taken my work seriously and do my best, so writing is just one of those things that follows suit. I will always enjoy the occasional writing, but the experiences I have had with it will help me later in my real job and give me the skills to do well at it. As I think of writing, I will always remember the escape it gives me to share my thoughts with others and ultimately make me a better person in and out of the classroom.