Who Am I as a Writer?
Good writing hurts! That is the sentiment that I walk away with following my sophomore year at Thomas Nelson. Writing, like much of life, is a journey filled with ups and downs. Be is a writer is full of vision, revisions, creating and recreating. As we grow as creators we have mental breakthroughs about what it means to shape a message that others can value and engage with. Yet, understanding our audience, creating meaning, and using the ideas that both relevant, authentic, and relevant is a craft that I have yet to master. With that said, Mrs. Ahmadi and my peer's support this year I have moved ever closer to a college ready writer and thinker.
My essay "On Life's Mysteries" is a strong example of growth this year. This essay forced me to take a stand on one of life's greatest mysteries, the Bermuda Triangle. The strength of this work was in my attention to organization due in large to the amount of pre-writing and research that I experienced prior to writing. By organizing the essay into "mythical" and "logical" evidence I was better able convey various theories within my argument. As a writer, this was enlightening to me; I learned that my message will be lost if I'm not acutely aware of idea organization.
While I was extremely proud of my growth in organization I recognize that my language usage is one area that limited my writing performance this year. There were times in the "Life's Mysteries" essay that my word choice was redundant and elementary. For example, I used the "seems" four times in the first two paragraphs. Not only does the word convey ambiguous meaning, it conveys a lack of varied word choice on my behalf as a writer. My lack of word choice can reduce the audience's faith in me as a researcher and writer. In the end, this could be rendered by spending more time in the editing process and continuing to explore synonyms for redundant word choices. Thus, as a writer I must be more attentive to details like this if I want to become remarkable.
Good writing takes time, and it hurts! To reflect on my writing is to recognize that I will always be a work in progress, continuing to build off of breakthroughs that I have as a writer. The key to my growth is having the courage to ensure I take the time to revise and recreate to ensure my work is phenomenal. To do so I will not only have to look inwardly but also outwardly to the writing of others in my classes that I can learn from. The answer to how is yes.
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