Friday, February 18, 2011

Writing-"Why is it Important?"

Many students seem to loath the idea of writing especially the dreaded five paragraph essay (which I definitely hated in my first writing class). But has anyone really stopped to ask themselves, “Why is writing important?" I think we should answer this question before simply shutting down at even the slightest idea of writing. Many people may enjoy writing and these statements may not apply to them. Another thing to take into consideration is "Do I like writing?" The latter idea applied to me. When I first began writing I was very stubborn and had my mind made up that I would never ever be a writer. But slowly I began to see all the possibilities and realized that I had stories stored in my brain and whether or not I wanted them to, they were going to get out. So I decided to just "go with the flow" and that semester at my learning center, my mom signed me up for a creative writing class taught by Mrs. Holly Van Houten, the best writing teacher I have ever had.
Of course the work of writing a full blown 18,000 word 128 page novel was tedious but with the support of my teacher and parents I finally completed and managed to publish my book via LuLu.com even with my fair share of complaining, procrastinating and my strong, strong desire to play video games. As I held my book in my hands and looked back, all the way back to 16 weeks ago and saw all my hard work I realized that I was more than satisfied and I was completely and totally overjoyed at the thought of completing my own book.  When you hold a book or a paper knowing that you wrote an amazing creation yourself the pride you feel is undeniable. I think that's when I became a writer.  
I learned through the writing process that I was able to type and write faster, and I became 10 times better at being more descriptive and organizing my thoughts. Writing is truly an important tool to learn because it teaches perseverance, it makes you think, and it enhances your vocabulary as you think of more interesting words to tell your story.  This process also enhances your grammar, for instance, I don’t know how many times I wrote “me and__”, instead of, “__ and I”. I also think that one of the hardest things about writing is the word count.  It’s really easy to just repeat the word over and over and over and over (well as you can see I’m stacking up words simply to give you ideas on things you can do to get more words ok enough stalling let’s get back to the point shall we?)
From the time you can spell and hold a pencil you can write. I mean all over the internet you see kids of all ages writing descriptions of pictures they take or draw, short stories, fan fictions or simply leaving comments on blogs, which brings me to the last thing I want to say. I am obviously new at blogging, this being the first article in my first blog.  I've heard from my friends that blogging has a more personal touch to it, similar to a journal entry except that you are actually writing to an audience that are able to express their opinions (which may sometimes be upsetting to the author) freely about your thoughts. The author has to take into consideration where the reader is coming from and might ask themselves, “What part of this article frustrated this person?” or “What can I learn from this critique?” or the author might simply bask in the positive comments from readers. As I already mentioned an author should keep an open mind when writing so to a reader can also keep an open mind.  If a reader does not understand what the author is saying he should look at it from a different perspective. I’ve visited numerous blogs and if I didn’t understand what the author was trying to say, I would just think about it for a while, or I might just move on or I sometimes choose to leave a comment or ask a question such as, “What do you mean when you say _______?” Finally, I think all writing is beautiful in its own way, like a painting it may just need a little extra splash of color or a more descriptive word just to tie it all together.                  

7 comments:

  1. In your first sentence you say that 'students' hate the five para essay but I would presume that it's more then just students, food for thought.
    "Many people may enjoy writing and these statements may not apply to them." this sentence seems out of place, you might want to consider moving it elsewhere.
    "(well as you can see I’m stacking up words simply to give you ideas on things you can do to get more words ok enough stalling let’s get back to the point shall we?)" This is a run on sentence, just saying.
    "(which may sometimes be upsetting to the author)" I don't think this needs the perenthesise (how in the world do you spell that?).
    "so to a reader can also keep an open mind. " this is just a little confusing, maybe it's just me.....
    "If a reader does not understand what the author is saying he should..." there are girl authors to ya know! All in all though, very good first blog!

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  2. Hi Adrian -- Lots of good ideas here. I particularly like what you say about the give and take of blog communication... the ability to ask for clarification and engage in a dialogue with the author. Still, I'd like to see your ideas more organized: with a thesis statement, topic sentences and more tightly unified paragraphs. We'll discuss this more in class. A few other little notes:
    -- Be sure to either skip a line between paragraphs or indent 5 spaces (tab).
    -- Commas: most kids put too many, you're erring a little on the side of too few (see 1st sentence of 2nd paragraph).
    -- Consider linking to your novel when you mention it (free publicity).
    -- Avoid columns on the right sidebar. It's messing up the titles of your previous posts under "archives."

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  3. Please take this as constructive critisism. but I agree with Megan in the fact that not just students hate five paragraph essays. I also didn't find a thesis in your essay, that would be good to add. I loved the metaphorical ending of your essay.

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  4. I agree with Charlotte -- great ending (goes with the blog theme :)

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  5. In the sentence "So I decided to just "go with the flow" and that semester at my learning center, my mom signed me up for a creative writing class taught by Mrs. Holly Van Houten, the best writing teacher I have ever had." shouldn't there be a period after learning center i don't really just thinking. Also when you said "Of course the work of writing a full blown 18,000 word 128 page novel" i got a little confused because you didn't explain that the class that your mom signed you up for was a class that you had to write a novel. But over all i really enjoyed it :)

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  6. I love your writing prose!!!!!! It proves your points well and is kinda fun to read.

    What would prove your points even better would be a stronger thesis. Decide what you're trying to prove to the reader (with all the great points you made) and sum it up to prove your point better.

    Also fix those grammer and paragraph things... what they're talking about.

    Great job!!!

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  7. I don't have much to add to this, as the other commenters seem to have covered it pretty well. Simpler sentences, shorter paragraphs, and a more clearly defined thesis will make your writing more readable.

    While PinonKnitter is right about the loose structure, I did enjoy the flow of the writing. From an essay perspective, the organization could be improved, but you are showing a certain amount of style and voice. You begin by telling a personal story, and you gradually transition into analysis and advice for other writers. It's impossible to say where exactly the boundary is between the two parts, and I liked how your post moved in a particular direction throughout.

    The writing flows, one might say, like paint on a canvas…

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