Consider the readings that you have done for this class thus far. Select two or three parts of these readings that resonated with you and discuss how you have approached or plan to approach your writing differently as a result of what you learned from these readings. Your response should be six to ten sentences long.
16 thoughts on “Blog Post #4: Reading Reflection”
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The moment I bought this textbook and took a glance at it I knew it was going to be a good one. Especially with the guidance of Professor Corva, with the combination of these two I am able to see reading and writing through a different lens. A lens where I can allow myself to ask questions and really brainstorm my ideas on to paper. This also helped me with my communication skills, not so much at home but more so on zoom with my virtual classmates. To add on this textbook also allows me to analyze and comprehend better as i’m reading my papers or my classmate’s paper. I made it a habit to ask myself questions or dive deeper into the reading. Just like the literacy native “No words” by B.Mason, you really see how this author grew over time therefore, I want to see that in my writing and eventually help my classmates achieve that goal as well.
In this textbok, what really impress me is not the articles with fancy words and all kinds of rthetorical skills where authors shows off their writing completence, it is the personal experience that I might have experienced before so that I can put into their shoes. It is also something common but hard to write down into words. Once we read it, we feel exactly the way the author feels. Essay “Suffer Less: On Writing As Process” is a great example. The author puts thing like procrastination, which most of us have experienced, into details and makes us picture a time where we are actually procrastinating. Thus, understandable personal examples and details are compelling for readers. Those are what really resonate them.
The past readings were relatable to a certain extent and have opened some new ideas to approach writing. In particular, the text, “The Maker’s Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts” by Donald Murray, he compares professional writers and students in terms of their writing. Murray states, “They are overly critical, think everything is dreadful, tear up page after page, never complete a draft, see the task as hopeless.” This statement resonates with me because I have felt the same distress of writing papers. Dreadful thoughts of writing long papers and overthinking if my paper is satisfactory to fit the teacher’s requirements, are typically the reasons why I become frustrated and dissatisfied. Sometimes, writing drafts also become overwhelming since I do not know where to start. So, instead of drowning in my own fears, I have to “trust the process,” as Anne Lamott says in “Shitty First Drafts”. Writing something down – whether it be a couple of sentences or two pages – is great progress because I can always go back to edit it and make it better.
After doing the readings for this class, there were a few things that helped me see better approaches to write better. For instance, after reading “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, I learned that it is helpful to pour everything down for the first draft. By doing so, there might just be things I would end up writing about it or I can always just change my ideas and make my writing smoother. Moreover, I believe it would also save my time as I wouldn’t have to waste my time thinking about other ideas when I can just choose from all the ideas I got it down if I am not satisfied with what I wrote. In addition, I resonated with what B. Manson wrote in “No Words” when the author mentioned that “growing up, I was always told I had a weak vocabulary.” Usually my essays would sound very middle-school-like due to the diction I use. I hope in the future writings, I am able to use complex words to make my writings more interesting and engaging to read.
I am resonated with Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” because I think I am similar to her situation when I write my first draft. My creativity usually appears the most when I am writing my first draft but I sometimes write my first draft without many grammatical and logical senses. Therefore, my first drafts are barely good at all, they are often nonsense and crummy, like what Anne explained in her writing. Therefore, I think I should review my first draft as much as possible, and have more drafts after drafts to make sure everything in my previous draft is logically and grammatically correct.
B. Manson’s “No Words” also resonates with me a lot because I also have a difficult time finding the right words in my writings. My glossary is not big, and I usually only use words that I am familiar with. Therefore, when I have to describe something or write about my feelings, I usually feel myself repeating the same words, just like right now, I feel like I keep repeating the word “usually.” In order to improve this issue of keep using the same words, I should try to learn more vocabulary either in readings or in videos, and I can even try to find some synonyms of the words I already know, and add on to my glossary list. Thus, my glossary can be expanded, maybe not too much but it will constantly grow over time.
After the reading the readings that I had for this class so far I am super comfortable and appreciate the text a whole lot more. In “Shitty First Drafts” I was really glad I got to read this due to my first draft ability. When I write first drafts I am usually all over the place due to multiple thoughts in my head because it is all coming to me at once. also what resonates and benefits me in a lot of was is the grammar and vocabulary that is used. It is easy to understand but by reading it I am actually getting much better and back into the groove. The break from school that I took from high school and college was significant I felt like when I started school again everything was so fast but like the readings its starting to ease and I am getting a flow of things much better now!
I really like the book. Because it doesn’t just show us good articles. The writers of the book slowly bring us into the writing class. Just like the article” On Writing as Style and Entering a Conversation”, when I was in high school, my teachers would take points off me for writing in a way that was too easy and too colloquial, but they didn’t tell me how to fix it. For a long time, I thought my style of writing was wrong. But the author of this article tells us that different writing styles can be used in different situations and that trying out different styles can actually help to improve writing. The article also listed some examples of how to correctly use a writing style, which is very helpful for me. Another article that impressed me was “Suffer less: On Writing as Process,” Because I’m a terrible procrastinator. Although sometimes writing articles at the last minute really makes me more productive, but it also made me realize the downside. I’ll try to correct this habit in this year’s class. And I wish I can have more opportunities to improve my first draft by revising little by little.
From the many readings, we have done thus far, the two readings that have resonated with me the most are “Suffer Less: On Writing as Process” and “Shitty First Draft”. I found “Suffer Less: On Writing as Process” to be very helpful because it presented multiple tips on how to write as a prosses and I will be sure to take into consideration the tips that were given in the reading for my future assignments. Some of the skills and strategies the reading “Suffer Less: On Writing as Process” stated are: making sure to understand the assignment before beginning it, breaking the assignment down into smaller parts, and many others. Something that resonated with me from the “Shitty First Draft” is how it took Lamott two days just to write food reviews that were couple sentences long and how first drafts are usually longer than it needs to be. This takeaway from the reading will help me in the future to write everything that is in my mind about the task and not shy away from having too many pages of my writing. Overall, I found all readings we. have done to be inspiring, helpful, and relatable. And I will be sure to use the techniques and skills I learned from the reading in my future writings.
After having done the class so far, I have found two pieces of writings in the textbook help me. The first piece I found on “Suffer less: On Writing as a Process.” The author states, “Professional work usually requires a steady jog of productivity, not sporadic, adrenaline-fueled sprints.” It inspires me to consider writing as a habit to make small effort, and to write a small piece everyday. It is like a jog and when we cross the finish line, the progress may amaze us. Another piece I found resonate to me is from “Shitty First Draft.” When I wrote my first draft, I had multiple thoughts on my head but I could only write disorganized. Moreover, the author states, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper.” This quote provides me with a helpful tip that write a little at a time and then came back to review from a different view. I believe it will help me through the writings in the future.
The two texts which resonated with me the most are “Shitty First Drafts,” and “No Words.”
I resonated with the reading, “Shitty First Draft,” because my first drafts tend to be quite bad. When I write my first draft, I struggle with writing enough and making sense of what I wrote. Sometimes, it gets to the point where I would write a paragraph and delete it afterward. My take away from the text is to not overthink and to just keep writing. I resonated with the reading, “No words,” because I struggle with descriptive writing. If you bluntly state the event, a story falls flat and boring. If you use the same descriptive words, a story feels repetitive. My take away from the text is to expand my vocabulary. I can do this by practicing writing. In addition, I can replace an overused word with synonyms.
This textbook has given me many interesting stories and tips so far. I would say this text served me to be a better writer so far. However, the most interesting story I read so far is definitely the literacy native “No words” by B.Mason. The author showed a lot of improvement in his writing, and that showed me with hard work and dedication, possibilities are endless. In addition, the reading was a key factor in my narrative writing.
The narrative gave me a style of writing that gave me the ability to expand on my writing. To conclude, the readings so far in the texbook improved my writing skills.
I remember the title of one of the published writing, that was assigned. Even though it was a funny title, there was a meaning towards it as well. I believed that a, “shitty first draft” is very relatable for not only me but for a lot of people. I remember back then that I believed that I did solid on my first drafts but most of the time my first draft were not great. But that is why it is called a first draft, is not perfect so there has to be revisions to get your writing closer and closer to perfection. Another reading that resonates with me is, “Mother Tongue.” Even though my first language isn’t English, I still feel like I don’t know my own native Language as well. So that is why this reading resonates with me.
One of the readings that I really resonated with is “Shitty First Drafts” nnd “Suffer less: On Writing as a Process.” When I start to write a paper, I would always be worried that what I write will not make sense. As a result, I do not start writing the paper. I wouls procasinate because I am afarid of what I would write. After doing those readings, I somewhat accepted that my first draft will not be perfect, but it is a process. What I plan to do after reading these texts is I would like to analyze my experiences. In my first draft, I wrote a lot about my experiences, but have not really anaylizes in any sort of way. I would like to know how to write about my experiences, not just talk about them.
There were several parts from the readings that resonated with me and that I will use in them in my writings. One part of the reading that resonated with me was that a writer should have a discipline and patience. I think this is important because writer needs discipline for accepting criticism of his work, so after someone would criticize my reading correctly, I will listen to that person and will fix my mistakes. Patience is also important because I am not always patient when writing something. Donald Murray’s statement resonated with me in comparing professional writers and students. He said “They are overly critical, think every-thing is dreadful, tear up page after page, never complete a draft, see the task as hopeless”. I feel the same emotions when I write, so now I will try be more patient, so writing won’t look like a slapdash. Another part of the text that resonated with me was the author should not be extremely critical to his own writing and should look at it as a stranger. This seems important to me because I am extremely critical to what I am writing. Sometimes I can remove what should stay and left something that should be removed. So now after writing something I will leave it for a day and come back to it to look at my work at more constructive way.
I like this textbook because the authors of the articles talk friendly with the audience with the intention to explain and give tips to write easier. Unlike most of the fancy textbooks which use complicated explanation with high language, this textbook is interesting and easy to understand. There are 2 articles in this textbook which I especially like. The first one is “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott. I really like it because the author talks about how it’s ok to have bad first drafts, it’s just the part of the process. For me, the most stressful thing in witting is to start. And even if I finish the first draft, I usually don’t like it and don’t really want to continue. But the reassurance that everyone’s first drafts aren’t perfect, gives me a want to try to rewrite mine to get a good story at the end of the process. The second article is “No Words” by B. Manson. I can relate to this story. The author tells how it was hard for them to express thoughts out loud even if in head it was a good story. They just could not say it or put it on paper. I also struggled with expressing myself in past.