One

I’ve always felt odd because for some bizarre reason I love to write. People around me would be dreading the big paper coming up but I would get excited. Some aspects of writing I like more than others but overall it’s a good time in my book. One of the things I think I’m great at when it comes to writing is description. I like to put a reader into a room and describe everything that their senses would be able to tell them such as their smell, taste, looks, sounds, anything really that immerses them into the story. Another strength that I think I have is being able to tell what the connotations of words are and how to properly use them in a sentence to get the desired effect. Using screeched instead of yelled may not seem like a major difference but the words themselves have a different effect to them. Whereas both of the words have an insinuation of anger, screeching may also indicate something else such as indignation or fear.

One of the main problems I have when I write is I don’t take the time to plan out what I’m writing like I should. I like to just jump into the writing and eventually I come to a point where I get stuck and I’m not sure where to continue from there. I know how to write outlines and plan out my writing I just have a habit of looking over those planning steps to get to the fun part, writing. The other bad thing about my writing is that I sometimes obsess over what I’m writing and take far too long thinking about how my words will have an effect on the reader. I think that this is both a good thing and a bad thing because it helps me write very good sentences but on the downside, it takes a while for me to write anything that I’m content with anyone else seeing. Not because it’s necessarily bad, it’s just that I think it is. I think what I want to improve is to actually take the time and plan out what I’m going to write as well as going a bit faster when I write so I don’t obsess so much. It’s called a rough draft for a reason and I shouldn’t need to get it perfect the first time.

One of the big authors who inspires me to write is Cinda Williams Chima (http://www.cindachima.com/) just because she’s amazing at making relatable characters, describing everything in vivid detail and also writing action sequences so that I can picture every motion going on in my head. Sometimes I try and make my writing like hers just because she’s so good at what she does. I am also inspired by Claude Monet in my writing, as well as other impressionists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism) because occasionally I try to do what they do, just with a different medium. I try to take a single moment in time and capture it as best as I can before it fleetingly flies away.

Overall, I think that this course will help me become a better writer by showing me what level I’m expected to be writing on in college and show me the steps to get to that level. I already think that I’m a decent writer but there are always new things to be learned and improvements to be made.