Abstract:
Below is one of the first time I wrote about what I believe is writing. This is a question that was asked through out the semester and I notice that what I believe writing was has not really changed, it is fundamentally the same, but it has grown since this was first written on 4 February 2015.
The typical definition of writing, taken from Merriam Webster, is “the art or process of one who writes as . . . the act of or art of forming visible letters or characters”. Yet writing could mean many different things to different people. It could be use as a form of relaxation or sharing of ideas. To some being able to write is a way for them to escape the realty that they live in. They create characters and stories that interest them. To others writing is their life, they wake up writing, eat breakfast writing, hang out with friends while writing, and go to bed writing. Yet writing is all these things and more.
A common theme I have found between a lot of the people I meet in my life with work and school is that writing is first and foremost a way of communication, either to ourselves or to others. When stressed with something many people would write it out so that there is concrete way to look at a situation. For example, lets say a person wants to quits their job. It is not good for a person to quit suddenly and then be left with out anyway for them to pay their bills. I, for example, write down all my bills first and the amounts I have to pay for each of them. I then write down my school course load. This reminds me that while I do not like my job, it is an easy job that enables me with pay my rent, school, car, and so on and so forth. I will then write my end goal of going through all that: to become an independent doctor, who worked her way up from a barista or server position. This form of writing helps me collect my thoughts on the situation and make sure that I make the right decision and not one that is just based on emotions. In this instance I used writing as a tool to remind my self that the situation I am in is temporary and I have goals that I want to achieve in my life.
People encounter writing almost every day, a need to take a note about this for later reference, need to write down ideas for songs or stories. To be an effective writer there are some themes that need to be developed in a person’s style. Depending on the reasoning for the writing the person should make sure their writing is organized. If it is not organized, then it is very difficult to read. The written piece should flow from topic to topic. If it is a scholar essay requiring an introduction and conclusions, both should have information about the main topic from the essay, yet neither should just be a repeat of the other one. The paragraphs should have a main topic that it is attempting to share with readers. This is mostly the technical aspects of writing.
I believe though that the main factor with becoming an effective writer is that the person needs to understand what he or she is writing about. They should not be just writing to just write, they need to brainstorm and research. If is a personal essay it is no different then a scholar essay. The person should look within for their research. He or she needs to understand what they are writing about to write about it in an effective way, and sometimes self reflection is one of the hardest things for a person to do. If it is suppose to be a passionate topic, a person should have passion behind his or her writing because then the topic will become dry and repetitive. It will not catch anyone’s interest and instead it will be dull topic.
My experience with writing is mostly school based. While I do enjoy writing for my self and have created several plots and characters, I do not tend to have the time to complete these stories with my hectic life. When I was younger English was my worst subject. I am not good with getting my ideas out there by writing them because I always have too many ideas in my head. It would soon become a large grammatical error assignment and my teachers would always have to deduct a whole letter grade because of it. But I never blamed writing for it because during these times I actually began to write bad poetry. I was a bit more angst in my younger years because my family and I could not get along that well. I would release my stress in these poems, to myself, to my mother, sisters, grandparents, and friends. I would never show them anything for fear of being sent to a psychologist – which I hated the idea of. Soon though I began to lose the time to create these poems. So I began to write short plots to stories and characters bios. I still do this, but just like the poems, not that much. This is because in high school I began to work and a year later I moved out of my mother’s home. So now I tend to only have time to write the essays that are assign for school.
In conclusion, writing is a number of things to different people. It is an escape, a masterpiece, a release. Writing is so broad that it is important to people on a personal level. While being an effective writer it is important to be able to write about the topic grammatically correct, with out content and passion in the writing it will fall flat. Lastly, I believe this because though I am not the greatest writer, I enjoy writing when I get the chance to write something that is not school related.
Emilia Carlo :3 