Choose one post. (My favorite? My least favorite? The one that surprises me the most when I reread it?) Analyze it in detail. Explain the "behind-the-scenes" of how it was written, what it truly means, where its inspiration came from, etc.
In what way(s) have I surprised myself this semester on my blog?
How is the open-ended writing I do on my blog different from the more structured academic assignments I write?
During this past year, i have learned a lot. i have improved my speed writing and the ability to write for fun. Before, it would take me hours to compose a simple paragraph and i would hate it. now it would take me a mere minutes and would actually be fun for me. Over all, i enjoyed writing this year. My favorite post was the one about the iPad. this year, i improved a lot, and that surprised me. I loved how we could write open ended, it made me actually enjoy writing.
My favorite post was the one about the ipad. I like this post the most because i wrote it in about 10 minutes and just jotted down what came to my mind. In the end, it turned out really well, and i didn’t have to edit anything. I like this post the most because it is proof of how much i improved. At the beginning of the year, i took at least an hour on each post, trying to over come writers block. I think blogging has improved my overall ability to write quickly. Having these blogs weekly improved my ability top write quickly because i learned how to just write and not look back. before, when writing, i would try to make every single sentence perfect the first time i wrote it. As i wrote my blogs, over time, i realized that the end result is much better and it is much faster to write if i just wrote the first thing that comes to my mind, and then i would come back and edit at the end. i would not have learned this skill without the help of weekly blog posts. The posts made me rush each week because of procrastination, but in result, i learned how to write more efficiently, and more comprehensively. this was my favorite post because of how it turned out. I think it turned out nicely because i liked the topic and it was easy for me to write about it. I found that, like with everything, it is easier to write about something that i like, just like it is doing something that you like, compared to doing homework, work, etc. as i moved on through out the year, i found that i have improved my speed of writing and the ability to make the writing understandable.
Over the course of this year, i think my writing has improved in quality a little, but what really changed was my ability to write more, more quickly. each week, i have procrastinated on blogs until Friday night. that means i would have to write them rushed in time to turn in before 12 at night. This was actually beneficial to me because i learned to write what popped into my mind and go back to edit later. Without this experience of constant rushing, i would not have learned to write fast. i would still be trying to make my first draft into a final. i think my ability to do this will help me in the future, greatly. Learning this skill started over the summer. i had to go to Hawaii the next day, and i had not done any of my summer readers. i stayed up all night working. At first it took me more than an hour for each reader. after a while of rushing more, i lowered my time to about thirty to forty-five minutes each. over the year, i lowered that time even more. i could now write a blog (350 words) in about fifteen minutes. many of my blog i have done in the past are rushed, but i think they all turned out relatively well. i like the blog idea because i am able to just put up what ever i believed and publish. at the beginning of the year, i spent more time, trying to make each blog perfect, and i continued this until i realized the blog is more for fun and just putting up what i believe online. it is about spreading my opinion. Over the year i think i improved greatly on a skill that would help me through college. i will have to write numerous long papers and having the skill of speed writing would help me be able to finish quickly. Developing this skill surprised me greatly.
I love the open ended ability of writing in blogger. I love how you assigned free writes and it was just like a journal. i think those were the most fun because i could just put up what ever i wanted and talk about anything. For example, i wrote about pizzas, fears, Harry Potter, iPhones, cross country, my day, and many more. These few were just recently, and over the year it was interesting to look back on what my interests are. With the free writes, i could see what i was interested in at the time i wrote it. in these, i loved the ability to write freely and informally. I wrote like i would talk and, therefore, i learned how to write even faster. the free writing made the blogs more fun and cushioned the other assigned home work, making those a little more fun too. plus, the free writes where fun because i could get what ever was in my mind, clouding my head up, off my chest. It was just like a journal that others could read and give comments to. i loved having free writes and having people respond or comment because i like the fact that people are actually reading my thoughts. i don't like the assignments that are clear cut because i feel like it is a little too structured and it doesn't feel like my own direct feelings. i like being able to just write what ever is on my mind. that is why this essay is a little more informal. I feel like if i just try to write like i would talk, it is directly from my head and not clouded up by the fact that i have to make sure the wording is formal. over all the free writes helped me have fun writing, and helped me learn how to write faster. The blogging experience has been extremely fun for me this year. Next year, i know that when i am bored, i will have something to do. As i wrote my blog, i felt like i was expressing myself in an indirect way. it was like an art to me, so i would like to thank you for this year, Mr. Sutherland.
next year, i would like to focus more on redundancy and fluency. I would like to practice avoiding repetition and get to the point to have my writing have more power. Also, this helps with fluency. Sometimes, i tend to write run on sentences, and that confuses my writing. I would like to work on that. this year, i got to the point where i can write fast, but i want to improve my writing so that i do not have to edit as much in the end. i want my first drafts to get better so that my final is even better and i would not have to work as hard. overall, i am satisfied with this years writing experience, both in English and in writing. I have improved greatly, and learned to enjoy writing again.
In what way(s) have I surprised myself this semester on my blog?
How is the open-ended writing I do on my blog different from the more structured academic assignments I write?
During this past year, i have learned a lot. i have improved my speed writing and the ability to write for fun. Before, it would take me hours to compose a simple paragraph and i would hate it. now it would take me a mere minutes and would actually be fun for me. Over all, i enjoyed writing this year. My favorite post was the one about the iPad. this year, i improved a lot, and that surprised me. I loved how we could write open ended, it made me actually enjoy writing.
My favorite post was the one about the ipad. I like this post the most because i wrote it in about 10 minutes and just jotted down what came to my mind. In the end, it turned out really well, and i didn’t have to edit anything. I like this post the most because it is proof of how much i improved. At the beginning of the year, i took at least an hour on each post, trying to over come writers block. I think blogging has improved my overall ability to write quickly. Having these blogs weekly improved my ability top write quickly because i learned how to just write and not look back. before, when writing, i would try to make every single sentence perfect the first time i wrote it. As i wrote my blogs, over time, i realized that the end result is much better and it is much faster to write if i just wrote the first thing that comes to my mind, and then i would come back and edit at the end. i would not have learned this skill without the help of weekly blog posts. The posts made me rush each week because of procrastination, but in result, i learned how to write more efficiently, and more comprehensively. this was my favorite post because of how it turned out. I think it turned out nicely because i liked the topic and it was easy for me to write about it. I found that, like with everything, it is easier to write about something that i like, just like it is doing something that you like, compared to doing homework, work, etc. as i moved on through out the year, i found that i have improved my speed of writing and the ability to make the writing understandable.
Over the course of this year, i think my writing has improved in quality a little, but what really changed was my ability to write more, more quickly. each week, i have procrastinated on blogs until Friday night. that means i would have to write them rushed in time to turn in before 12 at night. This was actually beneficial to me because i learned to write what popped into my mind and go back to edit later. Without this experience of constant rushing, i would not have learned to write fast. i would still be trying to make my first draft into a final. i think my ability to do this will help me in the future, greatly. Learning this skill started over the summer. i had to go to Hawaii the next day, and i had not done any of my summer readers. i stayed up all night working. At first it took me more than an hour for each reader. after a while of rushing more, i lowered my time to about thirty to forty-five minutes each. over the year, i lowered that time even more. i could now write a blog (350 words) in about fifteen minutes. many of my blog i have done in the past are rushed, but i think they all turned out relatively well. i like the blog idea because i am able to just put up what ever i believed and publish. at the beginning of the year, i spent more time, trying to make each blog perfect, and i continued this until i realized the blog is more for fun and just putting up what i believe online. it is about spreading my opinion. Over the year i think i improved greatly on a skill that would help me through college. i will have to write numerous long papers and having the skill of speed writing would help me be able to finish quickly. Developing this skill surprised me greatly.
I love the open ended ability of writing in blogger. I love how you assigned free writes and it was just like a journal. i think those were the most fun because i could just put up what ever i wanted and talk about anything. For example, i wrote about pizzas, fears, Harry Potter, iPhones, cross country, my day, and many more. These few were just recently, and over the year it was interesting to look back on what my interests are. With the free writes, i could see what i was interested in at the time i wrote it. in these, i loved the ability to write freely and informally. I wrote like i would talk and, therefore, i learned how to write even faster. the free writing made the blogs more fun and cushioned the other assigned home work, making those a little more fun too. plus, the free writes where fun because i could get what ever was in my mind, clouding my head up, off my chest. It was just like a journal that others could read and give comments to. i loved having free writes and having people respond or comment because i like the fact that people are actually reading my thoughts. i don't like the assignments that are clear cut because i feel like it is a little too structured and it doesn't feel like my own direct feelings. i like being able to just write what ever is on my mind. that is why this essay is a little more informal. I feel like if i just try to write like i would talk, it is directly from my head and not clouded up by the fact that i have to make sure the wording is formal. over all the free writes helped me have fun writing, and helped me learn how to write faster. The blogging experience has been extremely fun for me this year. Next year, i know that when i am bored, i will have something to do. As i wrote my blog, i felt like i was expressing myself in an indirect way. it was like an art to me, so i would like to thank you for this year, Mr. Sutherland.
next year, i would like to focus more on redundancy and fluency. I would like to practice avoiding repetition and get to the point to have my writing have more power. Also, this helps with fluency. Sometimes, i tend to write run on sentences, and that confuses my writing. I would like to work on that. this year, i got to the point where i can write fast, but i want to improve my writing so that i do not have to edit as much in the end. i want my first drafts to get better so that my final is even better and i would not have to work as hard. overall, i am satisfied with this years writing experience, both in English and in writing. I have improved greatly, and learned to enjoy writing again.
The bright side of procrastination, huh? Well I am certainly glad you're writing faster...this is indeed a good skill to have and it only comes through regular practice, as you've discovered. The is really the key to ANY rough draft as far as I can tell...just WRITE a bunch, as fast as you want to, and then worry about what to do with the material later. Unfortunately many students get stuck before they even start, so if you are past this hang-up and ready to generate chunks of words at a moment's notice, then indeed you have a nice head start for the college writing load. The next question, as you point out, gets into how to revise and work with the material you generate in the first place!
ReplyDeleteNo need to thank me for the work YOU DID this year man. You're the one who put in the hours...And I'm glad you did. Hope you'll keep dropping stuff here when you feel inspired. Meanwhile, have a great summer!