Theory of Writing

Throughout my life writing has played an integral part in my successes and happiness. I feel like when you write but don’t notice it is when one’s writing is at its best. I often write about sports, complete bids for my business and frequently compose emails. In all these genres I feel my writing is most focused, clear and creative because I truly enjoy the topics. My theory of writing will focus on my past as a writer, what I enjoy writing about this semester and why and how I can improve long term.

Growing up I did not enjoy writing. Most of the time it was forced through class or my parents. I struggled with my thoughts and words leading to frustrating experiences. My 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Starbuck, taught me how important an outline was to write a complete, well rounded assignment. This had a huge impact on me as a writer and how I approached writing in general. Instead of feeling scrambled and thoughtless, I felt well rounded and organized. As I approached high school I loved to think, read and write about sports. Sports has always been an outlet for me, even to this day. I would often write about the teams I enjoyed following and the players I looked up to. After I graduated high school, I started my small business. To be competitive I was forced to write bids and proposals after speaking with customers. I would usually do this in the form of an email and wanted to give off a professional vibe. I always enjoyed drafting those proposals and having my success or failure depend on those proposals. Writing has been a vital part of my life up to now and I assume it will be going forward as well. Communication is arguably the most important aspect of society.

I struggle to write about just anything. One of the reasons I have enjoyed this class so much is because I have genuine interests in the topics we write about and the freedom we are given within those topics. I love engineering. Solving problems is what I was made for. I could think all day on how to improve a product or how to make something more efficient. The technical description allowed us to pick a topic we enjoyed and write an article describing an item within that topic. I chose sticky grenades from my all-time favorite video game, Halo 3. It brought me back to my teen years as I thought about how I would traverse the maps and in what situations I would use them. After 10 years of not playing Halo 3 I still remembered the maps like I was walking through them in present time. Recollecting memories like this is what makes writing so amazing. The Lab report was also a highlight of the semester. It was the first lab report I did at City College, “little g”. The lab was about different ways of determining and calculating the value of gravity. The more someone spends on technology and time the closer they can get to a true value of gravity on Earth. It was exciting to revisit and revise that lab in a less stressful environment. Although I have learned a lot this semester and had a blast, I still feel I have improvements I can make with my writing.

It is hard to focus in on the exact areas I can improve on with my writing. Patience would be a solid start. I often find myself writing fast and dampening the quality and substance of my words. Thinking back to Mrs. Starbuck and taking the time to do an outline really helps in that regard. Another area that I have always found difficult is tenses. I am not sure why I find it so difficult but will often read back on my piece and see several different tenses throughout the work. Another area that seems to escape my grasp is transitions between paragraphs that provide continuity. It is easy to tell a great writer when the paragraphs gel together seamlessly. I am working towards that.

This semester has provided to be a success thanks to my great professors and classmates. I have learned about an RFP, revisited my childhood days and put serious thought into my future endeavors. Completing the site with all my work collaborated there was also a blast and I will use it in the future to differentiate myself from others.

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