Step 1 This week, I learned that literacy applies to all things in life, not just reading, writing, and comprehending literature. You could be literate other areas such as sports, playing instruments, or art. In addition, I learned that many times in writing, the key is to include a challenge to overcome. That way, the audience emphasizes with your story and feels more engaged. The more engaged the audience is with your story, the more they will want to read it to discover how everything ends--like if the person conquered the adversity, learned the lesson of the whole ordeal, or lived happily ever after per se. Due to these lessons, I feel more prepared to write the upcoming living picture narrative. I will take what I learned about including challenges in my story so the audience feels a connection to the experiences of the story. I will also be more descriptive so the audience can feel more engaged and imagine the story coming to life with every word that they read. Step 2 Personally, I consider writing as a window that allows me to express myself. It is a way to put my thoughts and passions into words. However, it can be frustrating because sometimes, it is difficult to find the right words to write to express exactly what you want to the reader. The writing process is usually hard for me when I first write something. Looking at the blank screen can be daunting and I end up writing “stuck” over and over again until something comes to my head. Nevertheless, once my ideas become words and the words come onto paper, writing is amazing. I can start visualizing how I want my writing to go and how it will end as I keep typing. After free-writing everything, I go back and read over my draft a few times to make any adjustments to word choice, grammar, and style. Sometimes, the writing process is long because I go through many drafts, but the end result is always fulfilling. Step 4 I used Bubbl.us to map my writing process because I liked the how the bubbles were organized on the mind map and how I could connect the bubbles with different kinds of arrows--like lines, arrows pointing in one direction, and arrows pointing in both directions. For my writing process, I usually start with brainstorming, which can vary depending on my mood and environment. I could try listening to music for inspiration, play basketball to help clear my mind, or even just sit and stare at my computer screen for a long time. No matter what I do to lead up to my brainstorming, it usually leads to me either free-writing any ideas that come to my mind or outlining my paper and mapping out how the direction I want it to go. Nonetheless, the two are kind of interconnected because when I free-write, I sort of plan in my head how I want my paper to sound as I go along. On the other hand, when I am planning out my paper through an outline, I kind of free-write in my head the way I want to display any major points of the paper like the hook, ending, connections, and conflict. After I finish brainstorming, I write the complete first draft. However, my first drafts are never in the best quality for others to read, so analogous to Anne Lamott's "Shitty First Drafts," I need to edit the first draft by going over any changes in word choice and vocabulary, sentence structure, adding any details that would make the paper better, and taking out any parts that are not needed or are redundant. That would make my second draft. Usually, I keep editing my drafts until I feel like there is not anything else left to fix. However, after reading Lamott's essay, I will improve my writing process by taking some time off between editing my drafts so I will be refreshed and refocused once I start reading the paper again. When I am satisfied with my edits, I ask a couple of people to peer review the draft so I can get feedback from outside perspectives. This way, I can see if something does not make sense to others when they read it, and any strong or weak points that I could build upon. After listening to the advice I get, I implement them to my paper if I agree that it would make my paper stronger such as putting more emphasis on part of a paragraph because the reader may not be familiar with the terminology discussed. Finally, once the editing is done, I have my final draft to turn in. Works Cited Kane, Christine, Biz Says, Christine Kane Says, Laura Mixon-Camacho Says, Alex Says, Wayfaring Wanderer Says, Leslie Umstetter Says, Lynn Ruby Says, Stefanie Lein Says, and M. Says. "How to (Finally!) Stop Playing Small and Start Living Big - Picture." Christine Kane's Blog. N.p., 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 19 Jan. 2017. <http://dev.christinekane.com/how-to-finally-stop-playing-small-and-start-living-big/>. Miyamoto, Ken. "15 Ways to Stop Writer's Block - Picture." ScreenCraft. N.p., 19 May 2016. Web. 19 Jan. 2017. <https://screencraft.org/2016/05/18/15-ways-to-stop-writers-block/?fb_comment_id=886012324841964_887512151358648#f398d6651e4191c>.
Arrie Yuan
1/25/2017 02:28:30 pm
I like your statement about how writing as a window to express yourself. Also I hold the same feeling as you that it can be difficult at times to choose the exact word during the writing process. And I wonder how you organize your brainstorm ideas to become a complete essay, like do you simply plug in ideas into a standard format or you construct your framework in your writing process?
Luck Vuong
1/27/2017 04:57:23 am
The picture is a bit of an extreme in step 2, but it does add humor to the writer’s block so I would have to give that as a plus… Also, I never really thought about listening to music to set the mood while writing. Whenever I written anything on paper, the quietness usually reminds me of a timed in class essay which is also nice and quiet too… Comments are closed.
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