My Reflection As A Writer

Writer’s Reflection Where do I stand as a writer? This was a question I constantly asked myself and pondered about whether it was writing for a hobby or for a class assignment. Through the years of writing on the side, and creating stories from the fiction of my imagination, to sitting in English classes with constant interest to improve my writing, I found the passion and craving to write something, growing more vibrantly inside me, and feel as though it constantly changes my viewpoint and have emerged to the writer I’ve always wanted to be and hoped for. The constant obstacles and challenges that I faced during the more recent years of writing, I feel as though, have shaped me towards being a better writer, with still more room to grow
and learn more as I continue to write- never coming to a stop sign, impeding from learning more, or thinking there was a end in learning or growing.
To start, being my first year taking an English class online for the first time, an online class for the first time in general, I felt very anxious as I was curious on how I would do. Would I be able to perform or write the same way I would in a classroom setting? Or would it distract me in the fact that the class is online and the environment is different? Though through the semester, I didn’t see myself waiver away into a mode of distraction. Taking this semester’s class and looking back at my previous English class experiences, has always set a challenge for me, which I wanted to take on head strong, furthering my love for writing, analyzing, responding and reflecting on not only my work, but other’s as well- giving me that pressure and incentive to shoot for a better paper each time a new assignment was assigned. In her narrative, Inspiration, Melissa Duffy states, “each time [she] write[s], [she] become[s] better” (page 29, Essays on Writing ). Agreeing with this quote, I perpetually see the hard work slowly pay off as instructors give feedback, or critique my papers aloud.
Additionally, taking those responses and criticism from others about my work into consideration, the yearn to becoming a better writer persistently expands.
With revision, I was able to see clearly how I could improve in my writing as a student, and a personal individual. Connecting with the “Critical Reading” and “Critical Thinking” section of Susan Anker’s book, Real Essays Interactive, it guided me in different paths on how to approach my paper when it came to responding to various authors. For example, by paying close attention to the author’s words they wanted to convey to their audience, I found myself thinking about approaching my papers in different perspectives from what I used to write in. Before, I was solely taught to write in someone else’s view, not my own as it could’ve been too biased when analyzing an author’s work. Yet, reading deeper into the “Critical Reading” section, states, “asking yourself questions about the author’s purpose… you should consider whether you agree or disagree with the points being made.” Reading this along, felt like a reassurance as it was okay to place personal input and not solely writing in different viewpoints other than my own. Furthermore, reading other student’s personal thoughts being included into their work acted as a support when it came to acknowledging that it was alright to put in personal thoughts, and again, improved my writing a lot. It gave a sensation of being in the same place of other fellow classmates, and in some sense of supporting each other as we responded to each other’s
work.
All in all, I now feel as though I’ve found the answer to the question I frequently puzzled over, and see myself as a writer growing stronger and stronger every moment. Utilizing writing as a coping mechanism, I hope to flourish more as an individual, and hopefully someday teach others the same through experience. Taking this class and looking back at the previous ones has indefinitely opened my eyes to many more paths and possibilities, and I not only thank the professor, but as well as many of the other students I’ve been able to share this experience with.