Relationship With Writing

When I was younger, I always enjoyed writing; whether it was timed essays or papers for school, I always enjoyed it. As time has passed I have learned more about writing, including more advanced rules and techniques. As I have grown older, my enjoyment has not disappeared, it has only become accompanied by other feelings such as fear. Through the years my relationship with writing has remained positive, with me recognizing that the benefits of writing greatly outweighing the negative parts.
When it comes to writing, there are many different fears I face. For example, I have a large fear of accidentally plagiarizing my work; ultimately this fear has made me more cautious when it comes to using sources. Another fear is not being able to clearly portray my points, so for this fear I try to stick with an outline to make sure I hit each point and provide supporting details. I find that this directly ties into not writing well because if your writing is jumbled it will not be good work. My last fear of writing is becoming too familiar with the techniques I use and not changing my mistakes. Research shows that apprehensive
writers will have weak writing skills, and doubt that they can progress (Mascle, 2013). I believe that to become a great writer you must recognize and learn from mistakes, and that starts with recognizing that you can overcome your fears with time.
The value of being able to express my ideas through writing makes me optimistic as I continue to expand my current skillset.
Along with verbal skills, written communication is so important in everyday life, especially in a corporate environment. Recognizing the importance of written communication is so important for many reasons. By using writing, I can communicate my point of view to others, providing insight into my thoughts. Writing not only avoids the fear of public speaking but by proofreading and double checking my writing I can produce better quality work. It is no doubt in today's world that social media is a big deal; many people on social media platforms can allow a writer’s message to go viral by simply sharing it to their pages. This means that a simple piece of writing can impact millions of people in a short amount of
time.
Although I have my fears, I find that writing more frequently provides me with the opportunity to expand and grow as a writer. As I write I have the chance to correct mistakes that I am scared to make, by learning new skills and techniques as I go. Constructive criticism on writing pieces can lead to the writer learning from mistakes they made (Blevins-Knabe, 1987). Personally, I find that I can fix mistakes when I have feedback. Practicing a skill allows you to get better, just like sports. In my current job position, written skills are a must, and I am hopeful that my skills will be greatly increased over time.
In conclusion, there are both positive and negative factors in any task or situation, and writing is no exception to this. I have realized that most of my fears from writing can be fixed by continuing to write and learn. I believe that by continuing to write my fears will become nonexistent and I will be able to continue to enhance my writing in order to become better overall. I find that maintaining a positive relationship with writing has allowed me to continue to enjoy it as I continue to write for school. Knowing that written communication is so important in the professional world has allowed me to focus on getting better instead of focusing on the fears.