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Jacey Bultman
Dr. Sonja Andrus
English Composition 1001.023
6 December 2015
Self Portrait
“Good writing,” to myself, could potentially be paralleled to a good piece of art.
Everyone has their own taste in art, just like in music or, in this occasion, writing. You can’t
necessarily define “good writing” to a T, but there are criterions of which one must live up to,
per se, for every kind of art. Each portion of literature is a shape of art; some more inventive,
attention grabbing, and well crafted than others, but they are all measured as art. When I begin to
open up about who I am as a writer, I get tense. It’s tough to be able to pick my art out of all the
pieces composed, as I am still learning to configure those myself.
Everyone’s development of writing is different, which also explains why some are more
collective and sophisticated than others. Some like to compose theirs early in the assignment
stages, others like to take their time. It’s just like art; some can free hand a beautiful masterpiece
while others might take awhile to produce something just as striking. In the same way, people
may interpret one piece of writing more all-inclusive than another, even if they are both essays.
I’m still struggling with finding out my fortes in writing, but I believe I know them when I see
them. I like to know exactly how to write something and how long it should be for acceptance.
For example this paper, I can look in the textbook and organize how long it needs to be and plot
for it. But on the other hand, the final reflection is something we feel is as long as it needs to be,
which ultimately stresses me out. But, I know this is the case and I am able to properly prepare
for this and plan.
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Anyone can compose good art, or something they believe to be good art. I think, also, a
lot of what constructing an essay comes with is the processes and habits in which you do it. For
myself, it’s often challenging to sit down and write a paper. With the distractions of my phone,
music and even sometimes just pure laziness, it is more than challenging. Even if I know it
would be so much easier to just sit down and do it, I frequently split up the work over multiple
days to make sure I do not overwhelm myself. This is a process I am currently content with; it
gives me time to complete my thought process over a multitude of days and, to me, makes my
work more comprehensive and in-depth. But as for disgraces, it’s very easy to plunge into bad
habits with this process of writing as well.
Another part of my process of writing that I find to be very definitive is that who you are
as an actual person will reflect heavily in your writing. If I disagree with a project, I tend to be
very hesitant; I completely shut down and shut off, as I mentioned in my literacy narrative. If I
have an open mind and come in with good intentions it’s proven that I will produce, to me, what
is a good piece of literature. For instance, my first drafts on my first and second projects are very
different from each other. Not that I cared about one more, it was just as meek as I was
indifferent about the two. I spent a lot of time and put a lot of effort into my literacy narrative,
which I feel is extremely reflective as you consider each draft. This is something that hasn’t
changed for me as a writer; I continue to do more or less for a paper liable on my own comforts.
As for changes I have built, they tend to come in waves. I’ve learned to focus solely on
the content of my papers rather than simple grammatical errors. To me, this was the biggest
struggle of all. Throughout high school, we were taught that grammar is half the grade as well as
what is actually obtained in the paper. Peer revision was the first task I tried to solve. I
endeavored to aid people in understanding the value of their information rather than a lesser,
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insignificant grammatical mistake. Changing my mindsets about writing for content rather than
errors was also difficult to get. I feel that these minor changes have genuinely improved my
writing and outlook on the assignments given.
We, as a class, have been defied as students in a variety of ways. Being able to interpret,
comprehend and analyze college level texts and beyond is something that I’ve happily acquired
as a senior in high school, a skill that I am proud of. It can be tough as a writer to become
inspired, nonetheless I constantly had examples in our textbook, “Writing About Writing,” to
refer to; it improved my pieces tremendously at times. I was only able to read them at first, but
the fact that I can utilize the morals in each text to my own advantage and gain knowledge I had
no idea how to access is miraculous for myself in literature at this point in time. It’s not always
easy to pick up new talents in writing, for I am so used to writing things in a certain light.
Stepping out of my comfort zone has achieved nothing but the production of essays I am
certainly pleased with as a writer.
I would say that my writing process has somewhat stayed the same, but it’s just
something that works for me in the time being. Once it stops working, I’ll begin to uncover a
new process in which I feel might work better. However, there is always room for improvements
along the way. There is a lot that comes with writing an essay, much more than I ever imagined.
This semester has taught me more about myself as a writer than any other English class I have
attended before. Being able to distinguish the skills I am best at and those I am not compatible
with is not something I would have typically thought about during high school. But it’s also not
easy to identify, it takes a lot of mistakes and successes to figure these talents out. As for myself
in writing, I think I have significantly improved throughout this semester. I am so eager to say
that my artwork can only go up from here.
Bultman
Works Cited
Wardle, Elizabeth A., and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.
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