What are your earliest memories of learning to write? Of learning to read?
The earliest I can remember learning to spell or write was in preschool in Spain when I was
approximately 5 years old.
How were reading and writing viewed by your family and friends when you were growing up?
I am pretty sure at this point in my life my family on my paternal side (English speaking) and my
maternal side (Spanish speaking) felt I was ahead of schedule as I was a bit bilingual at the time.
What role did reading play in your development as a writer? What kinds of texts were you drawn to—
traditional print texts; visual texts, such as comics and graphic novels; a mix; or some other kinds?
I eventual moved to the United States and having a complete set of Disney books and I real them all the
time. They had a lot of pictures and I would have to say that ever since I have more drawn to visual
texts.
Can you recall particular experiences in school or on the job that influenced your current attitude
toward writing?
I had great bilingual teachers and I also attended elementary in California and the majority of the school
was bilingual. Because of this I never felt out of place and was always happy to be at school.
If you were to describe your history as a writer, what stages or periods in your development would
you identify? Write a sentence or two briefly characterizing each stage or period.
I was never an above average writer, but if I had to describe a time when I became confident in writing it
was during college as a senior at San Jose State University I was a Sociology major and writing papers in
that department became very easy and enjoyable to me. The format was a little different than regular
English courses I had taken and I really enjoyed the research.
What images come to mind when you hear the term writer?
Probably because of where I grew up as soon as I hear the word writer or author I think of John
Steinbeck.
What images come to mind when you think of yourself as a writer? Try drawing up a list of
metaphors, such as “As a writer, I’m a turtle—slow and steady” or “As a writer I’m a racehourse-fast
out the gate but never sure if I’ve got the stamina to finish.” Write two or three sentences that use
images or metaphors to characterize your sense of yourself as a writer.
I guess as a writer I would consider myself a bat. It is not clear to me what I should right about, but I
always seem to have that radar or intuition that leads me in the right direction.
What kinds of writing do you enjoy? Dislike? What kinds of writing do you do outside of school? Do
you regularly tweet or chat via text messages? Do you keep a personal journal or blog? Do you write
poetry or short stories? In answering this question, include any print or multimedia texts that you
regularly create simply because you enjoy doing so.
I really like texting as it is so new to me and such an easy way to keep in touch especially good with
receiving information as you do not need to write it down. I also love having text alerts from the bank
or library. My phone has great voice recognition and I don’t even have to type. It also allows me to
think before I say what I have to say. The most gratifying writing I have been able to do lately is to my
good friends that were struggling in the Army especially the ones deployed.
What role have multimedia texts (such as web sites, hypertext documents, or video games) played in
your reading and writing experiences? What role do images and graphics play in your writing –both in
and out of school?
Once again for writing and supporting friends deployed has been a blessing and most of it has been
done via Facebook. As far as video games when I was in the military one of the things I would do for
entertainment when possible was play Everquest online a huge role playing game with a lot of players
communicating through typing to each other.
What do you enjoy most about the process of writing? What do you enjoy least?
At the moment due to my lack of writing skills I do not enjoy writing at all. I am hoping to improve on
this through this course and be able to put some of my thoughts into writings.
What goals would you like to set for yourself as a writer?
I would like to be confident if during employment I could confidently take on a writing assignment and
complete it at a high level of quality.