My Writing: Justin Rich

My writing actually changed a lot over the course of this semester.   One of the main things that changed for me is the way I approach starting a paper.  Before this class I was the type to just sit down without any preparation and write the final draft.  One of the things that changed for me was that I started doing more preparation and brainstorming before I started writing a paper.  One example of this is when we did the prewriting for the last piece of literary criticism for the class.  For the first time I experimented with ways of getting a bunch of ideas out before I started even writing my introduction.  I think this made me more open minded to different subjects to write about.  In the past I would just think of an idea to write about and stick to it.

The other aspect of my writing that changed significantly was the drafting process. I was never one to draft much in the past.  One of the most helpful things I did especially on the last paper we wrote was draft with a paper and pen.  It is something I had not done since elementary school, but it made the process much easier for me while drafting my final paper.  I felt like I was able to get my thoughts out on the paper much more smoothly and I did not feel like I had writers block at all.  Along with this I felt like the social aspect of drafting was helpful.  It was nice to be able to talk to someone about the ideas I had and where I could go with them.  The people I talked to were able to give me ideas about how I could make the ideas clearer and the essay more thesis driven.  The social aspect of drafting at the same time as someone else in the class also helped me a lot, because it forced me to start writing.  Sometimes the hardest part of the process for me can just be starting to write.  So being forced to write at the same time as someone else in the class helped me to push through this.