23 Final Blog Post Reflection

23

7/19/13

Based on our instructions to not try and appease the teacher with our final post, I have to assume there is typically some negative reaction to this assignment.  I was actually very pleased with the blogging assignment.  When we first started this semester we were asked to write about how we perceived writing, ourselves as writers, and the role this class would have in our development as writers.  I wrote that I am somewhat familiar with the writing process, as I have a roommate who is an aspiring writer. I stated my hope was that the class would help me write more consistently.  Well, there isn't a much better assignment to accomplish that, than being asked to write at least three hundred words a day for three weeks.  I was not excited to do the writing each day.  Some days I struggled to get myself to sit down and complete the daily writing.  I sometimes would find myself watching the word counter at the bottom of the screen, just waiting to cross the required threshold.  Other days I absolutely enjoyed it.  I didn't use the blogging for any of the class assignments, instead I tried to just create a new entry each day.  Sometimes this was a simple free write, other times it was a story or memory from my past.  I also tried to share some things that I am very interested in, like comedians, video games, and music.  I enjoyed the comments that my peers and instructor left on my various posts.   I was able to complete the assignment in less than fifteen minutes each day, so I definitely learned that I am capable of generating a paragraph or two of text in not very much time.  I intend to keep the practice up, although I will probably change the blog itself as this one I intended to only use for school.  I feel like I try and be too formal in my writing, even if the topic isn't that serious.  I wrote one blog post about the warm weather and my dislike for it.  I would say this post is not one of the better ones that I wrote, but I enjoyed writing it because I felt very casual during the process.  I find myself trying to justify or rationalize what I am writing as I am writing it.  This cheats the writing process a bit, because I am not just letting things come out and instead am trying to be a step or two ahead of my own words.  I think part of this was because this blog was for school, so I was aware constantly of the audience and the impact of what I was writing could have on my academic success.  I hope to work on writing more informally when the blog is not being graded or observed by an instructor.  I don’t mean to imply that our teacher was strict on what we wrote, in fact there were almost no rules outside of it being accomplished daily and a minimum word requirement.  All in all I think the assignment was a terrific one that helped me incorporate writing into my day to day routine.