Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

In this blog post, I will reply to the following questions, referencing specific moments during the course.

Bart."Reflective." 12/5/15 via flickr. Some Rights Reserved.

1. What were the biggest challenges you faced this semester, overall?

One of my biggest problems in the course initially was getting the blogwork done in a timely manner. I put too much thought and agony into the short blogs, which translated into long hours where I wasn't being very efficient. For example, the My Thoughts on Comments post took me ages, merely because I was too choosy with which comments I was picking and what exactly I wanted to say about them. I scrolled through pages of the comments section because I needed to find just the right comment that would fit the purpose. Looking back, I realize that this wasted valuable time that I could have spent on another blog post or other homework. While the time it takes me to finish a blog post has decreased significantly, that is not to say that the quality of my writing has gone down. Rather, I think that- through tons of practice- I have learned how to let loose and see where the act of writing takes me. I finished the Revisiting My Writing Process, which is by no means short, in record time just because I didn't revise as much along the way and because I wrote about exactly how I felt.

2. What did you learn this semester about your own time managment, writing and editorial skills?

As I mentioned in the previous post, my time management skills were worse than usual because I am currently unemployed. I has the luxury of too much time to get the coursework done, which lead me to put off things until "tomorrow." One time in particular, I rushed to finish a deadline because I wanted to go to the football game and I couldn't be late to meet my friend. If I had spread the deadline out over the week and planned for the game, I wouldn't have put myself through so much unnecessary stress. But, I have confidence that as I enter the workforce again, my regular diligence will return.

3. What do you know about the concept of 'genre'? Explain how understanding this concept is central to being a more effective writer.

The best skill that I have learned from this course is the ability to identify and write in the specific genre required. Writing the basic essay over and over in high school makes you begin to think that it is the only genre in the world that exists. Now I know that to produce a successful piece of writing, I must pay special attention to conventions and base my work off of very solid genre examples. When we produced a QRG for our first project, I relied heavily on strong genre examples to make my piece effective and compliant with the genre. Before we took a close look at the QRG, I was under the impression that most internet writing is the same. Now, I recognize QRGs everywhere (even if Bottai made up the word) and I can identify other specific types of articles that are structured that way to achieve a very specific purpose.

4. What skills from this course might you use and/or develop further in the next few years of college coursework?

I think that planning will always remain a big part of my writing process no matter what the contex, whether it's hobby writing, a job, or a method to communicate my opinions. I feel as though this course has given me many more tools and tips to consider when fleshing out my work. 109H has taught me that planning is much more than just making a simple outline. I think all of the planning steps that we accomplished through the blogs leading up to the projects made producing the final piece very easy and less stressful.

5. What was your most effective moment from this semester in 109H?

While it was not my highest scoring project, I feel as though my Project 3 video was really the highlight of this course. I branched out and worked in a genre/medium that I had never worked in before and turned out a great looking product. I familiarized myself with basic editing software, audio programs, public domain music, copyright law, and youtube. I feel that, if required in the future, I could easily make another video for my own purpose or at the request of a company.

6. What was your least effective moment from this semester in 109H?

I took a trip to La Jolla with my church group over Labor Day weekend. I had worked on the deadline prior to the trip but still had a few things to finish. Little did I know that those items on the deadline were big, time consuming pieces. I tried my best to carve out time to get the homework done. I stayed behind at the church where we were sleeping while the rest of the group went off to finish the deadline items, struggling as the internet cut in and out. We had an event that I could not miss so I had to leave one blog post to do when we got home. I ended up typing away until midnight and beyond because we came back really late. If I could change anything about my experience in 109H, this would definitely be it. I never want to go through that stress and miss out on things again because I have made a poor time management choice.