Portfolio Intro

Writ Portfolio Introduction

Prior to the Writ 101 course, Gustave Flaubert couldn’t have explained my idea of writing any better, “I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” Before taking Writ 101, I was a very confused and troubled writer. It seemed like I always knew what I wanted to write, until I got an idea on paper. Not only would it sound awkward, but I felt like it didn’t pertain to the prompt. Writ 101 not only gave me the tools and processes needed to write a paper, but it also gave me confidence in my abilities as a writer.

Prior to the course, I thought I was a very strong writer, but I think my old habits absolutely hurt me more than they ever helped: procrastination was my middle name; a five page, well developed paper would have been put off until hours before it was due without a second thought. This left me no time for rough drafts and no possible different directions to take a paper in case my original idea was subpar. As I rushed to finish my paper, I would often times leave awkward sentences and poor grammar in my final draft, simply so that it was turned in on time. Fortunately, I was always decent at writing and my poor efforts could usually earn me B’s.

Mackenzie introduced me to the wonderful world of writing. I learned how powerful my own writing could be if I genuinely care about a topic and if I put time, effort, and myself into my work. The most important lesson I learned was creating several drafts before producing a final masterpiece. Creating several drafts proved to be beneficial to me in many ways: I began to see different directions in which I could take my paper, I corrected obvious grammar mistakes which I had been to busy to care about before, and my ideas developed fully instead of being cut short by my own procrastination. During the course I also learned about the benefits of free writing, something I had never tried before. At first, I saw free writing as both a blow-off and a huge waste of my time. But as time went on, I got better at these daily free writes and they turned from a task to a helping hand guiding me in the direction of success. Even if I didn’t use them in a final draft, I absolutely saw the benefits; ideas from these free writes shined brilliantly throughout my papers. Most importantly, I learned that writing is an art form, and definitely something that should not be rushed. Writing takes time to develop and grow.

As I wrote each of the four essays for this course, I grew as a writer. Starting with the life place essay, I tried to not procrastinate and really change my old habits. But of course habits take time to break and this was proof. I changed some habits but still had a hard time getting completely motivated. I got two drafts of the essay done, but really I should have done more. With the reflective essay, I did get more drafts done. But I still could have done better, and had classmates or my room mate proof reading my essay more consistently. However, my final product was better than my life place essay. I spent the most time I have ever spent revising and reworking my op-ed essay. I had never worked so hard to try and convey my point. I was not nearly as successful as I had wished, and continued to work strenuously in the process of revision for this final portfolio. I took the effort I put into the op-ed and tried to apply this directly to my Academic Argument. I think this proved to be my strongest, best thought out essay. This proved to me that the course has bettered my writing skills.

Writ 101 has proved to be the most interesting and beneficial class that I have taken in my college career. I feel like I learned, and will continue to learn how to be a better, more sophisticated writer because of this class. My papers are all something I can be proud of now, and my work ethic has changed for the better. The time and effort that I put into my papers and Writ 101 were worth it, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.