Essay1(Brandy+Rountree)

If I had to create a portrait of myself as a writer, my picture would vary from colorful to bland. I say that because my writings can go from good to bad in an instant, depending upon my topic. But, overall my picture could be hanging on a wall of an average home or in the finest art museum. My type of writing that could be hung in an art museum would be self writings. What I mean by self writings are writings speaking of you. (Add a brown tree with green leaves) I enjoy writing about my life because it allows my readers to understand my life a little more and could possibly inspire some to become stronger. (Place a bright a sun in the corner) I believe everyone has a story to tell rather it’s good or bad. (Add green grass.) Also, with self writings, no one can point out a lie or try to say your writing is not accurate. No one knows your life story except you. So who better to tell your story other than you? You never know, your story could change someone’s life. (Paint your sky blue.) Then there are writings that would be in the dumpster of an abandoned building. These are my writings of history. (The leaves are all brown) I absolutely dread writing history papers. I know it may seem easy because you have all of the “facts” there and extra information can be found almost anywhere. But, in my opinion, it’s not real. (The tree is now bare.) What I mean by that is you already have everything wrote for you. So all you have to do is, somewhat copy it and put it in your own words. I know some papers could be based off of your opinion of a historian, but really, who cares. (Snow is falling.) Who really cares about how you feel about William Shakespeare or Abraham Lincoln. (Snow is thick.) I feel that history papers aren’t inspired, especially when younger writers write about them. (Remove sun and add moon.) If I could, I would destroy all history paper assignments! (Add a shadowy figure in the fore front.) (Also add evil laugh ...hahaha) Now bringing your focus to my writing process for all of my great, good, and terrible writings, I always start with a draft. (Snow has melted) Basically, get it all down, as //Writing About Writing// mentions. In order to write, you have to get it all out first, right? (Sunset is appearing.) So I try to do just that. If it makes sense or doesn’t, I just need to say it. Later on, of course, I will make it cute and pretty, but for now it’s a hairy mess. Next step is figuring out which part of my draft is a topic I can truly discuss and explore to possibly keep my readers interested. I just may have successfully failed at that concept with this paper, but hey all papers aren’t meant to be masterpieces. (Sun is bright again.) After getting my thoughts together, I simply put it in essay form. Basically indent paragraphs, fix punctuation errors, so on and so forth. After I feel my masterpiece is complete. I know that it’s not. I go back, read it aloud and find any mistakes or inconsistencies. (Bring yellow and orange leaves to your tree.) Once that is complete, I then submit my assignment. (Add a bird.) Being in this class has taught me the difference between rules and opinions. I used to focus on making sure my first sentence is an attention grabber or refrain from using slang, blah blah blah. (Leaves are changing.) I’ve actually learned that these and many other rules do not apply. I’m not saying rules aren’t helpful but, I’ve realized which rules are actually rules and not opinion. Rules that I do try to consider are using right punctuation or capitalizing the right words, so on and so forth. (The leaves are green.) These rules are extremely helpful to your readers. It could keep your readers from possibly being confused. I believe rules aren’t meant for the writer but solely meant for the purposes of your reader. (A flower is blooming) You have to be able to allow your readers to understand your work. The greatest understanding I’ve gotten from the book, //Writing About Writing//, is to not focus on the rules so much and just get your words out. Don’t spend so much time on trying to make your first sentence pop or making sure you worded everything single line perfectly. Just get your message across to your readers. I’ve also learned how it is not as easy as it may seem for professional writers. They have their struggles to with completing different articles, books, novels, etc. They are just like us when it comes to completing a task. I used to think writers had it easy and that it would just come to them without almost any thought process. But, now I see that I have been wrong. They struggle just as much with their work as I have done with this assignment. No matter if you’re at a professional level or an amateur, the process is all the same. Now I know you may be wondering what all the trees and snow is for? With this assignment, I wanted to actually create a portrait with my writing. I wanted to see if my readers would create the same portrait as me or get something totally different. The end result of my portrait is a bright blue sky with a black bird in the distance, a yellow sun it the far right corner, a shadowy figure of a woman in a dress slightly to the left of my tree which is brown with green leaves, a single dandelion blooming facing the sun, and grass that is almost ankle high. What is your vision?