Reflection on Open Letter Draft

This blog post will reflect on the peer review of my final project draft.

Evan Amos "reading-glasses" Via Wikimedia Public Domain

I reviewed Annelise Dutcher and Michael McMillin's drafts.

My peer review has already helped me gain a better understanding of how I need to change my draft in order for it to fit into the guidelines of the project as a whole, and how in ways it was not addressing the prompt as it should.

• Did I demonstrate an ability to think about my writing and myself as a writer?: Yes, but I need to go further into depth and cover the specifics about myself where I am too vague otherwise.
• Did I provide concrete examples from my own writing assignments or concepts I have learned? Yes, but I need to add more.
• Did I provide analysis of my experiences?: To a degree I did, but I will need to analyze more as I add to the draft.
• Did I provide concrete examples?: Yes, I \will also add more of these as I add to the draft though and hyperlink other examples.
• Did I explain why I made certain choices: No I will attempt to do that to a degree in my final draft.

Draft of Open Letter

This is the first draft of my open letter.

Reneman "Icon 'Draft'" Via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0

This is shorter by and less specific than I intend for my final product to be.  I intend to go further into depth about nearly all  aspects of the letter, but defeinitely feel free to point out things that I'm missing, better safe than sorry!  There are quite a few subjects that I might want to touch upon by my final draft but I don't yet know how to address them.

Here's the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XMULyP2-dKyR-TbNi8fHUQlKoE86LvKmDVQB3FwE8i0/edit?usp=sharing

Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

This post will break down more specifically the ways that my writing experience has changed over the semester.

someone35 "lake reflection" via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0

1. My biggest challenge this semester was getting myself to rewrite large portions of my project that I found unsatisfactory.  When the project needs to be a certain length, it is difficult to sacrifice some content in order to improve quality, but it is necessary.

2. I still am not perfect when it comes to procrastination, but I have found that I have gotten better at identifying realistic time frames so that I do not fall seriously behind on my work.  My writing and editing skills improved greatly because of my increased ability to break down what I want to accomplish and the steps to accomplishing it.

3. The concept of genre has been cemented in my head over the last semester.  Essentially, the various conventions that make up a genre are important to create an effective piece of work within that genre, which has helped me throughout this course to become a better writer.

4. I think that my most important developed skill is the ability to break down things like audience and purpose in a more effective manner before writing my piece.

5.  My most effective moment was when I got to apply the things I learned on project 3, which I feel was a good culmination of the skills taught over the semester.  I was relatively happy with the way the project turned out.

6.  My least effective moment was during the first project where I did not fully understand what was expected for each project and the course, which resulted in a bumpy start for me.

Revisiting my Writing Process

This post will reflect on how my writing process has changed and how it has stayed the same over this semester.

Antonio Litterio "Writing With a Pen" Via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 3.0

To be entirely honest, this semester has not changed most of my habits as a writer, for better or worse. However, this class has placed me in many situations that I was not used to writing in, and a degree of freedom that allowed me to reflect on how I should approach a certain project. 

For example, although many times I did procrastinate on deadlines, I learned the importance of prioritizing my work.

My writing style has seen a significant change, as at the beginning of the semester when I called it "hectic" and "unorganized".  Having to break down and analyze the ways that I wanted to structure and what I wanted to accomplish in my project has taught me a lot in how to plan ahead and be more organized in general. 

So while I am not always getting my work done early, I have changed a lot in my process of writing and the way that I view the writing process.