English Composition 110

Cassandra Kuplast

Professor Jesse Miller

September 4th, 2019

                                                                     Journal #2

When I was young, I used to dread writing. I would do absolutely anything to avoid having to write more than a few sentences. I have a vivid memory of me, 10 years old, sitting at the dining room table with my mother. She was trying to get me to rewrite my essay of the week, which needed a vast improvement. I was writing about my favorite horse at the barn, and the relationship we had with each other. It was only about a page long, but it seemed as insurmountable as Mount Everest. I knew exactly the story I wanted to tell, but I could not find the right words to write it. My thoughts were jumbled, my sentences in disarray, and I had no introduction or conclusion.  This specific essay is still the most memorable essay I have ever written, because of the stubbornness of my mother, and my inability to revise my writing. She made me revise and edit my one page draft 16 times exactly. I can probably still recite it word for word! No matter what age I was, I was never a fan of revising my writing. I always want to go with the first draft that I write, because second guessing myself always leads to disaster. I proofread, of course, because there is nothing more humiliating than submitting an essay that is riddled with typos. However, I was never one for organizational revising. I found it the most boring and tenacious process ever, and I wanted nothing to do with it. It is still tough for me to complete it, but I have since realized the importance of revising when it comes to writing essays. Even though I still dread the revision and drafting processes, I have adapted it so that it can be beneficial to me. After I finish my first draft, I take a minute and write down my main ideas. What do I want to accomplish in my writing? What do I want the reader to take away from this piece? Once I finish writing those down, I read through my paper, and use my main ideas as a checklist. If I have accomplished every main idea that I wanted to be included, then I can go onto my next step. I then read it over once more a few minutes later, and I check for fluidity. I then take another break, and read it once more, checking for typos. It sounds like a complicated process, but it is relatively short and it keeps my writing in shape. I would like to say that I have an elaborate drafting plan, but alas, I do not. Depending on how large the paper has to be, normally I just jump right in. My ideas come as I type. If I spend too long thinking about what I want to say, the ideas fly out of my head. If it is a very large paper, however, I will write down all the sections in my paper and what I want to talk about in each of them. Thankfully, I have grown from the 10 year old that would do anything to not rewrite my paper again- even though I still feel like her most days!