Evelyn Krutoy
Professor Slentz
Freshman Composition
December 8, 2020
Newly Settled Lessons in Writing
My writing process has definitely changed over the last few months, thanks to this course but also spending so much time in one place. The lessons that I’ve heard and would usually fail to apply to my work have settled in this time, and I’m proud of this change.
Throughout most of my education, I’ve had a lot of trouble with getting the first word down. Once I start, it gets a little easier, but I always feel like that first jump is the absolute worst. Because of that, I would usually procrastinate and leave my writing assignments up to the last minute. As I would get into the flow of the words, I would often find myself thinking, “I really should’ve started this sooner so I could focus on my thoughts more than the time.” I’ve always understood the value of revising, but I never thought of myself as a writer, only a student writing an assignment. My perspective on myself and the work I produce has grown to be a significant thought because of all the control I now have over it, being in college and in quarantine.
It’s been very strange having this much time on my hands. Thanks to this and some lessons I’ve learned in this course, I began writing the first draft of my assignments much earlier than I would’ve a year or so ago. With the Annotated Bibliography Essay, I was stunned by what I’d gotten done two whole days before the due date. Professor Slentz suggested breaking the assignment down into sections to make it more approachable, and that advice really carried me through this essay. I began by searching for sources to use and writing a few notes about each, and by the time I was done, all I needed to do was translate my notes into an essay. Having this much control over my time allowed me to really process how I spend it as opposed to just going through it subconsciously. With each assignment, I would plan ahead enough to finish the day before it’s due, which has been a great first step out of my procrastination habits.
Having the guest speakers come and present their work to explain how rhetoric and tone heavily apply to their work has changed the way I look at writing in every context, including assignments for this class. Beforehand, I would only see myself as a student writing for my English class, but I’ve realized that writing and general representation of thought must be manicured and thought after in every aspect of life. Even though I’m applying these lessons to a research paper for a class, doesn’t mean they won’t apply elsewhere in the future. Seeing the guest speakers apply these lessons to their work made me think deeply about my tone of voice and word choice in each of my assignments, as well as any writing I do outside of class.
